Discover how much digital marketers earn across the United Kingdom, with average salaries by role and experience level. Use this guide to benchmark your salary expectations or plan your next career move.
While exact salaries depend on various factors including qualifications, experience, and seniority, we've covered average UK salaries for entry-level, mid-level, and senior digital marketers below.
Average salaries are just that: an average. Digital marketers with a niche specialism, high-level qualification, proven track record, or expertise working within a specific sector or industry may command higher wages than the average due to the demand for their skills.
Likewise, digital marketers might earn very different salaries for similar roles if they work in-house for one employer, operate as independent freelancers, or provide digital marketing services via an agency.
It’s always worth evaluating how your proposed salary and wider remuneration package stack up to ensure you attract top talent to your roles – factoring in paid training opportunities or on-the-job qualifications alongside the basic pay rate.
For digital marketers, these factors can make a considerable difference in the appeal of an average or below-average salary if there is the prospect of rapid career progression or further advancement.
The average salary in the UK for an entry-level digital marketing role is £26,803.
Entry-level jobs often appeal to juniors, apprentices, or those new to digital marketing. Employers and agencies can also hire trainees who have just completed their formal education or are keen to secure a junior role within an administration function or as an assistant to gain real-world experience.
Examples of entry-level UK digital marketing roles include:
Mid-level digital marketers command an average UK salary of £32,400.
Depending on the company, a mid-level digital marketer will normally work independently or within their chosen area of specialty, creating campaigns, monitoring paid advertising promotions, tracking performance against objectives, and reporting to managers or directors.
Digital marketing jobs at mid-level seniority could include:
Senior digital marketing roles pay an average salary across the UK of £43,752.
More experienced senior digital marketers will typically be responsible for a function, team, or department within a sales and marketing section. They are often tasked with allocating budgets, recording spending, and monitoring the performance of junior digital marketers under their supervision.
Examples of senior digital marketing roles may include:
Senior management or director-level digital marketing jobs have an average salary of £55,649+.
Higher-level digital marketers carry greater responsibility and are often shareholders or directors in smaller companies or receive performance-related bonuses in larger organizations. They manage whole departments or functions and make final decisions about digital marketing activities and projects.
Roles open to senior management or digital marketing directors could include:
Of course, not every employer will offer the same salary for a comparable role, and businesses will normally state a pay range or scale for an advertised vacancy based on how closely the candidate matches their requirements or preferences and the degree of experience they bring to the role.
Next, we’ll summarize some parameters that may affect the salary you are offered for a digital marketing job or the factors that may influence the wage you are prepared to offer.
Inevitably, businesses and digital agencies and the southeast pay higher salaries than those elsewhere and further north, where average pay rates are lower across the board, as are housing prices and living costs. Recruiters pay more in high-cost locations simply to keep pace and ensure the rates they are offering are viable and will attract good-quality candidates to their vacancies.
Experience can be considered more desirable than qualifications alone unless you are applying for or recruiting for a junior role designed for candidates yet to work in a digital marketing environment. In other jobs, from mid-level and upward, the experience you have, the nature and reputation of the businesses you have worked for, and your knowledge of the sector a company operates within can all be beneficial.
Like most professionals, digital marketers might be qualified or have experience. Ideally, a mixture of real-world expertise and some form of formal education, certification, or accreditation is the best possible combination since it shows that you can start work immediately and have a verified level of knowledge in your field.
While some digital marketing jobs, particularly entry-level, junior, and apprenticeship roles, don’t necessarily have any qualification requirements, more technical jobs, such as those based on data analytics or back-end SEO, may pay more for sought-after qualifications.
Most digital marketers include case studies, excerpts, or examples of their work in their CVs, which showcase their capabilities and the standard of work they produce. This information evidences your skill level and may mean you can negotiate the salary offered or request a pay rate close to the top of the proposed salary range in recognition of the quality of your work.
Digital marketers with a sterling reputation, especially at higher managerial, executive, and directorship levels, can attract a salary premium, where businesses and recruiters might head-hunt a named individual who they believe is perfect for the role or who they actively seek out as the ideal fit for a vacancy with a high level of responsibility.
As a very rough indication, an in-house digital marketing role will usually pay a fixed salary, potentially with additional bonuses or remuneration – which might include a company car, performance-linked rewards, a business mobile, and a travel allowance.
Freelance digital marketers work independently and can set their own rates per hour, day, or project. They tend to earn less overall than employees, although they have the scope to earn more per project by marketing their skills well and building a strong portfolio.
Digital marketers who work for agencies might be paid a static rate or an agreed amount per day or contract; agencies often pay a little less than larger companies. However, their rates can be generous if high demand for your abilities exists.