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Entry Level Job Market Report
Marketing
Overall Rating
Moderate
Competition
High
Avg Entry Salary
$65k (USD)
Job Satisfaction
3.7/5
Growth Potential
Moderate
About
Marketers develop and execute promotional strategies, support campaigns, and analyze data to help organizations attract and retain customers.
Overall Rating
Moderate
Entry-level marketing jobs remain in solid demand overall, with notable resilience through economic swings in 2025. However, applicants face heightened competition, rapidly evolving role requirements around digital and AI fluency, and a market that increasingly values hands-on experience and data skills alongside creativity.
Competition
High
The entry-level marketing job market remains highly competitive in 2025 for several reasons:
Role Evolutions & AI Automation: Increasing automation - especially via AI-powered analytics, content generation, and campaign management tools - means many traditional entry-level tasks have been either streamlined or require tech upskilling. Employers seek candidates adept with digital platforms, data tools, and integrated campaigns over generalists.
Experience Inflation: Many positions labeled "entry-level" now demand 1–2 years of experience or portfolio work. Recent graduates and those without hands-on internships or apprenticeships find it difficult to meet expectations, as companies seek 'job-ready' talent who can contribute immediately.
Geographic & Remote Shifts: While remote work expanded access, it also widened the talent pool. Applicants now face national (or even global) competition for each open role, increasing the bar for skills and specialization.
Pandemic Aftereffects: Though marketing hiring rebounded from 2020’s lockdown shocks, the pace is uneven. Large firms continue to cut junior roles, focusing hiring on more senior or specialized positions. This shift disproportionately affects those looking to break in.
Role Evolutions & AI Automation: Increasing automation - especially via AI-powered analytics, content generation, and campaign management tools - means many traditional entry-level tasks have been either streamlined or require tech upskilling. Employers seek candidates adept with digital platforms, data tools, and integrated campaigns over generalists.
Experience Inflation: Many positions labeled "entry-level" now demand 1–2 years of experience or portfolio work. Recent graduates and those without hands-on internships or apprenticeships find it difficult to meet expectations, as companies seek 'job-ready' talent who can contribute immediately.
Geographic & Remote Shifts: While remote work expanded access, it also widened the talent pool. Applicants now face national (or even global) competition for each open role, increasing the bar for skills and specialization.
Pandemic Aftereffects: Though marketing hiring rebounded from 2020’s lockdown shocks, the pace is uneven. Large firms continue to cut junior roles, focusing hiring on more senior or specialized positions. This shift disproportionately affects those looking to break in.
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-27%
Decrease in marketing jobs between 2020-2025
FRED: Federal Reserve Economic Data
+10%
Change in the overall number of job listings 2020-2025
All jobs: +10%
Banking and finance: -7%
Sales: -8%
Marketing: -19%
Software development: -34%
Salary
$65K (USD)
Typical entry-level marketing salaries range from $45,000–$65,000, with the top 10% earning $80,000 or more depending on city, specialization, and company size. Entry-level and digital marketing salaries are highest in New York, San Francisco, and California metros (avg: $78k).
Best US Cities for Product Designers (2025): San Francisco, San Jose, New York City, Los Angeles, Boston, Seattle, Chicago, Austin, Denver, Charlotte. California and New York offer the highest average salaries; Texas and New York have the most rapid growth in openings.
Top Employers
- Large corporations: Google (Alphabet), Amazon, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson
- Media/Agency giants: Ogilvy, Edelman, Publicis Groupe, WPP, Accenture Interactive
- Other large employers: HubSpot, Salesforce, Disney, Walmart, Comcast
Best US Cities for Product Designers (2025): San Francisco, San Jose, New York City, Los Angeles, Boston, Seattle, Chicago, Austin, Denver, Charlotte. California and New York offer the highest average salaries; Texas and New York have the most rapid growth in openings.
Top Employers
- Large corporations: Google (Alphabet), Amazon, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson
- Media/Agency giants: Ogilvy, Edelman, Publicis Groupe, WPP, Accenture Interactive
- Other large employers: HubSpot, Salesforce, Disney, Walmart, Comcast
Job Satisfaction
3.7/5
Average happiness: 3.7 out of 5 stars. Most entry-level marketers report being somewhat or very satisfied with their roles, citing creative freedom and remote flexibility as pluses. However, below-median pay, pressure to deliver clear ROI, and the ambiguity or breadth of entry-level tasks limit overall happiness and drive frequent job changes.
Career Potential: Entry-level marketers can pivot to content strategy, product marketing, digital marketing management, brand management, communications, PR, analytics, and sales operations.
What are potential career paths for marketing?
Career Potential: Entry-level marketers can pivot to content strategy, product marketing, digital marketing management, brand management, communications, PR, analytics, and sales operations.
What are potential career paths for marketing?
Growth Potential
Moderate
AI and automation are rapidly transforming entry-level marketing roles but not eliminating them.
- Everyday campaign management, content generation, and data tasks are increasingly automated, demanding higher human skill in insight, creativity, and strategy.
- Human marketers excel at interpreting context, understanding brand storytelling, aligning creative strategy with business outcomes, and building relationships - skills AI cannot replace.
- Marketers who leverage AI for speed and personalization, rather than viewing it as competition, will future-proof their careers.
- The biggest challenge: automation is eroding traditional entry-level duties, making experience-building and skill development harder for newcomers.
Marketing remains an exciting, creative, and flexible field, but 2025 is a period of strategic contraction. Entry-level roles are fewer and more demanding, with AI tools reshaping the daily work and raising the bar for digital fluency. Those who adapt - building portfolios, mastering data and AI, and specializing in high-growth niches - can still unlock strong salaries and upward mobility. Job location, sector, and employer profile continue to heavily influence pay and career trajectories.
- Everyday campaign management, content generation, and data tasks are increasingly automated, demanding higher human skill in insight, creativity, and strategy.
- Human marketers excel at interpreting context, understanding brand storytelling, aligning creative strategy with business outcomes, and building relationships - skills AI cannot replace.
- Marketers who leverage AI for speed and personalization, rather than viewing it as competition, will future-proof their careers.
- The biggest challenge: automation is eroding traditional entry-level duties, making experience-building and skill development harder for newcomers.
Marketing remains an exciting, creative, and flexible field, but 2025 is a period of strategic contraction. Entry-level roles are fewer and more demanding, with AI tools reshaping the daily work and raising the bar for digital fluency. Those who adapt - building portfolios, mastering data and AI, and specializing in high-growth niches - can still unlock strong salaries and upward mobility. Job location, sector, and employer profile continue to heavily influence pay and career trajectories.
