So many marketers are overtitled and expect to be compensated according to their inflated titles which makes it hard to know what you should expect to make for your role. Casey Stanton is the Founder of CMOx, a Fractional CMO, and author of the Wall Street Journal #1 bestseller, The Fractional CMO Method. In this episode, Casey explores the hierarchy of the marketing world, how to scale that hierarchy, and what you can expect to make along to way to becoming a CMO or even a Fractional CMO.
Takeaways:
- When people are overtitled, they believe they have more power than they do or should and they will try to command a higher wage than they deserve for the problems they are solving. This is especially important for smaller businesses.
- At the bottom is the Marketing Technician. They have the opportunity to grow into a bigger role but at this point, they need to be a jack of all trades that can do all of the work you ask them to do. The typical hourly rate is between $15-$30.
- The next level up is where you get into specialized names for marketers in specialized roles, such as CRM Specialist or Conversion Rate Optimization Specialist. If you put “lead” in their title, they will be looking for a competitive salary.
- Moving up the hierarchy, Marketing Manager and Marketing Coordinator, with the Manager being slightly ahead of the Coordinator. Above those is the Marketing Director and then the VP of Marketing or the CMO
- Marketing Directors usually make $60,000-$150,000 per year, but they don’t bring much to the marketing strategy. They need the strategy from the CMO, who should be making a minimum of $150,000 with great CMOs bringing in $250,000-$500,000.
- It can take about 10-20 years to work your way up to becoming a traditional CMO but many people get stuck at the manager level.
- Great Fractional CMOs can expect to make $500,000 per year and they don’t need to rely entirely on one client to provide them with their livelihood. Working for multiple companies significantly lowers the impact of being laid off or fired by a client.
Quote of the Show:
- “If you have one company that pays you and that's all your livelihood, you run a significant risk” - Casey Stanton
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