Marketing Career: National guide to digital marketing salaries
If you’ve been a reader of the MarketingSherpa Blog for a while, you know I think passion is an important part of a marketing job. After all, how can you really sell a product to potential customers unless you are passionate about it, too.
That said, a marketing job is still, well, a job. If we were all independently wealthy, we might not be as motivated to take the morning train to a marketing department every day and leave our families.
So, today’s blog post is about filthy lucre. Or, to be more specific, marketing salaries.
Wendy Weber, President, Crandall Associates, Inc., has allowed us to post the 2013 Digital Marketing National Salary Guide for free download for readers of the MarketingSherpa blog. Just click that link and the PDF will instantly download. There is no squeeze page or form fill of any kind required.
I asked Wendy about what she learned while conducting research to put together the company’s 2013 salary guides. Here is what she had to say …
MarketingSherpa: Why the new addition of social media positions?
Wendy Weber: Many companies initially held back on hiring social media marketers. They questioned whether social media was a passing fad, and since it can be difficult to quantify and monetize, they chose not to devote resources towards it.
However, social media has only grown as a marketing tool, and at this point we can conclude that it is most certainly here to stay. Big corporations, as well as your local pizza parlor, want “likes” on Facebook, and most companies of any size now have the capability to respond to customer service issues through Twitter.
The actual resources being devoted to social media vary tremendously from one organization to another. Some companies are allowing interns to maintain the corporate social media presence, and others are paying six-figure salaries to social media teams.
Just as companies who didn’t establish a website back in the 1990s eventually accepted the online channel as a new order of conducting business, companies who didn’t accept social media as a marketing channel that is “here to stay” are now realizing that they need one or more dedicated social media professionals on staff.
A truly experienced social media professional is hard to find; many fancy themselves social media pros, but few can deliver.
Job descriptions vary widely; in some organizations social media is more focused on blogging. In others, it may be more focused on Facebook contests or Pinterest … and pay varies significantly, also.
MS: When it comes to marketing careers, is anything else new for 2013?
WW: More social media! Hyperlocal networks, Facebook Graph, mobile-based social networks, social travel services and new social channels will emerge as the year progresses.
MS: What trends have you noticed in marketing salaries over the past few years?
WW: There has been a steady escalation in salaries for marketers in the digital and online channels, salaries for offline marketers have been relatively flat.
MS: What advice would you give to the marketers of the world looking to increase their salary?
WW: Think about why you were hired, and how you can stay relevant and valuable.
Tie yourself to a revenue stream! Demonstrate the correlation between what you are doing each day and the profit of the company you work for. Or, in the case of social media, where the revenue is not as immediately tied back to your efforts, demonstrate the increase in followers, clicks or likes … because these are the metrics upon which customer loyalty is built.
MS: How can marketers best use these guides?
WW: These guides provide a reliable overview of market salaries. In addition to our usual methodology of speaking with both our clients (who provide salary ranges for their open positions) and job seekers (who may tend to exaggerate their salaries a bit), this year we reached out to a team of advisors in the field to ask for their thoughts on both the accuracy of the descriptions of each position, and the accompanying salary ranges. We are very confident that our products contain up-to-the-moment information.
Still, salary is not the end-all in making career decisions.
Hiring managers need to offer salaries that will attract the best talent for their organization, keeping in mind their geographic location, their company’s reputation in the marketplace and local area competition.
Job-seekers must evaluate the growth opportunity in a new role, the corporate culture, and their enthusiasm for the position. Some companies “overpay” because the word is out that the hours are long, or the environment is harsh. Other companies “underpay” because they are in a popular niche, and many people are drawn to their product, service or cause. Salary should never be the defining reason for choosing one career option over another.
Related Resources:
The more comprehensive Direct & Digital Marketing National Salary Guide is available for purchase from Crandall Associates
MECLABS Careers– 7 current job openings
Marketing Career: 52% of all team members share all marketing responsibilities
Marketing Management: Incorporating giving into your marketing department or agency
Marketing Career: Crafting an internal performance whitepaper
Categories: Marketing Careers careers, Crandall Associates, digital marketing, free guide, marketing career
