How to hire a digital content specialist

How to hire a digital content specialist, step by step

Here's a step-by-step digital content specialist hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a digital content specialist job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new digital content specialist
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a digital content specialist do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the digital content specialist you need to hire. Certain digital content specialist roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A digital content specialist's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, digital content specialists from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   Here's a comparison of digital content specialist salaries for various roles:

   Type of Digital Content Specialist	Description	Hourly rate
   Digital Content Specialist	Market research analysts study market conditions to examine potential sales of a product or service. They help companies understand what products people want, who will buy them, and at what price.	$18-35
   Webmaster	A webmaster is responsible for monitoring website activities for the operating systems and browser database of an organization. Webmasters analyze website traffics and visits and create strategic plans on search optimizations of web servers... Show more	$21-41
   Marketing Consultant	A marketing consultant is responsible for utilizing their extensive retail expertise to develop strategies on how to strengthen client base and achieve better sales. Furthermore, a marketing consultant must perform research and analysis to determine opportunities for financial gains, devise plans to improve client satisfaction, assess the competition, look out for any risks, and develop its brand and image... Show more	$21-53

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Digital Content
   • Digital Marketing
   • Content Strategy
   • Google Analytics
   • HTML
   • Web Content
   • WordPress
   • Content Creation
   • Email Marketing
   • Video Content
   • Social Media Marketing
   • Facebook
   • Twitter
   • Content Marketing

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Lead the content transition from WordPress to Drupal.
   • Develop and manage advertising campaigns through Google AdWords, Facebook, and AdRoll.
   • Manage brand messaging on social networks and the development of custom Facebook tabs by vendors.
   • Manage e-commerce demand generation programs for www.ToshibaDirect.com.
   • Develop and post product demos on YouTube, providing quick understanding of functionality to differentiate solutions and generate leads.
   • Implement content on client websites through WordPress content management system.

   More digital content specialist duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the digital content specialist job description is a good way to get more applicants. A digital content specialist salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for a digital content specialist in Ohio may be lower than in Washington, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level digital content specialist. Additionally, a digital content specialist with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average digital content specialist salary

   $54,127yearly

   $26.02 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level digital content specialist salary

   $39,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 17, 2025

   Average digital content specialist salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Washington	$85,138	$41
   2	California	$69,162	$33
   3	New York	$64,525	$31
   4	Massachusetts	$63,688	$31
   5	Minnesota	$61,903	$30
   6	Maryland	$58,839	$28
   7	Colorado	$57,216	$28
   8	Nevada	$56,765	$27
   9	District of Columbia	$56,696	$27
   10	Connecticut	$52,875	$25
   11	Oregon	$52,590	$25
   12	Texas	$52,568	$25
   13	Tennessee	$50,538	$24
   14	Utah	$50,451	$24
   15	Florida	$50,185	$24
   16	North Carolina	$49,608	$24
   17	Louisiana	$49,351	$24
   18	Missouri	$48,797	$23
   19	Georgia	$48,316	$23
   20	Illinois	$48,312	$23

   Average digital content specialist salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	National Railroad Passenger Corporation	$70,033	$33.67
   2	Experis US Inc	$67,184	$32.30
   3	AMETEK	$65,442	$31.46	1
   4	Zebra Technologies	$65,245	$31.37	5
   5	UC Merced	$64,928	$31.22
   6	College of Mount Saint Vincent	$64,149	$30.84
   7	Trend Micro	$62,797	$30.19
   8	Siemens Enterprise Communications Inc	$62,693	$30.14
   9	Siemens	$61,447	$29.54	7
   10	Apple & Associates	$61,118	$29.38
   11	CyberCoders	$60,807	$29.23
   12	Reser's Fine Foods	$60,786	$29.22	1
   13	American Medical Association	$60,398	$29.04	2
   14	TMS Health	$60,022	$28.86
   15	University of Tennessee	$58,869	$28.30	2
   16	The Walt Disney Company	$58,661	$28.20	25
   17	Fishman	$58,429	$28.09
   18	H-E-B	$58,111	$27.94	11
   19	Great HealthWorks	$57,601	$27.69
   20	University of Michigan	$57,380	$27.59	3

4. Writing a digital content specialist job description

   A job description for a digital content specialist role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a digital content specialist job description:

   Digital content specialist job description example

   + Coordinate all outbound communications to the field for US, Canada, and Dominican Republic.
   
   + Includes routing for external board review, routing via Workfront for stakeholder review/approvals, and providing final English HTML for the translation team.
   
   + Lead weekly Production team meeting and provide updates on workload and status of email campaigns.
   
   + Manage the workload and schedule of the Digital Content Specialists/production team (provide daily/weekly priorities and schedules for the team).
   
   + Primary liaison between creative project management team, stakeholders, agencies, and email production team for all email-related requests.
   
   + Attend download meetings to ensure creative agencies and CPMs meet email production team needs.
   
   + Represent external communications requests at stakeholder meetings to align content across platforms.
   
   + Provide communication and notifications to multiple internal teams and team members for email status e.g., emails sent that day.
   
   + Ensure all necessary items (HTML, PDFs, links, images, etc.) are provided for all email jobs delegated to the production team.
   
   + Conduct in-depth quality assurance of all emails in each language, for all ANA markets, including checking all links, artwork, videos, etc. for proper functionality prior to sending.
   
   + Provide insight and explanation to stakeholders on email platform capabilities (what can we and can't we do with email modules, links, etc.).
   
   + Write creative briefs for CRM email campaigns and give final approval of content in partnership with CRM strategy lead.
   
   + Maintain a document of Standard Operating Procedures for the Digital Content Specialists responsibilities related to the creation and production of marketing, sales & communication led emails.
   
   + Serve as the back-up creative project manager for all crisis and rush requests (could include emails, message center, Pendo, etc.).
   
   + On call every end-of-month for email communications to the field.
   
   + On call 24/7 to coordinate necessary urgent communications per established protocols
   
   As an equal opportunity employer, ICONMA prides itself on creating an employment environment that supports and encourages the abilities of all persons regardless of race, color, gender, age, sexual orientation, citizenship, or disability.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find digital content specialists for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any digital content specialists they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level digital content specialists with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your digital content specialist job on Zippia to find and recruit digital content specialist candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites such as swipe files, exit five, marketinghire, american marketing association.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit digital content specialists, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new digital content specialist

   Once you have selected a candidate for the digital content specialist position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. Ensuring your offer is competitive is vital, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize the agreement with a contract.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new digital content specialist. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a digital content specialist?