Here are the 3 keys to success at agencies that I have observed over a 25+ year career:

1. Competence (Be good at your job). You laugh, but by this I mean do a good job at the day-to-day tasks in your job description. Most people think this is all you would need, but actually it's the bare minimum. For you, at entry level account services, this means attention to detail, thorough note-taking, fast follow-up, organizational ability, demeanor toward clients (to name a few).

2. Vision (Have good business ideas). The people who only pay attention to #1 and don't master this one (and #3) stay in middle management for their entire careers. But you're more ambitious than that, right? Understanding your clients' industries, being creative, and coming to them with strong business ideas that they didn't ask for is the "extra" that will set you apart from your peers.

3. Showmanship (Be able to communicate your ideas succinctly and effectively). If you can't do this, the ideas you have in #2 either won't go anywhere, or you'll need to find (and share credit with) partners who can do this for you. Being able to tell compelling stories, sell your ideas (and others'), and explain complex concepts very simply are skills that only a small subset of professionals in our industry have mastered.

For your first few years, focus on #1 and develop a reputation for competence. Then move on to #2 for a few years, then #3. Once you master all three, you'll have the skillsets and experience you need to manage 8-figure P&L's and pull down a mid-6-figure salary. And you'll have a reputation with your peers that will make it much easier to land business, choose the work you want, and find fulfillment in those choices.

Congrats and best of luck!

I’m in digital marketing as well but on the client side. “Digital marketing” can mean so many different types of marketing, so I try to focus on whatever they write about in their job description (seo, social, landing pages etc) if they are looking for someone with a lot of content experience, I try to think of stories or scenarios that would fit in any question they ask.

As far as specific questions, what kind of campaigns have you ran? What are you most proud of? Are you proficient in web analytics? What marketing software do you have experience with? Can you write?

I am looking at this purely from earning potential, but other factors may sway you.

The creative side is always going to have lower salaries due to the "sexiness" of the work and number of people in line for your job. Social is similar, everyone thinks being on FB or IG all day is fun.

Product marketing requires you to have a broader skillset than a specialized marketer and comes with a higher paycheck. You need to be THE expert on the product, the consumer (B2C) or buying committee (B2B) and buyer journey, as well as competition and industry trends. You will be THE go-to for the sales team (B2B) and have to be on-call when they have questions at all hours of the day. Product will also depend on you to spoonfeed them insights about your customer.

Consumer vs B2B is another distinction you want to look at. B2B will pay more because everyone wants to market Pepsi or Adidas, no one dreams of marketing Docusign. But B2B is no harder than B2C marketing. It's just hard in different ways.

If you want to make some money, go into the marketing of highly regulated industries like Pharma, FinServ, or Government Contracting. Being able to market around all of the regulatory frameworks is not that hard, just strict and for me, a welcome challenge.