A guide to marketing salary expectations

It can be difficult to keep up with the fast-paced Marketing sector, but if you’re a student or graduate who wants to know how much you could earn in marketing - look no further. Here’s our guide to marketing salary expectations, agency vs. in-house, creative marketing and entry-level graduate schemes and jobs that offer the best salaries.

Entry-level marketing salary expectations

Digital marketers play an important role in creating brand awareness within a physical and digital space. It’s also a bonus for digital marketers to know how to drive traffic and use analytics. A digital marketing intern can earn between £17,000 up to £21,000 depending on your chosen company. It’s recommended that you take digital marketing internships during your studies at university or college - this will enable you to get straight into entry-level roles once you graduate. As a junior or entry-level digital marketer, you could earn £22,000 to £30,000 depending on the role requirements and whether or not it’s a graduate scheme. Also, entry-level digital marketing assistant or executive jobs are suitable for graduates with 6-12 months of industry experience.

A marketing copywriter is the voice of the business. They use creative and often persuasive language and writing techniques to sell products or promote a business’ services. This can be writing email campaigns, radio scripts, magazine adverts and even television advertisements. There are no specific marketing copywriter graduate schemes, but junior marketing copywriters can earn £20,000 to £25,000, depending on the company. A career as a junior marketing copywriter would be great for someone with a degree in a writing-heavy subject, like English Literature or Journalism. To get hired, companies look for writing ability, marketing knowledge and experience and SEO skills. 

A social media manager is usually in charge of company or client social platforms and posts images, videos and other content to increase audience engagement. Junior social media manager roles are extremely popular and most companies will have one on their marketing team. A typical salary for a junior social media manager ranges from £19,000 - £24,000.

Content marketers are solely focused on creating outstanding content for a brand or business and are responsible for creating articles, blog posts, social media posts and video content. Knowledge of SEO, the ability to use Photoshop (or equivalent editing software), good written skills and experience using a CMS system are common requirements for content marketing roles. Junior content marketers typically earn between £22,000 and £27,000, depending on the type of content production they’re engaged in.

As a recent graduate, you would need to look for a junior SEO specialist or SEO copywriter role unless you’re someone with notable experience in this area. Junior SEO copywriters can look to earn a starting salary from £20,000 to £24,000 depending on experience and qualifications. If you're new to SEO or you want to brush up on your knowledge, Google offers an SEO fundamentals course that’s perfect for students and graduates looking to learn how to optimise content for search engines. Learn more about what SEO is and make sure you understand the basics before applying for entry-level marketing roles.

Marketing analysts help companies decide how to market their products or services, sell to which customers and at what price. A junior marketing analyst can make a starting salary of £18,000 to £23,000. The majority of roles look for someone who understands how data influences business marketing decisions, a curious mindset and previous work experience which could be in the form of a degree in Mathematics, Economics (or equivalent) or a relevant apprenticeship or trainee role.

Mid-level/senior marketing salary expectations

Digital Marketers need to be interested in a bit of everything - from SEO and content writing to social media and creating digital campaigns. Depending on whether you work in-house or for an agency, you’ll be responsible for managing and implementing marketing campaigns - this could mean promoting the business or products for a client. Sometimes, it can take less than a year to start climbing the ladder onto the higher-paid roles such as a marketing manager or director - these can be paid a salary of up to £49,000.

Like many other industries, your salary as a marketing copywriter highly depends on your experience, the clients you’ve worked with, and what you can bring to the table. Senior copywriters are paid very well and can make up to £74,000 per year. To get experience as a marketing copywriter you can focus on your writing skills and create a portfolio of work to show employers, and take an SEO or copywriting course to give you a head start. Learn more about how you can promote your work through social media.

Duties of a social media manager may include creating content and organising paid ad campaigns to help drive more views and engagement. Senior social media managers can earn up to £50,000 - £55,000. Senior roles will have greater requirements, including a proven history of social media growth, ability to determine trends and data and excellent time management skills.

Moving onto content marketing, there’s lots of scope for growth in a content marketing role, especially with companies like the BBC, ITN and Penguin Random House who advertise for senior content roles with a national average salary of £30,000. These higher-paid roles look for a greater depth of experience in a range of content mediums, high-quality writing and knowledge of SEO best practises.

An SEO copywriter is likely to move up to an SEO specialist who is required to have analytics experience or a writing-heavy qualification such as a degree in English Language. Apart from gaining first-hand experience, you can also gain highly sought-after skills from courses. HubSpot offers an SEO training course full of the latest SEO principles you need to know about. SEO is a fantastic skill to have on your CV, and lots of other marketing roles appreciate at least basic knowledge of SEO - so you don’t have to only apply to roles with SEO in the title! 

A marketing analyst role is all about coming up with conclusions about market conditions, consumer behaviour and what competitors are up to. A marketing analyst apprentice or entry-level role could progress to senior roles with £30,000 - £35,000 salaries attached. As a senior marketing analyst, you will develop a deep understanding of the business’ products and aims, know how to use insights to improve marketing activity and engagement and build relationships within the marketing team to ensure actionable change is occurring.

Is there a difference between agency vs. in-house marketing salary expectations?

There are some notable differences between working in-house vs. within an agency but do salaries differ between the two?

The answer is yes, but by very little. You’ll likely receive a higher salary working in-house over an agency, although in-house marketers are  likely to have greater responsibilities. However, agency salaries are increasing year after year and they usually have unique benefits that cater to your individual needs and work-life balance. The choice is yours! 

Learn more about the difference between agency vs. in-house marketing.