What is a digital editor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025
3 min read
Quoted Expert
Bradley Shreve

Digital editors create consumer-targeted content, edit it, and publish it on social media. As a digital editor, you will deal with all social media publicity that will be done for your company. You will also work with other employees on creating a content topic, create the content, and edit the content with the proper software. It is also your responsibility to assign work to your team members, supervise the progress of the work to ensure deadlines are met, and make sure every content published is up to standard. Some content projects may also require you to work with graphic designers, photographers, and illustrators.

As a digital editor, you must be creative, detail-oriented, and you must have excellent writing skills, communication skills, and digital editing skills. You must also be experienced with digital technology and editing software, and you must have a bachelor's degree in communication, video production, digital editing, journalism or, a related course. Digital editors earn an average of $68,846 per year.

What general advice would you give to a Digital Editor?

Bradley ShreveBradley Shreve LinkedIn Profile

Editor, Tribal College Journal

Be flexible. An undergraduate degree in history offers a solid liberal arts background, but not a skill set that is finely tuned for most jobs. Think outside the box, and understand that the job you land probably won't be in the history profession.
ScoreDigital EditorUS Average
Salary
4.7

Avg. Salary $60,710

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level
6.7

Growth Rate -5%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity
6.8
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.27%

Asian 7.21%

Black or African American 3.56%

Hispanic or Latino 8.07%

Unknown 4.58%

White 76.31%

Gender

female 45.50%

male 54.50%

Age - 43
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43
Stress Level
6.7

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level
9.0

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance
4.3

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Digital Editor career paths

Key steps to become a digital editor

  1. Explore digital editor education requirements

    Most common digital editor degrees

    Bachelor's

    80.2 %

    Master's

    9.2 %

    Associate

    7.1 %
  2. Start to develop specific digital editor skills

    Skills
    ascdesc
    Percentages
    ascdesc
    Digital Content8.25%
    Instagram5.20%
    Facebook5.18%
    Digital Platforms4.92%
    Twitter4.18%
  3. Complete relevant digital editor training and internships

    Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New digital editors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a digital editor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real digital editor resumes.
  4. Research digital editor duties and responsibilities

    • Develop SEO strategies to increase profitability and manage social media to spread brand awareness and bolster readership.
    • Create Facebook posts to alert readers to upcoming breaking news stories.
    • Use front-end web development technologies such as HTML, CSS and Javascript to develop special pages.
    • Coordinate, schedule and curate Facebook ads.
  5. Prepare your digital editor resume

    When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your digital editor resume.

    You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a digital editor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

    Choose From 10+ Customizable Digital Editor Resume templates

    Build a professional Digital Editor resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Digital Editor resume.
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    Digital Editor Resume
  6. Apply for digital editor jobs

    Now it's time to start searching for a digital editor job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

    1. Browse job boards for relevant postings
    2. Consult your professional network
    3. Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
    4. Watch out for job scams

How Did You Land Your First Digital Editor Job

Zippi

Are you a Digital Editor?

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Average digital editor salary

The average Digital Editor salary in the United States is $60,710 per year or $29 per hour. Digital editor salaries range between $43,000 and $84,000 per year.

Average Digital Editor Salary
$60,710 Yearly
$29.19 hourly

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How do digital editors rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

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Digital Editor reviews

profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2020
Pros

I love hearing stories from other sources.

Cons

people not providing accurate information


profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Feb 2019
Pros

Being an editor allowed me to give shape to a story or point of view that I otherwise would not have had any say in. I got to create a vision and put my mark on the work.


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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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