Marketing Career Advice: Women Tell You How To Triumph

Welcome to your amazing marketing career!

As marketers, we face exciting new opportunities.

Despite challenges from:

• COVID-19,
• Eroding trust, and
• Increased privacy concerns.

With evolving AI driven technologies and improved data, we can create better customer experiences across channels and devices.

But marketing success depends on:

• Treating our audiences as real people, and
• Focusing on their needs, wants and entertainment. 

To do this, our employers must us give us the necessary marketing resources and budgets. And, more importantly, we need to believe that they have our backs.

Regardless of whether you’re an employee, freelancer or solopreneur, you need to be treated fairly. This applies to your job, compensation and other job-related benefits and perks.

Unfortunately, most female marketer lag their male counterparts across job categories, salaries and organizational positions.

But we can succeed, if we help and support each other women in marketing.

So we collected key job and salary research to help you understand the current marketing hiring landscape.In addition, we got marketing career advice from 30+ women.

Best Marketing Career Advice For Women:
What You Need To Do Based On Research

Before hearing marketing career advice from other women, examine the current marketplace in terms of jobs, salaries and benefits.

Despite women’s lib and legislation, there’s no way to sugar-cost the truth:
A gender gap in salaries persists across professions including marketing.

The gender pay gap for full time employees hasn’t changed in the last 10 years! In OECD countries, it averages 13.4%. Globally, women earn $10,000 less than men in average annual income.

Based on median weekly earnings across professions:
Women earned 81.5% of what men earned in 2019 for full-time work. So they bring home $286 less per week! (Catalyst)

Also, the US gender pay gap increases by demographic across jobs. In 2020, for each $1 a white man earns (PayScale 2020):

• American Indian and Alaskan Native women earned $0.75,
• Asian-American women earned $0.95,
• African and Black American women earned $0.75,
• Hispanic women earned $0.75,
• Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander women earned $0.80, and
• White women earned $0.81.

According to US Bureau of Labor Statistics data (via Builtin.com), education doesn’t reduce the gender salary gap regardless of job focus.

In the US, the gender pay gap varies by state regardless of profession. (PayScale 2020)

Marketing Salaries By Position

Salaries for different agency and corporation marketing positions vary by level of experience.  (Note: The Creative Group/Robert Half’s 2020 Salary Guide didn’t break out differences between men and women.)

Want to check your marketing salary?
Use Robert Half’s US and Canadian Salary Calculator (includes information on differences between cities.)

Beyond the base salary, consider your total compensation package. Because they define the true amount you earn. Since, if your company doesn’t provide these benefits, you must pay for them yourself. Freelancers and solopreneurs take note!

So assess the quality and value of:

• Paid medical and dental insurance.
• Ability to telecommute (but don’t overlook related costs you incur at home!)
• Paid medical leave (also paternity leave.)
• Retirement benefits including pensions, 401Ks and other options.
• Bonuses and stock options.

In addition, perks not only make a position more attractive, they can provide the equivalent of salary. For example, maternity leave is a prime reason women fall behind their male peers in lifetime earnings.

When gender pay differences in marketing  jobs are tracked, the gap increases as women gain experience and seniority ( 2019 Marketing Week Career and Salary Survey).

Gender gap in marketing salaries increases as women gain experience and seniority

And, the gender gap for marketing salaries exists across a range of business categories.

Marketing Salaries show a gender gap across categories.

Career Case Study: Do You Want To Learn How To Negotiate Better?

Regardless of how much career advice you get, realize that as a woman:
Most labor economists estimate that the gender pay gap is between 10% and 20%.

In 2018 research conducted in Australia by Benjamin Artz, Amanda Goodall and Andrew J. Oswald found (via Harvard Business Review):

When background factors were kept constant, women asked for a raise as often as men did, BUT men were more likely to get one!

Specifically, when they asked for a raise:
Women got a raise 15% of the time and men got a pay increase 20% of the time. 

While a difference of 5 percentage points doesn’t sound like much, it adds up over a lifetime:
Women lose an estimated $900,000 in lifetime earnings compared to men over a 40 year career (PayScale).

What Are The Top Mistakes Women Make When Negotiating For A Job?

To help you negotiate better for salary and other aspects of your job, Lynne Labrador provides useful career advice insights. She has years of experience as a senior executive at global corporations.

According to Lynne:
Negotiating for a new job should never just be about salary!  

When changing jobs, honestly ask yourself “WHY”. Get clear about what you want to get from your next job. Include the specific company, position and timing.

After you understand your ‘whys’, prioritize them to know:

• What are your show-stoppers? and 
• What are your ‘nice to haves?

In Lynne’s opinion, this holds true for your first job, a new position within your current company, or a job at another company.

After doing this preparation, be clear and honest with yourself as you negotiate.  And be willing to walk away if your ‘must haves’ can’t be met. 

Actionable Job Negotiation Tips For Women In Marketing:

• Know your job priorities. Money isn’t always your top priority!
• Assess the market and industry trends for the position AND location you’re considering.
• Have the confidence to ask for what you want and need from the new position.
• Remember job negotiation is about business, not you personally.

What Are The Top Salary Mistakes Women Make?

To help you negotiate for the job and package, Lynne Labrador shares one of her job negotiation stories. But understand that many find job search and negotiation stressful. (Hired 2020).

Both women and men find looking for a job and negotiating salary stressful. Chart via Hired.

After being recruited for a job and having several interviews, I received an offer.

But the job required me to relocate from a low-cost city to a higher cost city. So I did my homework to know the differences in salary and other costs between the two cities.

I countered their offer with a salary to keep me even based on the cost of living. And, the recruiter responded that the firm had offered me the top of the job’s salary range.  

BUT—Lynne didn’t let this stop her!
She countered, “There’s probably a higher level position where my salary request fits.”  

Result:
She received an offer meeting her salary request! To make the money work, the company brought her in at a higher executive level.

The difference between how women and men ask for increased salary during job negotiations. Chart via Hired.

Actionable Job Negotiation Tips For Women In Marketing:

• Think about what you want in the full job package before getting an offer. Know your worth for the role. Where possible, get input from colleagues or past bosses.
• Do your homework related to functions, salary and other benefits. Know comparable salaries and other parts of the package, especially when changing cities.
• Never say yes to a job offer too quickly. Every offer is a starting point!  In Lynne’s words, “Don’t put yourself on sale!”
• Ask for the salary you want. At worst they’ll say no.
• Be willing to walk away from an offer. Or you’ll probably regret it.

The Career Advice Secret Every Women Needs To Know

What is Lynne Labrador’s biggest career advice secret for women in marketing?

• Go through at least one formal interview process per year. This allows you to practice your job search skills whether you want to change jobs or not! Otherwise, you risk being terrified and out of practice if you get laid off from your job.

Lynne explained:
“Looking back, I wish I had someone who I could have asked for advice in my earlier career.” 

Women either don’t know to or like to talk about their salaries. This causes a lack of salary transparency. So, women don’t know what’s right to ask for when they get a job offer. As a result, they accept whatever they get. Women overlook their true value and talent.

Lynne Labrador’s Actionable Marketing Career Advice:

• Find someone you trust to talk about your career, job and salary concerns. Since job and salary negotiations are always stressful!
• Negotiate for the salary you’re worth. Since NO ONE will ever care more about your success than YOU. So be your own best advocate!

Marketing Career Advice: 30+ Women Share Their Secrets

So what can you do as a woman in marketing to get ahead in your career while you get paid what you’re worth?

Listen to what these 30+ women suggest and try to learn from their experience.

Olga Bedrina (@olga_bedrina)

Never doubt yourself!

It’s self-destructive and it definitely won’t help you pursue your dreams.

As a woman in marketing, you are capable of coming up with brilliant creative ideas, leading a team forward, and doing a great job, no matter the industry.

Jenny Brennan – AgoraPulse (@jennybrennanme)

I would have to say that when you come from a place of really wanting to help and serve others, you will do well. It is a great way to show your skills to your employers, peers and the customers that you are serving.

Be sincere and authentic. There really is only one you, it’s not a cliche. So embrace who you are and let her into the world.

LISTEN: In all seriousness, when you listen to experts in your field, you’ll learn so much.

I LOVE podcasts and audiobooks as a way to learn. It opens my mind to so many possibilities (and I get some steps in too.)

Leslie Carruthers – TheSearchGuru.com (@LeslieCarruther)

Start building a support network early.

• Ask for help,
• Enroll mentors and
• Hire coaches.

Don’t just work harder – check and validate that you’re working smarter.

Start a side hustle early – it will inform so much of what you do and you’ll grow faster. –Leslie CarruthersClick To Tweet