Wondering about marketing job salaries in 2022? You’re in the right place!

In this post, you’ll see the wide range of salaries for a variety of marketing jobs in the United States and Canada.

We will also discuss the various factors that determine how much marketers make. 

For now, know that this fast-growing job market offers decent salaries even when you’re just getting started. The earning potential increases as you advance in your marketing career.

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Here’s what we will discuss in this blog post:

  1. What is the average marketing job salary?
  2. What are the high-paying marketing jobs?
  3. Top factors that affect marketing job salaries
  4. How to maximize your earning potential as a marketer

So let’s get started!

What is the average marketing job salary?

Just as there are a wide variety of marketing jobs, the salaries cover a wide range as well. As you’ll see below, the earning potential for marketing jobs isn’t easy to pin down.

(Note: Unless specified otherwise, the amounts are in US dollars.)

Marketing-Job-Salaries-2022

All marketing job salaries

In the United States, Talent.com reports that salaries for all marketing jobs combined range from $35,115 per year to $100,000 per year. The average salary for marketing jobs comes out to $50,000 per year or $25.64 per hour.

Marketing salaries tend to be lowest in West Virginia (average $35,000 per year) and highest in New York (average $72,488 per year).

In Canada, the average marketing salary is CA$50,000 per year or CA$25.64 per hour. Marketing salaries start at CA$39,000 per year and go up to CA$77,338 per year for more experienced employees.

Marketers are paid the highest salaries in Alberta (average CA$60,000 per year) and the lowest in Prince Edward Island (average CA$37,275 per year).

Entry-level marketing job salaries

The lowest salaries are for entry-level marketing jobs. So if you’re just getting started in your marketing career, this section will give you an idea of what salary you may be offered in your first marketing job.

In the United States, entry-level marketing jobs pay an average of $40,000 per year or $20.51 per hour. The lowest entry-level salaries start at $30,076 per year. However, even in an entry-level job, it’s still possible to earn up to $55,000 per year.

In Canada, the average entry-level marketing salary is CA$42,900 per year or CA$22 per hour. The lowest salary for entry-level marketing jobs is CA$37,631 per year, and the highest starting salary goes up to CA$61,080 per year.

Also Read: Entry-level Advertising Jobs and What You Need to Get Hired

Digital marketing job salaries

So how much do digital marketers make? Digital marketing jobs seem to pay more compared to marketing jobs in general, in both countries.

In the United States, digital marketing salaries start at $45,000 per year for entry-level jobs and go up to $100,153 per year for jobs that require more experience. The average digital marketing salary, therefore, is $62,096 per year or $32.36 per hour. 

Digital marketing salaries tend to be highest in South Dakota and Iowa (average $85,000 per year). Digital marketing salaries are the lowest in Idaho (average $43,925 per year).

Digital marketing jobs pay only slightly more than marketing jobs in Canada, but the difference is still there. In Canada, the average digital marketing salary is CA$55,000 per year or CA$28.21 per hour.

The highest-paying digital marketing jobs are in Quebec (average CA$65,000 per year), while the lowest ones are in Nova Scotia (average CA$45,700 per year).

Also Read: 2022 Average Digital Marketing Salary in Canada

Let’s look at a few more specific job categories. These will give you a clearer picture of what salaries to expect, based on the particular job role you may be considering.

Social media job salaries

Social media jobs are increasingly popular, so let’s take a look at the earning potential in this area of specialization. 

The average social media specialist salaries stand at $44,651 per year or $22.90 per hour in the United States and CA$50,000 per year or CA$25.64 per hour in Canada. 

The average social media manager salary is higher at $55,006 per year or $22.21 per hour in the United States but lower at $47,150 per year or $24.18 per hour in Canada.

In the US, Social media marketing manager salaries tend to be highest in Connecticut (average $75,000 per year). Salaries are the lowest in South Carolina (average $34,331 per year). In Canada, the average highest salary per region is in Ontario at $56,472 and the lowest in Alberta at $39000 per year.

Also Read: How to Become a Social Media Manager – Skills, Salary, & Tools

Content marketing job salaries

Let’s turn our attention now to another popular job role in digital marketing: Content Marketing.

In the United States, content marketing jobs pay an average of $52,500 per year or $26.92 per hour. The lowest entry-level content marketing salaries stand at $39,000 per year. For experienced content marketers, it can go up to $89,960 per year.

The highest salary per region is in New York at $89,960 and the lowest in Pennsylvania at $30,650 per year.

In Canada, the average content marketing job salary is CA$59,799 per year or CA$22 per hour. The entry-level content marketing job salary stands at CA$51,000 per year and can go up to CA$85,500 per year for experienced content marketing professionals.

The highest salary per region is in British Columbia at an average of $62,029 and the lowest in Quebec at an average of $60,000 per year.

In 2020, Jimmy Daly, founder of Superpath, conducted an income survey among content marketers. A total of 81 members of their community responded.

Let’s look at the highlights of the content marketing income survey:

  • The majority of content marketers have two sources of income.

Most of the survey respondents derive an income from a “day job,” usually full-time employment. At the same time,  they have income from their side hustle as freelance content marketers.

  • Content marketers have a higher total income than the average digital marketer.

On average, content marketers have a total annual income of $79,657. That’s combining both their salaries and their freelancing revenues. In contrast, the average digital marketer in the United States has a salary of $65,456.

  • Content marketers who work on location earn more than those who work remotely.

The average income for content marketers who work remotely is $75,885, while those who work in an office earn an average of $82,005. Again, those figures include income from both jobs and freelancing.

(Side note: It would be interesting to see if this still holds true since remote work became the norm during the pandemic.)

  • Content marketers with more experience earn more.

The average annual income of content marketers increases as they gain more experience. Those with 0-3 years of experience make an average of $45,952. Those with 8 years or more of experience earn an average of $116,867.

Content marketers annual income by experience

Content marketers earn more as they gain more experience. (Chart by Jimmy Daily)

Also Read: How to Become a Freelance Digital Marketer

Wondering what the salary of an SEO specialist is? Read How to Become an SEO Specialist: A Complete Guide + Tools (and Salary) to know.

What are the high-paying marketing jobs?

If you’re ready to launch your marketing career, know that the more experience and skills you have, the greater your earning potential will be.

In this section, we’re going to take a look at some of the high-paying marketing jobs. I compiled this list based on salaries posted on Glassdoor, Indeed, Monster, The Muse, and Talent.com. The number in parentheses is the average salary per year for each role.

High-paying traditional marketing jobs

Among traditional marketing jobs, the highest-paying positions are:

  • International Marketing Executive ($282,100)
  • Top Channel Development Executive ($267,200)
  • Chief Marketing Officer ($265,000)
  • Top Marketing Executive ($244,400)
  • Top Market Research Executive ($193,100)
  • Marketing Director ($152,800)
  • Global Marketing Manager ($145,000)
  • Corporate Communications Director ($124,054)
  • Product Marketing Manager ($113,000)
  • Marketing Research Director ($111,907)

High-paying digital marketing jobs

In general, digital marketing jobs tend to pay more than all marketing jobs combined. But this doesn’t seem to be the case for top-tier digital marketing jobs. The highest salary for a digital marketing job is $200K, unlike in generic marketing roles where one can earn up to almost $300K per year.

However, as everything is digitalized in today’s world, the highest-paying jobs in traditional marketing require advanced knowledge of digital marketing as well. This means that at the executive and director levels, marketers are expected to have expertise in both traditional and digital marketing.

The highest-paying digital marketing jobs are:

  • Growth Lead ($200,000)
  • E-commerce Marketing Director ($148,500)
  • Data Scientist ($127,617)
  • Digital Marketing Director ($120,000)
  • Content Director ($$113,350)
  • Director of Email Marketing ($102,588)
  • Director of Digital Marketing ($99,040)
  • Head of Content ($97,500)
  • Editorial Director ($88,230)
  • Content Marketing Manager ($80,000)

Top factors that affect marketing job salaries 

Ultimately, how much you earn from a marketing job depends on several factors:

1. Marketing position

As you’ve seen above, some positions have higher salaries than others. Entry-level positions, of course, have the lowest salaries. Certain dimensions of marketing may also have higher salaries than others. Generally, low- to mid-level digital marketing jobs pay more than traditional marketing jobs. But even within digital marketing itself, there are differences. For instance, social media jobs tend to have lower salaries than jobs in email marketing.

2. Job location

Another factor that affects the job salary is location. In general, jobs in bigger cities offer higher salaries to compensate for the higher cost of living. 

For remote jobs, salaries may be affected by the location of the employee. Buffer’s salary formula, for example, factors in the employee’s cost of living. The jury’s still out, though, on whether this is a good approach. Some argue that the employee’s value to the company remains the same, no matter where they’re located. 

3. Education

The next factor that affects a marketer’s salary is the employee’s level of education. Generally, higher education means higher salaries. All Business Schools, an online directory of accredited business degree programs and business career resources, says a marketing degree and MBA increase your earning potential. They write:

“A bachelor’s degree can add $2,000 to $5,000 or more per year in earning potential, while an MBA can add yet another $7,000 to $11,000, though many MBAs start out in higher-level management jobs with more responsibility, and consequently earn a larger salary.”

4. Experience

Of course, the level and quality of your experience count. Generally, we see that jobs requiring more years of experience offer higher salaries than those that don’t. In the same vein, if you have more experience—in terms of both length of time and depth—you can negotiate to receive the higher-end of the salary range for the position. Even entry-level marketing positions nowadays require some experience.

marketing job salaries

Acadium helps you gain more experience to qualify for higher marketing job salaries.

5. Gender 

It’s sad but true that one’s gender still affects one’s salary. The 2020 Content Marketing Salary Report, for example, noted a clear gender gap in the income of content marketers: the average income for males was $88,360, but for females, it was $76,183. In other words, women earn 86 cents for every dollar a man makes.

6. Specialization

Specialization is another factor that influences how much a marketer makes. Marketing specialists command higher salaries than generalists, especially in mid-level marketing jobs. 

That said, some specializations appear to be more lucrative than others. For example, data analyst jobs seem to pay more than email marketing jobs.

As you go up the ladder, though, you’re expected to be a T-shaped marketer. That is, you have in-depth knowledge and expertise in one domain of marketing but at the same time, you should have knowledge of the other areas of marketing—at least enough knowledge to manage and supervise those who are specializing in them. That’s because marketing has many domains, and any marketing strategy will involve several domains all firing at the same time.

Maximize your earning potential as a marketer

A marketing career isn’t going to catapult you into mega-riches overnight. It does offer the potential for you to earn a good living, even if you’re just starting out. As you move beyond entry-level positions, you can earn more than the average household income ($79,900 in the US in FY 2021 and $66,800 in Canada in 2020).

And when you reach the top marketing positions, you can earn more than 90% of the households in North America. 

Education, experience, and specialization are just some of the things that can increase your income. Your gender, location, and the position itself are the other factors that affect your salary. You’re not in control of all of these factors, but it is within your power to affect some of them and put you in a good position to negotiate higher salaries.

 

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Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in 2021. It was updated in March 2022 for freshness and accuracy by Alisha Sharma, Content Manager at Acadium.