The digital marketing job market continues to grow, with clearer pathways and stronger demand for skilled talent.
As we move through 2025 and look ahead to 2026, entry-level hiring in digital marketing continues to hold steady. What has changed is how companies decide who to hire and what they value most in early-career talent.
Based on data from over 750+ entry-level roles floated across Kraftshala’s 2025 placement cycles, this report offers a grounded look at what’s really happening on the hiring side and where genuine opportunity still exists for candidates willing to prepare well.
Rather than signaling fewer jobs, the data points to clearer pathways, stronger demand for specific skills, and a hiring market that rewards readiness over resumes.
1. Agency Volume vs Brand Value: Two Valid Entry Paths
For early-career marketers, 2025 continues to offer two strong but different starting points.
Agencies remain the single biggest hiring engine in digital marketing, accounting for nearly 70% of all entry-level roles. They hire 2.5x more freshers than brands, making them the most reliable entry point for candidates looking to break into the industry. Agencies offer exposure, speed, and hands-on learning across platforms that few in-house teams can replicate early on.
Brands, on the other hand, hire fewer candidates but expect deeper ownership. This shows up clearly in compensation data: brand-side roles are 62% more likely to offer higher CTCs than agency roles. This “brand premium” reflects expectations around analytical depth, cross-functional collaboration, and business impact.
2. Specialisation Is Emerging Earlier
The market is moving away from vague “digital marketing generalist” roles. What the data shows is that roles closer to revenue and performance are being valued more clearly. Growth marketing, e-commerce and D2C roles, programmatic advertising, account management, and brand marketing are among the most in-demand and better-paying entry-level roles.
Programmatic advertising stands out in particular: these roles offer strong starting salaries and tend to see rapid value growth within the first year of experience. E-commerce and quick commerce roles are also expanding as brands look for marketers who can directly influence revenue.
Meanwhile, content and social media roles remain steady and relevant especially when paired with performance, analytics, or brand strategy skills.
Roles around Performance Marketing, Search Engine Marketing, Content and Social Media continue to grow steadily
So specialisation is no longer a long-term outcome – it’s something that begins early. But most candidates grow into these roles within their first 12-18 months. The opportunity is very much alive for those who start with strong fundamentals and then compound into a niche.
3. Metro Led Hiring, Emerging Hubs are coming up
Hiring remains metro-led, and that’s unlikely to change in 2026.
Delhi-NCR (30%), Bengaluru (27%), and Mumbai (18%) together account for the majority of entry-level digital marketing roles.
However, what’s interesting is how each city is developing its own hiring identity:
- Bengaluru has become the hub for e-commerce, analytics-heavy, and performance-driven roles. It also leads in compensation density, with more than half of roles offering higher CTCs.
- Delhi-NCR continues to dominate generalist, growth, and performance marketing roles.
- Mumbai remains a strong base for large agencies, analyst roles, and trainee programs tied to media and brand ecosystems.
At the same time, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, and Chandigarh are emerging as secondary hubs as agencies and brands expand beyond the metros.
Despite conversations around remote work, 91.5% of entry-level roles remain in-office or hybrid, reflecting the importance employers place on collaboration and learning speed early in a career.
4. Digital Marketing Salary is on the rise for Freshers Across Roles
Entry-level digital marketing salaries continue to rise across roles, with compensation increasingly linked to skill depth and role impact rather than a flat benchmark.
Roles closer to revenue or requiring specialised expertise are seeing faster salary growth, with Growth Marketing leading at an average entry-level CTC of ₹6L, along with Account Management, E-commerce/D2C, Programmatic, and Brand Marketing roles. At the same time, Paid/Performance Marketing, SEO, Content, Media Planning, and Digital Marketing roles continue to show steady progression, remaining strong entry points that often lead into higher-impact positions over time.
Location also plays a role in early-career pay.
- Bengaluru currently has the highest concentration of premium entry-level roles, reflecting its strength in specialised and analytics-driven marketing functions,
- Hyderabad and Delhi-NCR emerging as fast-growing markets offering a mix of scale and opportunity.
- Mumbai remains a high-volume entry market, particularly through large agencies, offering strong learning exposure even when starting salaries are more standard.
Overall, the trend is encouraging: entry-level compensation in marketing is becoming clearer, more merit-driven, and more aligned with long-term growth for candidates heading into 2026.
5. Hiring Is Becoming More Human and More Rewarding for Prepared candidates
One of the most significant shifts in 2025 is how candidates are being evaluated.
With AI tools making resumes and take-home assignments easy to standardise, recruiters are moving away from automated screening and static tasks. Instead, hiring processes are becoming human-led, focusing on:
- Live problem-solving discussions
- Case-based interviews
- Practical Excel and reasoning exercises
This shift reduces reliance on ATS filters and resume keywords and places greater emphasis on how candidates think, not just what they submit.
6. AI Is Now Expected – Judgment Is the Differentiator
Across roles, recruiters increasingly expect entry-level marketers to be comfortable using AI tools as part of their workflow – whether for research, drafting, analysis, or optimization.
However, AI is now considered baseline hygiene, not a differentiator. What separates strong candidates is learning agility: the ability to interpret outputs, apply judgment, and adapt as tools and workflows evolve.
“Expectations from entry-level digital marketing talent have evolved significantly. AI is no longer a differentiator; it’s basic hygiene. Today, employers expect freshers to understand not just platforms, but how AI can be used to improve speed, quality, and execution efficiency. There is also a growing expectation of hands-on exposure, including familiarity with agentic AI tools that can assist with planning, execution, and optimisation end-to-end, under supervision and with sound judgment. Beyond tools, what truly defines employability is learning agility. Junior talent that can think critically, interpret data, and adapt quickly as AI reshapes everyday marketing workflows will stand out far more than those relying on static skill sets.”
– Shivaprasad Nair, MD at Assembly Global.
Using AI well is important but knowing when and how to apply it thoughtfully is where advantage lies.
7. Timing Your Move: The Seasonal Cycle
For job seekers, timing is crucial. The data reveals a strong seasonal pattern in digital marketing hiring.
The sharpest uptick in hiring occurs between November and March. This period is driven by festive scale-ups, Q4 performance pushes, and new budget allocations ahead of the financial year. A secondary uptake occurs between June and September, driven by lifestyle and food brands, while April and May tend to see a dip in demand.
What This Means for Candidates in 2026
The outlook for entry-level digital marketing careers in 2026 is stable, active, and opportunity-rich but increasingly well-defined.
Here’s how to read the market clearly:
- Demand is real. Entry-level hiring is strong and has become more selective.
- Entry points still exist. Agencies continue to hire at scale and remain the most common starting point.
- Preparation beats pedigree. Live, human-led hiring favours candidates who understand fundamentals and can explain their thinking.
- Specialisation will happen early. Most marketers grow into niches within their first 1 – 2 years.
- AI rewards those who think, not those who copy. Judgment and learning agility matter more than tools alone.
For aspiring marketers, 2026 is about choosing the right foundations. Candidates who invest early in execution skills, analytical thinking, and business understanding are well-positioned to benefit from a hiring market that increasingly rewards substance over surface signals.
The opportunity is very much alive and clearer than ever.
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