Social Marketing Compensation Research

Social Marketing Compensation Research

Posted on09 March 2010. Tags: #somarkcomp, compensation, Jobs, marketing, OCRN, social marketing, Social Media, womma

The Social Marketing Compensation Study was initiated in December of 2009 as a joint research project between the Online Community Research Network and WOMMA. The intention of the study was to get a broad look at the emerging field of social media marketing, and specifically, to explore issues related to compensation and satisfaction in the area of social marketing. Forum One released a report based on the study this week.

We received approximately 224 responses. Participants represent a wide swath of the types of organizations participating in online community building activities, including: large software companies, large community destination sites, niche community sites, platform providers, interactive marketing firms and independent consultants.

A sample of the 220+ organizations that participated include (with their permission):
HP, Nielsen, Community Partners, Satmetrix, ComBlu, Avid, Fanscape, ZAGG, Bumbleride Inc., Vemma, PEMCO Insurance, Xorcom, Procter & Gamble, GlobalGiving, Hallmark Cards, Inc., Culligan, and Open Text.

Several key issues pertaining to the compensation of marketers working in social media surfaced during this report, including:
• On average, the female participants earned an annual salary of $64k, which is significantly lower than the average annual salary for men, which was close to $104k. (Our data set was 58% male and 42% female).
• Less than a third of the respondents, 31% (69), indicated that they received a salary increase in the past 12 months, and 19% (42) said they had actually taken a decrease in salary within the last year.
• On average, participants are somewhat satisfied with their current salary, with an average satisfaction score of 3.2 (where 1 = Dissatisfied and 5 = Very Satisfied) and a median score of 3.5. The male participants, on average, are slightly more satisfied with their overall salary amounts than the female participants.

Other Highlights Include:

Salaries by Gender
On average, the female participants earned an annual salary of $64k, which is significantly lower than the average annual salary for men, which was close to $104k. A large number of female participants indicated that they had a salary range that was less than $50k which brought the average salary lower for the women, whereas the male respondents, taken as a whole, had a much more evenly distributed salary ranges.

Salaries by Age
According to the respondents that participated in our survey, people who are in the age category of 41 – 50 are making the highest annual salary of $117k. The respondents aged 51 – 59 were the second highest salary earners, with an average salary of $109.5k. The lower salary averages belong to the 21 – 25 respondents, who earn an average salary of $28k. The overall average annual salary for all participants was $80.7k.

Salary Increases
Less than a third of the respondents, 31% (69), indicated that they received a salary increase in the past 12 months, and 19% (42) said they had actually taken a decrease in salary within the last year.

The Full Report
The full Social Marketing Compensation report includes additional information about job descriptions, departments in charge of social marketing, job satisfaction and other areas related to the emergent role of Social Marketing. To purchase the report ($99), please go to our Research Store.

Share/Bookmark