Marketing and creative salary benchmarks and trends

Name: Data at a glance
Creator: Robert Half

2027 Salary Guide

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This is not the final Salary Guide. Do not share this preview before September 10 to avoid distributing information that may change before launch. This draft version is intended for internal review and training purposes only.

Compensation is competitive for many marketing and creative roles that require both strategic thinking and technical fluency. In-house teams and agencies need professionals who can improve customer experiences, translate marketing data into actionable insights, implement marketing technology and support AI-enabled campaign execution.

Salary misalignment can occur when employers offer below-market pay or expect a broad mix of skills without adjusting compensation. Pay can also vary between in-house and agency roles, with base salary, bonuses, flexibility and project variety all informing a candidate’s decision to accept an offer or change jobs.

Hiring managers: Meet with us to get customized salary insights and guidance so you can build offers candidates say yes to.

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The salaries below default to national averages. Select a job category and city to find figures for a specific market. Starting compensation can vary significantly based on a candidate’s skills, experience and certifications, as well as other factors including industry; company size, complexity or revenue; and demand for the role. To reflect this variability, we report our compensation data in 3 levels: low, mid and high.

Agency Account Management

Content and Social Media

Design and Production

Digital Marketing

Marketing and Communications

UX Design and Development

Job Title

Low

Mid

High

Account Director

97750

120000

146500

Account Supervisor

81000

95250

110000

Account Manager/Executive

54750

68750

88500

Account Coordinator

44000

50250

59000

Low

The candidate is new to the role or has limited experience and is still developing core skills.

Mid

The candidate has moderate experience in the role or one similar, meets most requirements, and may hold transferable skills or relevant certifications.

High

The candidate has extensive experience in the role, demonstrates advanced skills, and often brings specialized certifications or industry experience.

Marketing and creative compensation trends

Data at a glance

56%

of marketing and creative leaders are making more competitive offers, especially for business-critical roles with limited talent pools.

41%

are offering salaries above their planned range, citing the need to secure candidates with specialized skills as a top reason.

65%

are offering higher pay for relevant AI skills, with 38% offering more for AI-related expertise than for other tech skills.

Specialized skills

Content and Social Media

Organizations are paying more for high-impact skills tied to critical initiatives and to compete for in-demand talent.

Brand and product management

Content strategy

Influencer marketing

Design and Production

Organizations are paying more for high-impact skills tied to critical initiatives and to compete for in-demand talent.

AI design tool literacy

Animation

Motion design

Visual storytelling

Digital Marketing

Organizations are paying more for high-impact skills tied to critical initiatives and to compete for in-demand talent.

Answer engine optimization (AEO) and SEO

Demand generation

Marketing automation platforms

Product strategy

Marketing

Organizations are paying more for high-impact skills tied to critical initiatives and to compete for in-demand talent.

Business communications

Paid advertising

Performance and KPI tracking

Product marketing

UX Design and Development

Organizations are paying more for high-impact skills tied to critical initiatives and to compete for in-demand talent.

AI-powered UX and coding tools

Product design

Service design

User personas

Rewards that prompt career moves

When base pay is similar, marketing and creative professionals weigh the full compensation package before deciding to accept a job offer or change employers. Top benefits and perks that influence a job change:

Work‑life balance and flexibility

Paid time off, hybrid or remote work options, flexible hours

Financial incentives

Bonuses, profit-sharing programs, stock options

Explore more total rewards insights

Roles, industries, certifications on the rise

Roles requiring specialized skills in areas such as marketing automation, analytics and digital campaign strategy are expected to have salary growth above the projected +1.8% average for marketing and creative positions.

+3.9% Marketing Automation Specialist

+3.5% Marketing Analytics Specialist

+3.0% Digital Marketing Manager

+2.8% Digital Project Manager

+2.7% Digital Strategist

+2.7% Email Marketing Specialist

Employers in these industries need skilled professionals to advance customer acquisition, digital engagement, brand differentiation and e-commerce growth.

Financial services

Marketing and advertising consulting services

Retail trade and e-commerce

Tech and IT

Certifications can justify higher pay when they validate expertise in marketing technology, data analysis, and campaign and project execution.

Adobe Certified Professional (ACP)

Google Ads Certification

Google Data Analytics Certification

HubSpot Inbound Marketing Certification

Project Management Professional (PMP)

Salesforce CRM Certification

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More to explore

2027 Marketing and creative salary trends: The skills and roles driving growth See where marketing and creative salaries are rising in 2027 and how AI, analytics, and specialized skills are shaping career growth and hiring trends.

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Pay and Compensation Highlights Dive deeper into salary and total rewards trends across a range of professional roles and industries.

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Salaries and trends by profession

Get 2027 starting salaries and salary insights in our other professional fields.

Finance and accounting

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The salary benchmarks in the Salary Guide From Robert Half are the result of a rigorous, multistep process designed to reflect projected market trends for 2027. They are based on actual compensation for professionals Robert Half has matched with employers across the country and third-party job posting data from Textkernel that we use to independently validate the salary levels. Learn more about our methodology.

Non-salary data is based on online surveys developed by Robert Half and conducted by an independent research firm. Respondents include hiring managers and workers at small (10-99 employees), midsize (100-999 employees) and large (1,000-plus employees) private, publicly listed and public sector organizations across the United States.