Digital Marketing in eCommerce: Employee Insights and Key Trends

Digital marketing remains one of the most dynamic segments in eCommerce, with rapid technological changes, evolving customer expectations, and increasing pressures on teams.

Our latest eCommerce salary survey focused on digital marketers, reveals fascinating insights into salaries, workload, happiness, and the skills that are shaping the industry. Here’s what hiring managers and business leaders need to know.

What has changed for digital marketing salaries?

While 42% of digital marketers saw a salary increase in 2025, this is notably lower than last year’s 71%, highlighting potential stagnation in pay growth. Employees rated their satisfaction with current salaries at 5.6/10 (down from 6.1 in 2024), and pay progression scored just 4.1/10 (5/10 in 2024).

This indicates that while base salaries remain important, digital marketers are increasingly focused on career growth and progression opportunities. For hiring managers, the takeaway is clear: offering competitive pay is necessary but not sufficient. Communicating clear pathways for progression, performance-based incentives, and pay transparency can make your roles far more attractive.

Discover the latest digital marketing salary benchmarks

Workload and career happiness

Workload remains a critical factor in employee satisfaction. Respondents rated their workload at 7.5/10 (slightly lower than 7.7 in 2024), suggesting that while expectations are high, teams are managing to keep stress relatively stable.

Happiness and work-life balance continue to be intertwined. As explored in our previous blog on work-life balance in eCommerce, even high-performing teams can struggle if workload isn’t managed effectively. For hiring managers, offering flexible working, clear responsibilities and support for mental well-being are essential levers for engagement and retention.

Skills, technology and AI insights

Digital marketers report that AI has mostly been a positive influence, helping improve efficiency in operations, enabling better customer insights and enhancing personalisation. However, over-reliance on AI can risk creativity and critical thinking.

Beyond AI, skills in data analysis, visualisation and eCommerce platform development remain in high demand. Rapid technological advancements, evolving customer expectations and budget constraints top the list of challenges digital marketing teams face. Hiring managers should focus on sourcing talent that can combine analytical skills with creativity and ensure ongoing training to keep pace with technology.

Investing in both human and AI-driven capabilities is key - teams that can balance technology with strategic thinking are most likely to thrive in 2025.

Attract and retain top digital marketing talent

The 2025 digital marketing landscape in eCommerce is evolving fast. Salaries, workload, AI adoption and in-demand skills all play a role in whether your team stays motivated and engaged - or looks elsewhere. For hiring managers, this is a chance to not just fill roles but build teams that thrive in a dynamic, tech-driven environment.

If you want to ensure your business attracts the best digital marketing talent, now is the time to act. Whether it’s offering competitive pay, supporting career progression, leveraging AI effectively or upskilling your team in high-demand areas like data analysis and platform development, the right strategies make all the difference.

At Cranberry Panda, we specialise in connecting eCommerce businesses with talented digital marketers, whether you’re looking for permanent hires, contract professionals or senior leadership. Don’t let your vacancies go unfilled or your teams under-supported! Get in touch with us today and let’s build the digital marketing teams of tomorrow.