ClickZ and SEMPO Launch Search Marketer Salary Survey

ClickZ has partnered with SEMPO to launch an industry wide survey to assess the current state of compensation of search marketing professionals in relation to region, experience and responsibly. This is the fourth survey that SEMPO has conducted on this topic – the last one was two years ago.

This survey is open to all search and digital marketing professionals working in an agency or in-house. Participants do not need to be SEMPO members.
To take the survey, please click here. All responses are anonymous.

As a bonus to our readers, all persons taking the survey can request a free summary report – and can enter a drawing to win the grand prize of a Platinum Pass to SES NY 2013, or one of five $25 Amazon vouchers.

“It’s been a while since the last salary survey so it will be interesting to see how salaries have changed in relation to increased experience and expanded social responsibilities. This will also allow us to compare in-house vs. agency employee salaries using the same exact criteria and the changes over the last two years” says Bill Scully, of Siemens Industry, Inc. a member of the SEMPO Research Committee.

“We encourage search marketers from around the world to participate in this salary survey. It’s the best method of getting a true understanding of compensation of search marketers and comparisons between in-house and agency marketers,” continues Scully.

The survey data to be collected includes salary ranges of SEO and SEM jobs, from entry level to executive, salary variations by geographic markets, the total compensation package beyond salaries such as bonuses, benefits and perks. It also will capture responsibilities, the number of accounts and number of people managed, and search marketing budget size.

Melanie White, Special Projects Editor, ClickZ added: “Organizations need to establish competitive and effective compensation plans, so it is important for them to have quality information about what others are paying for employees in similar positions. The SEMPO/ClickZ survey will provide an exhaustive breakdown of salaries and benefits by discipline, job function and experience level. It’s also a great barometer for discovering whether the industry is confident about the coming year.”

Sempo salary survey 2011

Looking back at the last comparable survey taken in 2011, some highlights stood out including:

The average search marketer salary is $75,542

The majority of respondents with 0 – 3 years of experience in search marketing earn $30,001 to $60,000

Approximately 20 percent of respondents with 0 – 3 years of experience earn $60,000+

Respondents making $60,000+ more than doubles to 50 percent for respondents with 3-5 years’ experience

With 5-7 years of experience, 78 percents of respondents make more than $60,000