Christine Esposito, Associate Editor10.10.11
Welcome to the second Happi.com Marketing & Sales Salary Survey. Over the summer, we polled marketing and sales staff in the household, I&I and personal care marketplace to determine their attitudes toward their jobs, level of education, salaries and what their biggest concerns are at work. Like last year’s edition, this survey is a follow-up to our R&D Salary Survey, which provides the same insights from those involved directly in product formulation.
By gender, 55.3% of respondents were women and 44.7% were men.
The average age of respondents was 43, and the oldest respondent was 83. The average age for women was 40.1; for men it was 46.5.
Regarding education, 25.6% of the respondents have Masters degrees, 57.6% obtained Bachelors degrees; 3.1% have Doctorate level education, 8.2% had earned their high school diploma and 5.4% checked “other.”
Just 4.4% of our respondents said they had been laid off in the past year. Meanwhile, 84.4% of respondents said they had changed companies in the past year. In terms of raises, 62.6% said they received a raise for 2010, while 37.4% said they did not see a bump in salary.
Our online survey tallied more respondents this year—so, a special thanks goes out to all who participated! We’re looking forward to including even more of you in our 2012 survey.
The Demographics
Our respondents came from manufacturers of personal care/beauty products, household products and I&I products as well as the suppliers that provide them with raw materials they need to manufacture their products. By category, 40% of the respondents came from finished goods manufacturers, 60% coming from the supplier side. Of those surveyed, 77.1% worked in the personal care/beauty sector, 16% in household products and 6.9% in I&I.
Respondents included marketing director/VP (9%), sales director/VP (9.7%), marketing manager (18.3%), sales manager (18.3%), marketing associate (6%), sales associate (11.1%), marketing support (1.9%), sales support (2.1%) and other (23.6%), which included varied titles such as owner, evaluator and public relations among others.
By gender, 55.3% of respondents were women and 44.7% were men.
The average age of respondents was 43, and the oldest respondent was 83. The average age for women was 40.1; for men it was 46.5.
Regarding education, 25.6% of the respondents have Masters degrees, 57.6% obtained Bachelors degrees; 3.1% have Doctorate level education, 8.2% had earned their high school diploma and 5.4% checked “other.”
The majority of respondents (73.2%) came from the US; 1.2% came from Mexico; 5.2% came from Canada; 5.6% came from Europe, 9.9% came from Asia-Pacific; 1.2% from Latin America; and 0.9% from Middle East/Africa. “Other” was the response of 2.8%.
Fewer Layoffs Reported
For those who serve in a management position, 68% said they oversee 1-4 people, 20.6% said they oversee 5-10 people, 5.7% said they are responsible for 11-20 staff, 2.8% said they are responsible for 21-50 people and 1.6% said they oversee 51-100 staffers.
One bit of welcome news; just 14.4% reported that they had to let some employees go, down from 17.6% reported in our 2010 poll. According to our data, 85.6% of the survey respondents this year said they did not layoff staff in the past 12 months. (And if you are job hunting, be sure to check out Happi.com’s new Job Bank Section, which can be found on our home page.)
What’s in Your Wallets?
Here is a look at the median salary levels for US-based respondents based on position held. More detailed breakdowns—including gender comparisons and salary differences at supplier vs. finished goods firms, when available—are listed under the specific job title sections (see below). All responses are in US dollars.
Median Annual Base Salary by Position
Sales Support: $54,000
Marketing Support: $45,000
Marketing Associate: $54,000
Sales Associate: $69,000
Marketing Manager: $90,000
Sales Manager: $90,000
Sales Director/VP: $130,000
Marketing Director/VP: $120,000
Just 4.4% of our respondents said they had been laid off in the past year. Meanwhile, 84.4% of respondents said they had changed companies in the past year. In terms of raises, 62.6% said they received a raise for 2010, while 37.4% said they did not see a bump in salary.
The overwhelming majority of respondents—91.8%—did not take a cut in base salary in the past year. According to this year’s data, 15.5% of our respondents reported that their companies had stopped matching 401(k) contribution or cut other retirement benefits, as opposed to 27% reporting the same issue in 2010.
Below is a look at how respondents felt about whether or not their compensation reflects their level of responsibility.
What’s Bugging You?
Based on this year’s responses, there has been a shift in thinking regarding the most frustrating aspect of your job. Although answers varied, the largest percentage of respondents (23.2%) said that being overwhelmed by multiple projects is their biggest concern at the office. In 2010, inadequate funding/resources topped the list. The next most popular responses in our 2011 survey were inadequate funding/resources (18.1%), followed by internal politics (16.7%), lack of advancement (12.7%) and inadequate compensation. (See a chart for other concerns)
While you may be overwhelmed with multiple projects, there is some good news: your department hasn’t lost funding. Fewer respondents reported having their budgets cut this time around— 39.7% compared to 53.7% reported last year.
When asked how likely they were to leave their current company in the next two years, 29.3% of respondents said “very unlikely” and 18.7% said “very likely.”
In terms of job security, when asked how secure they felt in their present position, the vast majority felt secure to very secure. Less than 7% of respondents said they felt very insecure.
The R&D Connection
When asked how often they meet with the R&D staff, 30.4% said they meet weekly, while 22.3% said they meet daily with their technical counterparts. Some 14.2% said they meet with R&D once or twice a month, 18.1% said they meet monthly. Some 15% said they never meet with the R&D staff.
And in terms of how often they connect with their lab-coated colleagues, marketing and sales staffers believe that they are investing the right amount of effort—54.4% of our respondents said they believe they meet with R&D the appropriate amount of time. Just over 36% said they should meet more often, but less than 4% said they thought they should meet less often than they do and another. Lastly, 5.6% said they thought they should never meet with the R&D team.
What’s On Your Desktop and In-Box?
Although marketing and sales staffers are juggling multiple projects, we asked respondents to tell us their most important project. A new launch/SKU was the most popular response at 59.2%, which bodes well for the push for innovation in every product category. Repackaging/rebranding was the response of 10.8% and new ad campaign/PR/marketing campaign was 8.2%. Trade show participation was recorded by 7.5%, followed by social media/internet at 7.2%. In-store display/promotion was 2.9% and event marketing was 4.2%.
With Facebook pages, Groupon and QR codes becoming more commonplace, social media and online efforts have become an increasingly critical aspect of many companies’ strategies. Still, 59% of respondents said that their company did not have a dedicated media/online marketing person or team.
Breaking it down further, within the group of survey respondents at personal care/beauty/fragrance manufacturers, 57% said they have a dedicated social media/online marketing person/team, while just 32% of household product manufacturers said they did too. On the supplier side, 35% said they had dedicated social media/online marketing staff.
Wallet Specifics
While the information above casts a wide net, here is a way to better gauge current compensation with peers. In most instances we have included compensation levels for specific positions based on gender, supplier vs. finished goods manufacturer and by industry (beauty/personal care vs. household products vs. I&I)—when survey data supported these responses.
Marketing Support
Median Annual Base Salary: $45,000
Median Annual Base Salary for Female: $58,000
Median Annual Base Salary for Male: $36,000
Median Annual Base Salary @ finished goods company: $45,000
Median Annual Base Salary @ supplier: $42,500
Sales Support
Median Annual Base Salary: $54,000
Median Annual Base Salary for Female: $50,000
Sales Associate
Median Annual Base Salary: $69,000
Median Annual Base Salary for Female: $60,000
Median Annual Base Salary for Male: $97,000
Median Annual Base Salary @ finished goods company: $50,000
Median Annual Base Salary @ supplier: $95,000
Median Annual Base Salary within Personal Care/Beauty: $55,500
Median Annual Base Salary within Household Products: $30,000 (1)
Median Annual Base Salary within I&I: $32,500 (1)
Marketing Associate
Median Annual Base Salary: $54,000
Median Annual Base Salary for Female: $51,500
Median Annual Base Salary for Male: $81,000
Median Annual Base Salary @ finished goods company: $53,000
Median Annual Base Salary @ supplier: $56,000
Median Annual Base Salary with Personal Care/Beauty: $51,500
Sales Manager
Median Annual Base Salary: $90,000
Median Annual Base Salary for Female: $75,000
Median Annual Base Salary for Male: $94,500
Median Annual Base Salary @ finished goods company: $75,000
Median Annual Base Salary @ supplier: $90,000
Marketing Manager
Median Annual Base Salary: $90,000
Median Annual Base Salary for Female: $90,000
Median Annual Base Salary for Male: $92,000
Median Annual Base Salary @ finished goods company: $70,000
Median Annual Base Salary @ supplier: $108,000
Median Annual Base Salary @ finished goods co. within Personal Care/Beauty: $75,000
Sales Director/VP
Median Annual Base Salary: $130,000
Median Annual Base Salary for Female: $63,750
Median Annual Base Salary for Male: $144,000
Median Annual Base Salary @ finished goods company: $130,000
Median Annual Base Salary @ supplier: $125,000
Marketing Director/VP
Median Annual Base Salary: $120,000
Median Annual Base Salary for Female: $102,500
Median Annual Base Salary for Male: $147,950
Median Annual Base Salary @ finished goods company: $120,000
Median Annual Base Salary @ supplier: $100,000