Some of the best-paying marketing jobs are in banking and finance – although pharmaceuticals and consumer goods beat it for senior roles
If you're just starting out in marketing, you could do a lot worse than getting into the finance sector – after new research suggested it pays junior marketing types better than any other industry.
The research, by salary benchmarking site Emolument, found junior marketing professionals earn an average salary of £37,000 at banking and financial services firms, along with a £2,000 bonus. That's followed by the energy, chemicals and environmental sector, where they'll start out on £31,500 (no bonus, though) – and insurance, which pays £30,000 to juniors.
The ranking changes as people climb the ladder – for senior marketing professionals, pharmaceuticals is the most lucrative industry, with a median salary of £91,000, plus a £20,000 bonus. Meanwhile, banking and finance slips to fourth place, with wages of £85,000 and a bonus of £8,000.
At the other end of the scale are charities and not-for-profit organisations, where the median salary for senior marketers was £38,525, with no bonus (so less than a junior banker at an investment bank).
Surprisingly, consulting and outsourcing came next, with a £49,000 salary and a £2,000 bonus – followed by media, communication, music and gaming, with a £53,000 salary and no bonus.
"With the digitalisation of businesses across the board, marketing has shifted from an anecdotal support function (for many) to being the centre of attention and core to growth strategies and brand management, even in industries which had never considered it as such prior to the digital age, such as biotech or restaurants," pointed out Alice Leguay, Emolument's co-founder and chief operating officer.
"Not only has the expansion of marketing changed company's structures but it is putting marketing professionals under constant pressure to stay at the forefront of technological improvements, product development (I am thinking about Facebook's ever-changing advertising platform), adding constant self-improvement to the job description.
"With new functions emerging all the time, we expect the landscape to keep shifting substantially in the coming years when it comes to pay, as departments become obsolete and new ones step into the spotlight."