The 10 Hottest Job Markets for Digital Marketing Careers Right Now

Update: We brought you insider tips on the most fertile grounds for digital marketers. Now we’re back with some new tips on how to sharpen your skills and stay updated with digital marketing trends.

Looking to grow a career in digital marketing? Turns out, some grounds are considerably more fertile than others. MarketPro crunched the numbers for you and was able to paint a strong general picture of where the most bountiful job markets are across the country for digital experts. You can probably guess some of the names on the list, but others will likely surprise you. Check it out!

Update: The Most Important Thing Digital Marketers Must Do to Avoid Obsolescence

Before you start racking your brain about all the great locations you can flex your digital marketing skills, its vital to ensure your talents are up to date. Marketing is changing at an increasingly rapid rate. New digital tools and tactics are constantly emerging to dethrone long-time kings. Disruptive products and players crop up on a constant basis with novel approaches and innovative ideas, vying for your market share. Even long-established pillars of marketing are being fundamentally changed by analytics, technology, and shifting consumer habits; it’s all too easy to fall behind. As a digital marketer, it’s imperative that you start adjusting your career journey now to avoid a similar fate. Shift your attention to our amazing post on staying relevant in digital marketing.

If you’re confident in your skills or have now decided to polish up on your talents, check out the most fertile grounds where digital marketers are needed!

10. Minneapolis, MN

This is a great place to start looking for anyone at any point in their marketing careers.The Minneapolis-St. Paul area narrowly edged out Washington, D.C. to earn a top 10 spot. Minnesota’s economy has seen strong growth in recent years, and the Minneapolis area is considered to have one of the highest qualities of life for its citizens. In particular, many opportunities are available at the many large Fortune 500 companies based in the area; from senior leadership positions to versatile Minneapolis marketing staffing opportunities,

9. Denver, CO

Denver has the lowest unemployment rate of any major city right now, so it’s no surprise there are plenty of vacant positions in almost every professional discipline. Digital marketers have plenty of opportunity to find a place in the region’s booming tech, education, finance and tourism industries, or in one of the city’s many startups. Many large agencies are also based in Denver, or have a major division that calls it home. You can get an idea of the kinds of opportunities available in the Mile High City by this recent Denver marketing executive search we completed for a legendary brand that calls the area home.

8. San Diego, CA

This was perhaps the biggest surprise of the list. There is not shortage of marketing activity on the West Coast, but San Diego traditionally hasn’t been considered to be a major digital marketing hub. Apparently, times are changing. Opportunities are available for those who know to look, many of them created by the developing agency industry in the Southern California area. If you could use some more sun, find an experienced San Diego marketing recruiter and submit your resume!

7. Boston, MA

With its vibrant and sophisticated business environment and strong local talent pool supported by some of the best colleges in the nation, Boston has been a digital marketing leader for some time. However, we’ve seen from experience as a Boston marketing executive search firm how businesses based in the area often struggle to attract external talent from elsewhere in the country. So if you have a unique skillset or background that would be uncommon in the Boston economy, this is a great place to consider relocation.

6. Atlanta, GA

We’re very excited to see our very own home city so high on the list–but not surprised. Anyone who’s been keeping an eye on Atlanta in recent years knows that many industries here are booming, largely on the backs of hard-working digital marketers. We’ve been Atlanta marketing recruiters for over 20 years, and it’s been fascinating to watch the state of digital marketing and the corresponding pool of talent grow and mature.

Update: The Recent Revolution in SEO That’s Making New Job Opportunities for Digital Marketers

As Atlanta marketing recruiters, we’ve noticed a shift in digital marketing that includes SEO. After years of relative complacency, many businesses now find themselves alarmingly behind on SEO and in a scramble to catch up. But to catch up they need SEO expertise, which is now incredibly scarce since the discipline has suddenly become so complicated and sophisticated. And SEO agencies are becoming less and less attractive of a solution as SEO increasingly demands a level of speed and responsiveness that a traditional agency relationship just can’t provide. That means up-to-date SEO talent is suddenly at a premium, and available experts of any kind are quickly being snapped up. If you’re looking for a great way to grow your digital marketing career, making your way back into SEO is ripe for advancement in pay and responsibilities. Check out our must read post on top SEO skills to add to your stack.

5. Chicago, IL

Digital marketing has been strong in Chicago for some time now, led by the city’s legendary agencies and massive B2C brands. Chicagoland was home to one of the highest raw counts of digital marketing jobs posted, but got knocked down a couple rungs due to its massive metro population. Chicago marketing staffing and other flexible job opportunities are especially common.

4. Austin, TX

This is by far the smallest city to break the top five, but it’s heaven for Austin marketing recruiters and digital marketing professionals. It features a huge amount of open digital marketing career paths for ambitious professionals. The city’s growth is buoyed by an active startup scene and dynamic tech and software industries, giving marketers a variety of routes to choose from.

3. New York, NY

It’s hard to imagine any list involving marketing jobs that doesn’t feature NYC in some way. As the home to the world’s most storied agencies, biggest brands, and a center of consumerism and trade, it’s no surprise that digital marketing jobs abound here. In fact, the New York area has more than double the online digital marketing job posts of the next highest city, San Francisco. Of course, to win a New York marketing recruitment you’ll have to contend with the city’s famously high cost of living–and compete with more than 20,000,000 other people for consideration.

2. Seattle, WA

Seattle is a great example of how a large company or two can completely shift the job landscape of a city. Our experience as Seattle marketing recruiters has shown us that the area certainly has an energetic business landscape conducive to digital marketing. But Seattle probably wouldn’t be on this list were it not for locally-based Amazon and Microsoft, who according to Forbes are first and fourth on the list for companies with the highest number of vacant marketing jobs available right now.

1. San Francisco, CA

Seattle is home to two of the top ten companies currently hiring the most marketers. The San Francisco area hosts five all on its own: Uber, Facebook, Oracle, GAP, and Wells Fargo. Given the region’s reputation as a global leader in technology, tourism and trade, its position as the best city to get a digital marketing job is well-deserved. But before you pack your bags and head west to join the ranks of San Francisco marketing staffing, keep in mind that it also has the highest cost of living of any major city in the country and plan accordingly.

Update: 5 Free Apps Marketers Can Use to Learn New Digital Skills and Stay on Top of Trends

We mentioned in an earlier update, the most important thing digital marketers must do to avoid obsolescence. We didn’t want to leave you in the dark, so here is another update on few cool free apps to learn new skills and stay updated with trends.

Digital marketing is evolving quickly, and digital marketing specialists have to keep up or get left behind. But staying up to speed and constantly updating your skillset is hard when you’re so busy with your day-to-day work–how can you make sure you’re keeping ahead of the pack? There’s no easy answer, and you’ll have to get creative with the way you establish yourself as a life-long learner of digital marketing. But luckily there’s no shortage of resources available to keep up with the news and acquire new abilities. Some of those resources are designed with the convenience and accessibility of mobile app–and a few of them are even completely free. Check out our favorites here.

Methodology

This study isn’t perfect, but it reflects what we’ve noticed as a nation-wide marketing recruiter and should serve to give digital marketing pros a general idea of what locations have the best career growth opportunities.

In order to come up with our rankings, we searched two of the web’s most popular job boards (Indeed and LinkedIn) for open digital marketing jobs that were accepting applications. We make the assumption that use of online job boards to find candidates is roughly uniform across the country, though that obviously creates some room for error.

Los Angeles had one of the highest raw counts of open job opportunities. But when taken in the context of the city’s massive, sprawling population, LA doesn’t even break the top ten (averaging 1,636 open job applications). On the other hand, Austin doesn’t have the longest list of vacant jobs (averaging “just” 630 between the two sites). However, its relatively modest population of just over two million means there are more opportunities per capita and less local competition per job, earning the city a spot in the top 5.