Marketing Salary Guide: How Much Should You Pay Your Marketers?
Marketing is the lifeblood of every business. To get customers for your business, you have to first attract them to your business. The way to do that is through marketing. However, before you attract customers to your business through marketing, you have to first attract top talent for your company’s marketing positions.
And the right salary can be the best way to appeal to exceptional candidates for marketing positions from the C-suite down.
If you’ve been looking to flesh out or revamp your marketing department, check out this essential marketing executive salary guide. While it takes a deep dive into the different salaries and responsibilities for various marketing professionals, the table below shares a snapshot of the average marketing executive salary by role.
| Role | Average Marketing Salary |
| Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) | $174,662 |
| Chief Sales Officer (CSO) | $170,567 |
| Director of Product Marketing | $144,097 |
| Director of Brand Marketing | $121,759 |
| Director of Marketing | $107,332 |
| Marketing Manager | $65,834 |
| Social Media Marketer | $53,460 |
| SEO, SEM & PPC Specialist | $49,202 |
Continue reading for a closer look at each role, explaining how salary and compensation can vary and what each position generally does within a company.
Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Salary
$174,662 is the average CMO salary, according to the latest data. That compensation for chief marketing officers is typically associated with those who have at least 6 to 8 years of experience.
The Chief Marketing Officer is responsible for creating and executing the broad sales and marketing strategy for a company. CMOs, who often play critical roles in large, publicly listed corporations, are also responsible for managing sales and marketing teams. This means that the buck stops at the chief marketing officer when it comes to hiring and firing members of these teams. (S)he should also be able to evaluate senior executives in the marketing and sales departments.
Chief Sales Officer (CSO) Salary
$170,567 is the average CSO salary, according to recent reports. In fact, while CSO salaries can start at the low end of ~$97,000, the high end can be up to $250,000 or more. Generally, Fortune 500 companies shell out higher salaries for Chief Sales Officers.
The role of the Chief Sales Officer can be pivotal in companies that want to separate the marketing and the sales departments at the C-level. The Chief Sales Officer is the equivalent of the Chief Marketing Officer, but he is in charge of sales.
The Chief Sales Officer crafts the broad sales strategy for your company and would evaluate senior sales executives on their sales performance and metrics. (S)he should also be able to evaluate prospective sales employees during interviews.
Director of Marketing Salary
$107,332 is the average salary for a Director of Marketing, according to the latest data. This usually applies to professionals who bring at least 6 years’ experience to the role.
The Director of Marketing is the head of the marketing arm of the company. Small businesses, private, and medium-sized companies alike all make strategic use of the Director of Marketing position. In larger companies that have a CMO, the Director of Marketing could be in charge of marketing for sub-sections of the company. This could be different regions, products, or services.
Director of Brand Marketing Salary
$121,759 is the average salary for a Director of Brand Marketing, recent findings suggest. This ranges from a low of about $63,000 per year to a high of roughly $156,000 per year. While the average salary can be a great benchmark, the realities of a given industry and unique brand position also tend to play a huge role in determining salaries for Directors of Brand Marketing.
The Director of Brand Marketing is responsible for crafting the brand image for your company. This is something that requires subtlety and as such, you need to have someone who is refined enough to carry out a task like this.
The Director of Brand Marketing is usually in charge of ensuring that there are smooth brand to customer interactions, and oversees the success of brand campaigns.
Director of Product Marketing Salary
$144,097 is the average salary for a Director of Product Marketing, according to the latest reports.
The Director of Product Marketing is the alternative to the Director of Brand Marketing. While the Director of Brand Marketing is focused on ensuring that the brand gets a good image, the Director of Product Marketing is more concerned with the marketing strategy for the goods and services of your company.
The Director of Product Marketing handles things like product pricing, product strategy and analysis, developing your sales messaging, and so on. Essentially, your Director of Product Marketing handles the pricing, positioning, and packaging experience for your product.
Marketing Manager Salary
$65,834 is the average Marketing Manager salary, recent data shows. Of course, just like other marketing salaries, compensation for marketing managers varies based on several factors, like industry, location, and business-specific needs.
The Marketing Manager is one or two steps below the director of marketing. The Marketing Manager is responsible for the narrow marketing strategy connected with specific products and campaigns.
This means that the marketing manager handles things like positioning, and selling a specific product in your product line. If you’re a company that offers one product or service, the marketing manager is usually the person in charge of different marketing campaigns for your company.
The Marketing Manager is usually broadly responsible for supervising employees handling:
- Website Management
- Social Media Management
- SEO
- Copywriting
- Other marketing-related activities within a company
Social Media Marketer Salary
$53,460 is the average salary for a Social Media Marketer, according to the latest reports.
Social Media Marketing should be a very important part of your marketing strategy. However, while it might seem straightforward, it isn’t. It goes beyond creating an account and asking your customers to follow you.
To truly harness the power of social media, you need to hire a Social Media Marketer. This would be the person responsible for crafting your social media campaigns. They would also be in charge of ensuring that you grow your social media following and engage your customers.
SEO/ SEM/ PPC Specialist Salary
$49,202 is the average SEO/SEM/PPC salary, the latest data reveals. The professionals in the Search Engine Optimization roles generally are focused on driving traffic, converting that traffic, and generating leads to get new business. While SEOs will focus on organic rankings and getting free traffic from search, PPC specialists will work on generating paid traffic through AdWords (and/or other paid traffic sources).
This is a very sensitive part of your company’s operations. If your SEM/PPC Specialist isn’t skilled enough, you’ll essentially be throwing money at Google and Facebook. Well, with the right salary, you can be sure to get the right SEO/SEM/PPC specialist for your company.
Check out CEO vs COO vs CFO Salary Averages Here
Cowen Partners Makes It Easy to Find & Hire Get Top Talent
Trying to find the right talent to fill in the marketing roles at your company could be overwhelming. You can make things easy with Cowen Partners. At Cowen Partners, our skilled marketing and sales executive recruiters connect companies with top C-Level and Senior Executive talent who contribute their fair share to the growth of your company.
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Our hands-on sales executive recruiters have experience working with private, public, pre-IPO, and non-profit organizations. Clients are typically $50 million in revenue to Fortune 1000’s or have assets over a billion. Successful placements span the entire C-Suite – CEO, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and include vice president, general counsel, and other director-level leadership roles.
Check out our industry-leading retained search resources to see why Cowen Partners is a top sales and marketing executive search firm in New York City, Anchorage, Chicago, Seattle, Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, and beyond:
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- Defining Your Company’s GTM Strategy
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