POV: You’ve finally grown your company to a place where you’re ready to bring on more folks to help you with your marketing efforts. This is a huge step! But now you have to budget. And to be honest, you have no clue how to budget for salaries and benefits when it comes to hiring for marketing positions. Here’s what you need to know about budgeting for marketing positions!
What Is My Budget?
Figuring out what kind of budget you have is the crucial first step in hiring for your marketing efforts. There are plenty of external factors that can impact your marketing hiring budgets. Some of the most prominent factors include company size, industry, geographic location, and the actual marketing needs of the company.
Company Size & Industry
The size of your company and the size of the industry in which you’re operating is going to have an impact on your hiring budget. Obviously, if you’re a larger corporation, you may have a little more money to spare in the marketing department. If you’re a small start up company, the budget you are able to devote to marketing may not be as large.
If you’re working in an industry that tends to wield higher wages, this may also impact your budgeting.
Geographic Location
Where your company is operated will also directly impact your hiring budget. The cost of living is different in every part of the country; therefore, how much you budget for hiring must reflect the cost of living in your area. You can’t expect to have the best of the best in the marketing field coming out of the woodwork to work for you if you are not offering them a livable wage!
Marketing Needs
Your budget must also reflect the nature of the work you need done by marketing employees. High level strategic work costs a whole lot more than hiring someone to execute simple marketing tasks, for example.
Who Am I Hiring?
Now that you’ve got a better understanding of how to look at your marketing budget, it’s time to consider who you actually need to hire. There are a variety of different roles you may be looking to hire. These may include:
- Marketing Director
- Chief Marketing Officer
- Marketing Manager
- Social Media Manager
- Marketing Associates
- Content Creators
Understanding the average salaries of these positions can help you better decide which roles would better suit your budget than others. Keep in mind, the more higher-level positions you plan to hire, the more it’s going to stretch your budget.
High-level strategic positions such as a CMO, Vice President of Marketing, and Marketing Director can start in the low six-figures and may cost more depending on the previously mentioned factors.
Mid-level managerial positions such as a marketing manager or social media manager can start in the $60-80k range, and full time entry level positions such as a marketing assistant or content creator can start around $40-50k. Again, these numbers may be subject to change depending on external factors.
Not Ready for An Employee?
If you’re feeling like you’re not ready to hire an employee just yet in your business, there are plenty of contract marketing support options available at all budgets and skill levels. There can be a ton of variation within each role and service provider, with many contractors wearing multiple hats (and charging accordingly!) so use this information as a guide – not gospel.
Let’s take a look at a few:
Fractional CMO
A Fractional CMO leads marketing strategy and decision-making across multiple teams and marketing channels. The average starting cost for contracting a Fraction CMO starts around $200-375/hr or $5-10,000/month.
Marketing Consultant
A marketing consultant can lead marketing strategy and support execution as part of a team or on their own, depending on the size and scope of your company. The average starting cost for contracting a marketing consultant starts around $100-$200/hr or $2,500-$6000/mo.
Marketing Agency
A marketing agency will help support strategy and execution independently or in collaboration with your in-house marketing team. The average starting cost for contracting a marketing agency starts around $100-$300/hr or $5-20,000/mo.
Social Media Manager
Social media managers lead social media strategy in collaboration with other marketing efforts to support social-driven marketing goals. The average starting cost for contracting a social media manager starts around $50-$125/hr.
Copywriter/ Content Writer
These positions write copy for websites, sales emails, whitepapers, blogs, and other marketing materials. They can lead strategy (which may increase their rates) or be more task-based (which may provide lower rates). The average starting cost for contracting copywriters or content writers starts around $35-$150/hr.
Content Creator
An easy find in today’s society, a content creator creates, produces, and distributes photo and video content, typically for social media. They can also support the social media manager and the rest of your marketing team. The average starting cost for contracting a content creator starts around $35-$75/hr.
Marketing Assistant
A marketing assistant with marketing tasks from writing and scheduling content to managing emails, following an editorial calendar. They really can play any role in supporting and executing an established strategy! The average starting cost for contracting a marketing assistant starts around $25-$45/hr.
Not sure how to support your marketing needs with your budget? Schedule a vibe check call with me and we can chat about the best way for you to reach your goals! Or feel free to slide into my DM’s on Instagram– they are always open!
