Salary Survey 2014: Marketing salaries by sector, region and job title
The average salary for anybody working in marketing is £45,021, up from £42,554 in Marketing Week’s Salary and Career Survey 2013. Once again, 26 per cent of those surveyed received no pay rise last year – the same percentage as in 2013. One quarter of marketers expect no pay rise over the next 12 months.
Vital statistics
- The average marketing salary is up £2,500 to £45,021 between 2012 and 2013.
- Marketing directors earn on average £86,165, up 14.4 per cent from last year’s £75,345.
- Those marketers in the automotive, alcoholic drinks and TV sectors are the best paid.
- The average pay rise over the past year was 3.7 per cent – which is also the average rise for marketing managers, up from £36,767 to £38,192.
However, Neil Costello, head of marketing at Aviva UK Life, does not think that a quarter of marketers accepting pay freezes will be sustainable.
“There’s always a lagging effect when you come out of these long deep recessions. Given price rises happening in other sectors such as fuel bills, I think it’s surprising.”
But there may be some hope ahead, according to O2’s head of customer strategy and development Jonathan Earle: “Am I surprised by salaries being frozen? Not particularly. I have had my salary frozen. At times it’s been difficult for companies that I’ve worked for and we’ve got to stick together.
“But I don’t think this is going to last forever. When you see companies starting to make profits and hear people talk about improving sentiment, eventually people expect to be compensated.”
Best paid marketers
The best paid marketers on the client side work for the automotive sector, with an average salary of £58,069. This is followed by those working for TV companies (with £58,679) and alcoholic drinks manufacturers (£52,500).
The top 10 per cent of earners have seen their salaries increase by 3.8 per cent to an average £110,634 over the course of 2013, while in 2012 the same group saw their pay decrease by 3.6 per cent to £96,997.
Louise Pilkington, a former LVMH champagne brands marketing director says: “Businesses are becoming more ruthless so they will reward their most valued employees.
“When you see companies starting to make profits and hear people talk about improving sentiment, eventually people expect to be compensated”
Jonathan Earle, O2
That’s the way of the world. There is more pressure on people to perform. Most companies now have a rating system that rewards people they want to retain the most.”
A head of digital or ecommerce had a mean pay increase of 6.7 per cent versus the average 3.7 per cent reflecting the hunger for marketing executives who are digital natives – those who have grown up with the internet.
Digital managers have seen a mean pay increase of five per cent and this is a trend that Ball & Hoolahan has seen, although every job description now has an element of digital marketing to it.
Unsurprisingly, those in London and the South East command the highest salaries, with an average of £50,234 and £44,969. Marketers in Scotland (£33,892) and Northern Ireland (£21,850) earn the lowest salaries.
More:
The gender gap in marketing salaries
The most stressed marketers
Board level marketers
The knowledge gap
