---
title: "Search Marketing Strategist"
description: "Employ search marketing tactics to increase visibility and engagement with content, products, or services in Internet-enabled devices or interfaces.…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/search-marketing-strategist"
last-updated: "2026-08-23T15:56:39.581Z"
---

# Search Marketing Strategist

**Category:** Business and Financial Operations · **SOC code:** 13-1161 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 13-1161.01

Employ search marketing tactics to increase visibility and engagement with content, products, or services in Internet-enabled devices or interfaces. Examine search query behaviors on general or specialty search engines or other Internet-based content. Analyze research, data, or technology to understand user intent and measure outcomes for ongoing optimization.

Also advertised as: Digital Marketing Strategist; Digital Media Planner; Internet Marketing Specialist; Marketing Consultant; Online Marketing Consultant; Paid Search Consultant; Paid Search Strategist; Search Engine Optimization Consultant (SEO Consultant).

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $78,760 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $37.87/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $43,390 to $155,480, with the middle half between $58,350 and $108,310
- **Total US employment:** 899,580
- **Typical entry education:** Bachelor's
- **Preparation required:** Medium preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +6.7% over 2024–2034 (BLS EP, 2024–2034)
- **Annual job openings:** 87,200 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 10/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 899,580 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $43,390 |
| 25th | $58,350 |
| 50th (median) | $78,760 |
| 75th | $108,310 |
| 90th | $155,480 |
| Mean (average) | $89,490 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| MA | $101,810 | $96,268 | 39,710 |
| DE | $101,270 | $101,465 | 3,570 |
| NY | $98,580 | $91,345 | 80,500 |
| DC | $98,090 | $89,253 | 6,340 |
| WA | $95,120 | $88,886 | 24,460 |
| CA | $94,700 | $85,531 | 119,070 |
| CO | $93,050 | $90,294 | 27,880 |
| NJ | $88,190 | $81,053 | 22,990 |
| MN | $87,510 | $88,734 | 21,280 |
| RI | $86,240 | $84,318 | 3,210 |
| OR | $79,150 | $76,576 | 11,310 |
| IL | $79,120 | $79,153 | 40,560 |
| NC | $78,410 | $83,127 | 30,700 |
| CT | $77,740 | $75,031 | 9,930 |
| VA | $76,980 | $76,139 | 25,610 |

39 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 54 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/search-marketing-strategist/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/search-marketing-strategist.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 941,700 in the 2024–2034 base year to 1,004,700 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 63,000 jobs, or +6.7%. Much faster than average: 6.7% against 3.1% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 87,200 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2024–2034.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** Bachelor's degree (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Medium preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** None.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| Bachelor's Degree | 47.8% |
| Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree) | 21.7% |
| Some College Courses | 17.4% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 8.7% |
| High School Diploma | 4.4% |

## What the work involves

- Manage tracking and reporting of search-related activities and provide analyses to marketing executives.
- Optimize digital assets, such as text, graphics, or multimedia assets, for search engine optimization (SEO) or for display and usability on internet-connected devices.
- Collect and analyze Web metrics, such as visits, time on site, page views per visit, transaction volume and revenue, traffic mix, click-through rates, conversion rates, cost per acquisition, or cost per click.
- Participate in the development or implementation of online marketing strategy.
- Optimize Web site exposure by analyzing search engine patterns to direct online placement of keywords or other content.
- Coordinate with developers to optimize Web site architecture, server configuration, or page construction for search engine consumption and optimal visibility.
- Assist in setting up or optimizing analytics tools for tracking visitors' behaviors.
- Identify appropriate Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and report key metrics from digital campaigns.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Reading Comprehension — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Learning Strategies — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Systems Analysis — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Systems Evaluation — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Persuasion — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Instructing — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Sales and Marketing — importance 4.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Computers and Electronics — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Communications and Media — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Oral Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Expression — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Fluency of Ideas — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Problem Sensitivity — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Enterprising (E), Conventional (C), Investigative (I).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| E — Enterprising | 5.54 |
| C — Conventional | 4.68 |
| I — Investigative | 3.78 |
| A — Artistic | 3.23 |
| S — Social | 2.76 |
| R — Realistic | 1.00 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ENTJ | 72.2 |
| ENFJ | 66.6 |
| ESTJ | 62.4 |
| ESFJ | 60.0 |
| ENTP | 53.8 |

Best-fitting types: ENTJ. The bank also flags this occupation as introvert-friendly, meaning O\*NET work-context ratings put it low on public contact and performing for the public.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Web Designer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/web-designer) — median $104,000
- [Market Research Analyst and Marketing Specialist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/market-research-analyst-and-marketing-specialist) — median $78,760
- [Marketing Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/marketing-manager) — median $166,790
- [Advertising and Promotions Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/advertising-and-promotions-manager) — median $133,660
- [Web Administrator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/web-administrator) — median $116,580
- [Web Developer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/web-developer) — median $92,650
- [Business Intelligence Analyst](https://nuecareer.com/careers/business-intelligence-analyst) — median $120,230
- [Advertising Sales Agent](https://nuecareer.com/careers/advertising-sales-agent) — median $64,820
- [Data Scientist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/data-scientist) — median $120,230
- [Software Developer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/software-developer) — median $135,980

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 30.3 Database, May 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2024–2034. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2024–2034 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/search-marketing-strategist