Marketers pay lower than professional colleagues

- Marketers paid less than professional colleagues at most levels
- Members of The Chartered Institute of Marketing paid more than non-members
- Gender pay gap widens significantly again

The Chartered Institute of Marketingís latest marketing salary survey, conducted by Croner Reward, reveals that although pay and bonuses for marketing professionals continue to rise, marketers pay now stands below that of their professional colleagues.

Average pay for marketers increased by 3.3 per cent over the past year, and is forecast to rise by 3.5 per cent in the year ahead.

The average annual basic salary for a marketing director now stands at 75k, whilst a senior marketing manager can expect to earn on average 42k a year. Pay for junior managers stands at 27k on average, whilst graduates and supervisors can expect to earn 22k.

Despite these rises, marketers remuneration now stands below that of professional colleagues in Finance, IT, HR and Sales across all levels except head of marketing. The difference is more marked at junior levels, where graduates earn on average 8.2 per cent less than colleagues in other functions.

However, both senior and junior marketing managers who are members of The Chartered Institute of Marketing are paid more than non-members at these levels – between 2 and 6 per cent more.

Of the 2,260 respondents to the salary survey, nearly two thirds were women, who will be disappointed to see that the gender pay gap has widened significantly again. For female marketing directors the gap has risen from 10 per cent less pay last year to 18 per cent less pay than their male colleagues in the latest survey. Only at middle manager level has the pay gap between the sexes narrowed over the last year.

In a difficult economic climate, many marketers may be able to boost their pay through bonuses. These have increased for most levels and slightly more respondents now receive a bonus – 38 per cent of directors received a bonus (averaging 13,750), whilst 27 per cent of junior managers received a bonus (averaging 1,900). The average marketer typically received two-thirds of their potential bonus.

David Thorp, director of research and information at The Chartered Institute of Marketing, said; ìIt is disappointing to see marketers pay falling behind those of their colleagues in other functions. Marketers need to demonstrate the positive value they can bring to their organisation, particularly now the nice decade has ended and economic conditions are tough. It is also disheartening to see the gender pay gap widening again, though it is encouraging that our members are being rewarded for the investment theyíve made in their personal professional development.î