Digital marketing salary benchmark in Singapore 2020

Digital skills is imperative for the marketing professionals in 2020, according to a report by Kelly Services Singapore which was developed in collaboration with SkillsFuture Singapore. This year, the industry saw a high demand for campaign managers, digital marketing executives, digital marketing managers, digital marketing specialists, and account managers. 

Additionally, digital marketing ranks second in the list of top skills sought after in the industry, following sales. Other skills that are in high demand include marketing, account management, customer service, data analytics, data management, delivery optimisation, eCommerce campaign management, and social media management. 

The salary guide showed that a campaign manager, which is the highest in demand, is seeing a pay range from SG$3,800 to SG$6,200. Meanwhile, digital marketing professionals are seeing drastic difference based on the level of the position. While a digital marketing executive is earning SG$2,800 to SG$4,700, a digital marketing manager is earning SG$6,000 to SG$11,000. A digital marketing specialist in comparison is earning SG$4,500 to SG$6,000.

Besides digital marketers, account managers are high in demand in Singapore as well. Earning SG$3,600 to SG$6,800, both the position and the skills are sought after in 2020. This comes just a couple of weeks after a study by brand consultancy Hall & Partners titled "The Future of Account Management" suggested that the job of account managers are in a precarious position during this period of COVID-19. In the study, the consultancy warns of account managers being "squeezed out" in a client-agency relationship as their roles get less well-defined. It is added that account managers need to be the "glue" and orchestrators to take the responsibility in connecting people to the right solution.

Here are the other pay scales for the rest of the industry:

Social media mania

According to the report, the social media scene is also getting increasingly pertinent in the industry. New platforms such as TikTok are on the rise and cultivating a new breed of “Generation Z” content creators. The popularity of influencer marketing also shows no signs of abating, in spite of recent survey findings that 47% of social media influencers in Singapore are involved in fraud. Additionally. Singapore’s YouTube influencers have built thriving businesses that generate million-dollar revenues.

Moving forward in the social media sphere, expectations will weigh on marketing professionals to craft effective influencer marketing strategies, and utilise the right platforms to achieve measurable outcomes. The report added the eCommerce players have an advantageous position, seeing the strong eCommerce growth in Singapore, where total online spend is increasing by more than 20% each year. Furthermore, regional developments such as the explosive growth of mobile markets across Southeast Asia will also boost the eCommerce scene.

In 2020, innovation is also key. With COVID-19 dampening tourism spending and domestic consumer spending, marketers will also be pressed to come up with new and innovative strategies to boost sales. Additionally, Google’s announcement of its plans to phase out third-party cookies in two years will shake up the digital marketing and advertising industries. The move has industry-wide implications, rendering many marketing tools redundant, and compelling industry professionals to reshape their strategies, innovate and find new ways forward.

Join us on a three-week journey at Digital Marketing Asia 2020 as we delve into the realm of digital transformation, data and analytics, and mobile and eCommerce from 10 to 26 November. Sign up for early bird tickets here!

(Photo courtesy: 123RF)

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