I’ve been working in SEO and PPC, but the pay seems to have stalled. I’m seeing more "Marketing Technologist" roles asking for AWS and SQL. Is it worth it for a marketer to learn cloud infrastructure, or is that overkill? I want to know if these technical skills can help me break into the six-figure bracket in the US market.
3 answers
It is absolutely not overkill. The highest-paid marketers in the US right now are those who can handle "Big Data." Most enterprise-level marketing stacks run on AWS or similar cloud platforms. If you can set up your own data pipelines to track customer journeys without waiting for the IT department, you are worth your weight in gold. Learning how to use AWS services like Pinpoint for personalized messaging or Quicksight for visualization can easily push a standard $70k marketing manager salary into the $120k+ range at major American retailers or agencies.
Cynthia, for a marketer with no coding background, is the AWS Cloud Practitioner exam a good place to start, or is it too technical?
Marketing is becoming a data science. I added AWS to my resume last year and my response rate for job applications in New York tripled.
That’s incredible, Anna. It really goes to show Robert Moore that the "stall" in pay is usually just a lack of technical leverage. Adding AWS gives you that leverage in the modern American job market.
George, the Cloud Practitioner is perfect for marketers! It’s 100% conceptual and focuses on the business value of the cloud. It helps you speak the same language as the developers. When you're discussing budget for a new marketing tool hosted on AWS, you'll actually understand what "on-demand pricing" and "scalability" mean for your ROI. In the US, being a "bridge" between marketing and tech is one of the fastest ways to get promoted.