Author Topic: Need to increase my salary or move to new career! Digital Advertising.  (Read 3861 times)

trojans10

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Hi guys,

Just want to provide a quick glimpse into my life:

BA in Information Systems and Minor in Accounting.
1 year as a Data Analyst (excel and some SQL) 42k
1 year as a Digital Marketing Analyst (search, display, native advertising, google analytics, etc) 55k

I will most likely be promoted to manager soon or something along those lines. Maybe 60k.

That said, I have awesome perks at my job such as working remotely etc, but I also live in the most expensive city in the US.

Having said that, I want to know what other careers are out there that I can move into... I see salaries on here and I can't help but not be satisfied with my pay. Ive thought about going back to school to get a masters in accounting and get a CPA... but I hate accounting. I'm taking a javascript course right now. Might be something to look into.

I like my career. The creativity is awesome. Its changing non-stop. I work with new tools all the time but I'm wondering what I should be looking for to be able to have a fruitful career and solid future. Are there any digital folks here?

Thanks guys!

Yaro

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Re: Need to increase my salary or move to new career! Digital Advertising.
« Reply #1 on: December 23, 2015, 06:45:39 PM »
Hi!
$60k..
With digital marketing experience is better to start your own business and make a lot more.

Today i quit my IT job (biggest IT corp) to pursue self-employment.
I have been running multiple websites: Affiliate, Google Adsense, Software, SaaS and so on.

You bet you have already some knowledge about SEO, Paid traffic and etc.
I suggest you to look into it and start your own company or even Local Digital Adv agency.

Btw. If you want to get into IT and get better pay. I suggest get some Software Test Engineer courses. I think you can wrap all the stuff in 3 month and you can find $70k+ job in Bay Area or Seattle.
Add some coding knowledge (Download free video courses form MIT and Standford and learn by yourself) and then you can bump salary to $110k+.

Cheers.

trojans10

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Re: Need to increase my salary or move to new career! Digital Advertising.
« Reply #2 on: December 23, 2015, 07:10:27 PM »
Thanks for the response! Would you mind if I pm'ed you? I agree, starting my own business is probably the logical way to go as I understand how to get traffic and convert that traffic. The main question is; what kind of product or service?

Local agency isn't bad, although most local businesses just don't understand why its important.

Thanks again.

Yankuba

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Re: Need to increase my salary or move to new career! Digital Advertising.
« Reply #3 on: December 23, 2015, 07:17:58 PM »
If you hate accounting and like what you're currently doing then I wouldn't pursue the CPA.

Yaro

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Re: Need to increase my salary or move to new career! Digital Advertising.
« Reply #4 on: December 23, 2015, 08:05:01 PM »
Thanks for the response! Would you mind if I pm'ed you? I agree, starting my own business is probably the logical way to go as I understand how to get traffic and convert that traffic. The main question is; what kind of product or service?

Local agency isn't bad, although most local businesses just don't understand why its important.

Thanks again.

Yes, no worries.
Just sent PM to me and I will answer any questions.

And yes, drive and convert traffic.
Product and services can be different. I prefer to promote products or niches that I like or have interest in.

aschmidt2930

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Re: Need to increase my salary or move to new career! Digital Advertising.
« Reply #5 on: December 24, 2015, 03:54:30 PM »
Hi guys,

Just want to provide a quick glimpse into my life:

BA in Information Systems and Minor in Accounting.
1 year as a Data Analyst (excel and some SQL) 42k
1 year as a Digital Marketing Analyst (search, display, native advertising, google analytics, etc) 55k

I will most likely be promoted to manager soon or something along those lines. Maybe 60k.

That said, I have awesome perks at my job such as working remotely etc, but I also live in the most expensive city in the US.

Having said that, I want to know what other careers are out there that I can move into... I see salaries on here and I can't help but not be satisfied with my pay. Ive thought about going back to school to get a masters in accounting and get a CPA... but I hate accounting. I'm taking a javascript course right now. Might be something to look into.

I like my career. The creativity is awesome. Its changing non-stop. I work with new tools all the time but I'm wondering what I should be looking for to be able to have a fruitful career and solid future. Are there any digital folks here?

Thanks guys!

Digital Marketing is one of the best careers to be in right now.  It's not a given that pursuing an IT or Accounting career will earn more money.

You're in an extremely in-demand and growing line of work, and it sounds like you enjoy what you do.  Why would you switch?  With a few exceptions, your earning potential is much higher in something you enjoy than something you don't enjoy.  Figure out what motivates you, get ridiculously good at it, and the money follows. Careers are quite simple.

trojans10

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Re: Need to increase my salary or move to new career! Digital Advertising.
« Reply #6 on: December 27, 2015, 07:13:04 PM »
^You know... It really is, and I agree it is fast growing and a lot of money is being spent and only increasing. That said, ive noticed a trend in this industry... The pay isn't all that great. I mean, maybe if I am a CMO but for instance, agencies... the turn over rate is very high as the pay isn't much and the long hours of grinding isn't worth it. You can move to in-house and get lucky with a company but overall I think its mainly luck.

Maybe its too early to tell. I'm 25 years old, and really.. I don't understand salaries and I don't even know what a decent salary is... I mean I think 60k isn't too shabby. But looking around here, its absolutely nothing. Makes 0 sense to go spend my money to get an MBA right now as I don't even think it would help increase my earnings.

I'm going to stick it out another couple years, and focus on working for myself eventually. Knowing I am 25 and making mid 50's.. I'm just not satisfied!

Camarillo Brillo

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Re: Need to increase my salary or move to new career! Digital Advertising.
« Reply #7 on: December 27, 2015, 07:59:20 PM »
I'm a CIO and feel I am qualified to chime in on this. 

If your goal is to increase your earnings, another degree is not necessary.  One of the hottest areas right now (and for the next few years) is the entire digital prospect and customer experience.  That is a very broad area that extends far  beyond what you're already doing. I don't have the time to fully explain that right now, but you need to read as much as you can on evolving digital strategies.  Experts in this area are commanding big bucks.

On a different note, you have data analysis experience. That falls within the broad category of Business Intelligence.  Experts in that area are also getting top pay.  This is another area you need to explore.

And another one that pays well, but not as well as the two areas I mentioned, is Project Management.  If you can become a PM in one of the areas where you already have technical experience you could get a nice jump in pay, and use that as a stepping stone in your career.

Good luck.

jeffreyahaines

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Re: Need to increase my salary or move to new career! Digital Advertising.
« Reply #8 on: December 29, 2015, 06:18:42 AM »
I'm a few years older than you and in a similar/identical field—digital marketing.

At 25, I was stuck in the same salary range you are currently for a while—50s to mid 60s. In my late 20s I was able to jump exponentially and you can probably do the same. I'm in the B2B IT software vertical, which generally has large marketing budgets.

Since you've mentioned you are up for a promotion soon, I would focus on exhibiting and documenting your unique value to the company in the next few months leading up to the promotion, and be sure to present some data about your achievements to your boss in a 1:1 around the time he is writing your eval. If he comes in with a lower raise/title than you expect, you can always ask for more while giving examples of how you've added value above and beyond your job desc.—it depends on your relationship with your manager, but this at least shows that you want more/are an A player and should be compensated as one.

If you're in the most expensive city in the U.S., there also should be plenty of local opportunities in better paying verticals. With your IS background you'd be a shoe-in for B2B marketing positions in tech/software if you're not in that industry already.

Finally, I would look at ways to expand your experience/responsibilities beyond digital advertising to more general digital marketing where possible. This could give you more opportunities to move laterally into higher paying positions, or vertically into management, while staying in the functional area you enjoy.

JPinDC

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Re: Need to increase my salary or move to new career! Digital Advertising.
« Reply #9 on: December 29, 2015, 10:08:53 AM »
I would agree with other posters that you should not go back to school for a degree in something you don't enjoy. Your skill set sounds pretty transferable between digital marketing and data analysis, so I would encourage you to do a little more research about which positions in those fields pay best, particularly since it sounds like you're enjoying the work. In addition, you can pick up some side work, which would increase income and experience simultaneously.

That said, I have awesome perks at my job such as working remotely etc, but I also live in the most expensive city in the US.

This jumped out at me. Is it only partial remote work? Could you move to a different city?

TheAnonOne

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Re: Need to increase my salary or move to new career! Digital Advertising.
« Reply #10 on: December 29, 2015, 11:44:51 AM »
If you know SQL, learn a bit about SSIS and go into 'big data'. You can easily make over 100k and probably over 200k if you consult.


 

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