High-Paying Marketing Jobs

The top high-paying jobs in marketing pay a tremendous amount of money, especially if you have international experience tying audience, culture and media strategies together or know your way around the newest channels, according to data from Salary.com.

Marketing jobs have been tough to come by over the last three years, but companies cautiously began hiring again in 2010, says Donna Farrugia, executive director of The Creative Group, a staffing firm based in Menlo Park, California. “In 2011, marketing teams are still lean, but companies can’t grow the business without adding talent,” she says. “It’s not raining money, though. Companies still don’t have big salary budgets.”

Mark Szypko, managing director of international compensation at Kenexa’s Salary.com division, which powers Monster’s Salary Wizard, says salaries are increasing for those in revenue-generating positions.

“Sales and marketing continue to be areas where hiring is picking up to fill slots that have been vacated by either a layoff or voluntary turnover,” he says. “Staffing levels are still below pre-recession levels but for these groups that gap is shrinking. In order to attract individuals into these critical roles, salaries are expected to rise as well.”

Despite current tight marketing salary budgets, paychecks (including bonuses and benefits) are very healthy for people in these seven marketing jobs:

1. International Marketing Executive: $282,100

Companies pay chief marketing officers top dollar to plan and direct international marketing strategies that capture audience attention in many cultures, markets and channels. To land this job at a Fortune 500 firm, you’ll need an MBA from a top-tier program, says Nancy Davis, practice director for sales and marketing at The Mergis Group, a recruiting and staffing agency based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.


2. Top Channel Development Executive: $267,200

Companies value marketing pros who can run channel development in ways that maximize revenues. Only a small pool of people have the right mix of traditional marketing experience, analytics knowledge and new channel know-how, yet the number of companies moving into ecommerce is huge, Farrugia says. That’s why salaries for top channel development experts have edged out salaries of domestic top marketing executives.


3. Top Marketing Executive: $244,400

The best of the best marketing executives quickly adapt their company’s strategies and philosophies across a wide variety of ever-changing channels. Want to end up in the chief marketing officer’s job someday? Focus on digital projects. Write the projects into your resume as business cases that highlight your role and the bottom-line results, Farrugia says.


4. Top Market Research Executive: $193,100

Web analytics and market research are driving corporate investments as companies try to pinpoint changing customer preferences and locate the right audience for their products. Salaries for market research executives are up 3 percent to 5 percent in 2011, Farrugia says.


5. Marketing Director: $152,800

In companies that don’t have much of a marketing department, the marketing director handles everything, says Bruce Rowles, a recruiter with Experis (formerly Manpower) in Milwaukee. While every position is different, you’ll often need industry experience, along with marketing managerial experience to land marketing director positions, which are still scarce, he says.


6. Ecommerce Marketing Director: $148,500

Demand is tremendous for ecommerce marketing professionals as companies vie for online dominance. “Companies are all looking for the perfect hybrid person who knows traditional marketing and what’s going to make people click and stick,” Farrugia says.


7. Database Marketing Manager: $97,100

Data analysis is a niche within marketing where there are more jobs than candidates, Davis says. “Generally speaking, there are no more than one or two candidates for data-analytics positions,” she says. And unlike the C-level marketing jobs that take years to reach, you can work your way up to this position and that nearly $100,000 salary in only seven years, Salary.com says.

10 Secret To Success Local Online Marketing

Consumers seeking a local business, professional or other service provider search and choose differently depending on the product or service they need. That seems like common sense, but it’s often misunderstood. And that creates special opportunities for local business owners to be found first by customers searching online.

The basic secret to success is this: Deliver the right types of information (consumers seek multiple pieces) for your specific category, industry or vertical. In other words, today’s challenge goes beyond simply showing up in an online search. To win the business you need to deliver the right kind of information once the prospect has found you. And that’s where the differences come into play.

For example: The two things consumers want most when searching for an attorney, doctor or other health care provider are:

1) Information about professional credentials or specialties; and

2) levels and areas of experience. But someone looking online for auto repair services or any of the thousands of products and services that fall under “home improvement,” will first and foremost be interested in specific product or service details and costs. Only then do consumers start to look for discounts, special offers or details about credentials.

These findings come from new nationwide research just conducted by WebVisible and the Chicago-based market research firm Synovate eNation. Four different groups of 1,000 Americans were asked what kinds of information best help them make their choice when searching online for doctors, lawyers, auto repair services and home improvement product or service providers.

“Getting found online is just the first step,” says Ron Burr, CEO of WebVisible. “Local advertisers have to make sure the information they provide will help close the deal. Do your customers want information or a discount? Do they want to read about your credentials, or see you in a video? There is no one answer – no magic bullet that will make someone pick up the phone.”

10 Ways to Perfect your Online Pitch

1. Service providers who offer general, educational information – not just about their own company or services – will stand apart. In every category, people want a certain level of “education.” For attorneys, 52% of people want answers to common legal questions. For doctors, 46 % want to know about treatments and procedures. For home improvement, 44% want resources to learn about warranties, tax credits or energy savings. For auto repair, 32% want information about maintenance services recommended at various stages.

2. Income is not a predictor of who will prefer special offers and discounts. In just one category – healthcare – the preference for discounts increased as salaries decreased (16% of those earning $75k+, compared with 37.5% of those earning under $25k). But in the other three categories those in the middle income ranges chose discounts at above-average rates.

3. For healthcare providers, attorneys – or presumably any business offering a service that requires extensive education and training –consumers need details on credentials and experience.

4. Half of the consumers surveyed say they want referrals and recommendations from people in their networks – an argument for having a Facebook page.

5. Roughly half of customers say they want information about available treatments and new procedures when looking for healthcare providers, and about legal procedures and answers to common legal questions when looking for lawyers.

6. When searching for consumer services like auto repair and home improvement, nearly 70% of people said they need information about specific products, services and costs. When seeking auto repair, 58% said they want a discount offer, while 54% said they want a recommendation from someone they know.

7. When seeking a home improvement service provider, 54% said they want details about the provider’s certifications and experience, 53% want a deal, and 52 % want a personal referral.

8. Women tend to seek greater information variety than men.

9. Online video appeals to all age groups. In fact, across all four categories, both the young (ages 18-24) and the older (ages 55-64) chose video – either a profile of the owner/professional or of an actual customer testimonial – at higher-than-average rates.

10. Discounts are important in the categories of auto repair (58 % of respondents named it as key) and home improvement (53 %).

Effective Networking Tips at Trade Shows

Trade shows are not only good for increasing sales and meeting prospective leads, but are also excellent for networking with other business professionals. Building networking relationships with other professionals can only help your company since these people will be able to refer clients to you as long as you are willing to reciprocate the favor. In order to meet these people, you will need to venture outside of your trade show displays in search of these networking opportunities. These 3 tips should make it easier for you to make connections at your next event.

Browse the Convention Aisles

Browse the aisles and keep an eye out for people who are at their trade show booths and appear to have some time to talk. Strike up a conversation with these people without turning the discussion into an advertisement for your business. Ask them who they are, what their title is at their company, and interesting facts about them (do they have kids, what they do on their free time). Do not talk to these people like you would a customer, but more like a friend.

Make Your Objective Known

One of my biggest pet peeves at conventions is when an attendee leads me to believe they are interested in doing business with them. Be frank with these exhibitors and let them know you would like to partner with them in order to help each other expand your businesses.

Invite Them for a Bite to Eat

Get to know other exhibitors or attendees that you have had the chance to speak with outside of the trade show by taking them out to lunch or to grab some coffee. You don't need to constantly be talking about work; turn the conversations to their likes and dislikes in order to get to know them better. Treat them as you would a friend in order to build a friendship with these other exhibitors.

Bring Plenty of Business Cards

You never know when you will need to hand out business cards, so it is important to carry a stack of them with you in order to whip them out at a moment's notice. Your new friends will need to know the best way to contact you and having your own business cards will make it more professional to relay this information to them.

Hopefully these tips will make it easier for you to bring in more clients through networking instead of directly getting sales at your trade show exhibits.

Email Marketing - The 8 Features Of A Successful Email Marketing Message

Email marketing is the act of sending a specific message to a specific group of people in a business's database for the purpose of being informational and/or promotional. Email marketing has been around for almost 20 years and is still the most powerful social networking tool available today. However, as technology has changed and people demand more quality and transparency at the same time, email messages have had to adapt to the new rules to still be effective yet remain in compliance with the law. That's why successful email marketing messages have eight common features in today's world.

1. From name - This is the displayed name of who the email is from. It's a requirement that the 'from name' is displayed because of spam reasons. In fact, the CAN-SPAM act is the central law where all of these email requirements come from.

2. From email address - This is the email address where the email message came from. Once again this is a requirement that every email must have.

3. Subject line - This is self explanatory about what it is, but it's good to know that the subject line is limited in length and having certain words like FREE or SPECIAL OFFER in the subject line can trigger spam flags making your email get rejected or filtered into the spam folder of your email provider.

4. Time of day - This is just another requirement and really is helpful with documentation. For instance, as a manager I used to do all of my documentation with email because it time and date stamped my messages.

5. Content - This is the 'meat and potatoes' of the email message. The content can be whatever you want it to be. Content can be images, text and links to whatever you want and it can be short or long. There's no magic formula to putting together a winning combination of content. The key is to always test and track your emails to see which messages get the most response and interaction from your database.

6. Unsubscribe/User preferences - Every email message today from a campaign has to have this link at the bottom that allows users to opt-out from receiving anymore future messages. Bottom line is it's against the law to NOT have this in your message and all major email marketing companies have this setup already.

7. Privacy policy - Not every campaign email message has this link, but they should. This is another link at the bottom of the message that directs to the privacy policy of the organization. Smart businesses have this in all of their emails.

8. Physical address - Once again, this is a requirement of messages today and most major email marketing companies put the address in your message by default. A real business will have a real address, so this helps with spam.

Ten Jobs For Your Bright Future

We know where the jobs are today -- and we definitely know where they aren't. But what about done in next 10 or even 20 years?

As things like technology, medicine, science and environmentalism continue to advance in the coming years; several occupations are bound to emerge. By understanding these trends, job seekers can play a more active role in planning for their careers.

Some are speculative, some are definitive -- but here are 10 potential jobs of the near or distant future, based on the trends:

1. Cyber security specialist

Cyber security is a growing industry. Knowledgeable professionals who can protect websites and expose hackers will be a hot commodity in the coming years.

2. Genetic counselor

Genetics are advancing at a rapid rate. Doctors can now run tests that will predict genetic conditions, and soon, parents may be able to choose the sex of their unborn children. With the help of genetic counselors, families can educate themselves on available genetic technologies and options.

3. Organic food farmer

Organic food currently occupies about 10 percent of the food and beverage market -- and it's only going to increase. As a result, more organic farmers and producers will need to improve organic farming techniques and grow the food.

4. Medical records administrator

Medical records are at the forefront of innovative technology, with a strong push to digitize medical records. An increased number of medical researchers will be needed to help transition records from paper to digital, and to be able to navigate records quickly for patients.

5. Mobile application developer

Remember car phones? You know, the equivalent of a cell phone, except that you could only use it in the car and it was the size of a brick? With the development of phones like the BlackBerry, Android and iPhone, the mobile media industry is continually progressing. An increased number of developers will be needed to help develop applications, in addition to combating security and compatibility issues.

6. Robotics technician

Robots are becoming more commonplace and they don't run on their own. Technicians will be needed to build robots, maintain them and keep them from malfunctioning.

7. Simulation engineer

There's a simulator for nearly everything these days, from surgeries to flying to drinking and driving. As more simulation-based technologies follow suit, engineers will be required to help out.

8. Social media manager

Social media is the new "it" profession. It started with Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and has expanded to many other platforms. Organizations are now employing social media managers to oversee their online communities and enhance/protect the company brand.

9. Stem cell researcher

Although it's a controversial topic, stem cell research is gaining ground. If this continues, more researchers will be needed to develop cures for diseases, genetic enhancements, and the other information these cells may potentially hold.

10. Sustainability officer

Sustainability has become a concern around the world and also among businesses. Since the executive suite may not have time to learn all there is to know, organizations are hiring eco-savvy individuals as "sustainability officers." These folks will find, research, and implement eco-friendly policies to benefit the organization.

5 Leadership Lessons From Goldman's Missteps

No doubt Goldman Sachs was hoping for a better PR year in 2011, but a Facebook offering debacle and a widely-criticized business practice review set the bank off on a rocky start. So what good can come from the fumbles? Leadership lessons for us all.

The calendar pages have turned to a new year and already Goldman Sachs has found itself in hot water, again.

No doubt, Goldman (GS) was hoping for a better PR year in 2011 and frankly, many people were pulling for them to have one. (We like to see companies turn around and overcome their struggles.)

Unfortunately, with the Facebook offering debacle and the announcement of the results of their business practice review, it isn't turning out to be a better year for them.

So what good can come from their missteps? Leadership lessons for us all.

Lesson One: Results count more than membership.

Goldman's 67-page business practice review has some big name contributors, including Arthur Levitt, senior advisor of The Carlyle Group and former chair of the SEC, and oversight from notables such as Goldman director and author of Authentic Leadership Bill George.

But that hasn't stopped criticism of the report.

Just as a board of directors will be judged by its actions -- not the big names that sit on it -- all groups are ultimately judged on their results, not their membership.

In the past, this wasn't always the case. But with the host of disappointments from household names during the last decade -- and amazing success stories from upstarts and relative unknowns like Facebook – results-based judgment has become nearly universal.

Lesson Two: A failed defense may not be your best "new strategy."

All last year, Goldman defended itself on the Abacus case, and, more generally, on its involvement in the financial crisis, by saying it was simply doing what its clients wanted.

Most people found that to be a weak defense of its actions given the ripple effect on both the markets and the economy and the widespread harm caused by the financial crisis.

Yet the very first section of the new Goldman business practices report (after the structure of the report section) is entitled Client Relationships and Responsibilities. The report states: "We believe the recommendations contained in this report represent a fundamental re-commitment by Goldman Sachs: a re-commitment to our clients and the primacy of their interests."

Lesson Three: Stand for something. You can't please all possible clients all the time.

While the business practices report discusses the primacy of client interests, this approach fails to recognize that different potential Goldman clients can have very different interests. In fact, in defense of its actions last year, Goldman itself reminded its accusers that clients often take opposite sides of the same deal. (The report generally punts on this issue, saying senior management or an appropriate committee will decide how to respond.)

So when Goldman is saying it has made "a re-commitment to our clients and the primacy of their interests," which of its clients' interests are primary?

Lee Scott, a Goldman board member and chairman of Wal-Mart (WMT), helped oversee the business practices report and should understand the importance of the question: who is the client we are trying to serve?

Wal-Mart doesn't try to serve all possible clients. It tries to serve its target clients well: those who want low, low prices. Wal-Mart doesn't make every potential client primary. It chooses who it is (i.e. its mission) and then does its best to attract the people who want what it offers.

That's something every company must do -- it must stand for something that potential clients can then choose to support or not.

Lesson Four: Remember that clients aren't your only stakeholders.

The business practice review report had five major recommendations: strengthening client relationships, strengthening reputational excellence, strengthening committee governance, enhancing transparency and disclosure, and strengthening training and professional development. Other than enhancing transparency, all of these recommendations concentrated on improving client relations, missing big opportunities with other stakeholders.

Goldman had the same mindset with the Facebook offering. Beyond their Facebook client, they ought to have focused on the impact on the markets, regulations and regulators, the general public, other clients and the media. Too narrow a focus, even a good one, will lead to a negative outcome.

Wal-Mart learned that lesson when environmentalists teamed up with other coalitions to fight the company's practices in the last decade. The company realized they had to consider stakeholders aside from their target customers.

Lesson Five: Pursue a broad vision that inspires support. Why not do God's work?

Last year, CEO of Goldman Lloyd Blankfein said Goldman was doing God's work. For that choice remark, he caught all kinds of heat. But what if, in reviewing their business practices, Goldman Sachs stopped to ask, out of curiosity, what that would actually entail? While some may debate this point, the phrase "doing God's work" typically implies pursuing a vision that inspires.

Goldman's business practices report recognizes that sometimes a product shouldn't be introduced to the market. But in their Facebook offering, Goldman had the opportunity to recognize the bigger issues at stake, the implications of a workaround and a private deal for Facebook. The company had the opportunity to consider whether to do business in a way that had positive or negative implications for transparency and rights in our capital markets.

John Whitehead, former co-chair of Goldman Sachs would have considered these points. During his tenure, he actively turned away client business when he thought accepting that business would have negative capital market implications by limiting shareholder rights. He refused to underwrite business that did not include equal rights for shareholders.

Wrestling with bigger vision questions and making tough decisions is what defines the character of a company, not whether they are meeting the needs of one client or another.

Whenever a corporation stumbles, there is no cause for celebration, but there are benefits in the lessons to be learned. Goldman just gave us some lessons this year a bit earlier than they were hoping to.

Business To Business Marketing: Its Differences In Strategy

Business to business and business to consumer marketing types have essentially the same fundamental principles. Both choose target markets and based from them, they make their marketing decisions, such as in coming up with prices of their service or good and selecting the type of distribution and promotion they would employ.

However, in the way the issues are addressed, there is a clear distinction. The nature of business buying is largely dependent on the professional buyers, multiple decision makers, and the potential of having long term relationships. This is unlike the business to consumer marketing, which depends on the single decision maker and has a short buying or sales cycle.

The business to business marketing generally focuses on functionality of the product rather than on anything else. It also has the capacity and resources to buy from the international markets.

The marketing does not focus on the emotional but rather on the logical decision making. If the business has to deal with a business that sells business, it if often that the business buyer has more knowledge about the product or service that it is looking for than the business marketing provider.

It is for this reason why the marketers must be wise and intelligent enough as to how to market, promote, and advertise their goods or services. Business to business marketing employs wider and more complex tactics. Anyone who wishes to utilize it must be patient and determined to learn the length of the ropes as there are many things to be learned about before one can actually use the methods involved in such.

They are appealing to a wider, more intelligent buyer group after all. Anything that the business to business marketer does will have to be based on what that intelligent target group wants, but does not also necessarily mean forgetting the end-users, which for this case, are the buying public or consumers.

You have to remember that the business buyer is buying your service or good because they believe that it will sustain their business, help improve its sales and profits by having wide consumer group patronizing it, and turn in more benefits for them.

What are the strategy differences?

In business to business marketing, the supply and demand made on a certain product or service is taken into account. The same is true in the kind of industry that the marketer is trying to sell the business for. Others to be considered are the trends in the wider market environment. It also has to deal not only with the direct business clients but their customers as well.

Business marketing targets comparably smaller base of clients, but these are the big clients in the industry. And because it is dealing with bigger clientele, it is expected that personalized marketing techniques are provided, so that the business buyer will no longer have to employ different techniques in order to sell the product or service.

And since the clients differ in their preferences, the business marketer might be required to tailor technique to each. And because of this, deeper relationship with each is expected to be developed between business to business provider and business buyer to meet the demands of each big client as well as to foster longevity in the industry.

What Is Business To Business Email Marketing?

The business to business marketing is certainly nothing new in the business world. However, the concept has rolled into an entirely different trend. With the advancement that the technology has been receiving, the B2B marketing likewise has become a receiver of the significant change that business to business email marketing is now becoming popular in the competitive business world.

The B2B was coined with the purpose of distinguishing it between other business communication types, such as the business to consumer marketing or B2C, business to business network or B2BN, business to enterprise or B2E, and business to administration or B2A.

The business to business email marketing concept

In the new age of business to business to business marketing, communication has changed the way old businesses operate. Nowadays, the business to business email marketing has been giving easier life for the marketers. It involves electronic communication exchanges between two businesses making it extremely quick, convenient, and easier to reach the global world. Of course, using telephone will still be a powerful tool for communication.

How it works

The B2B email marketing is a big trend happening in the telemarketing industry today. It operates just like your standard B2B marketing, but in this industry, there are prospect lists that serve as the driving force of the email marketing. One or more companies provide these lists containing email or phone contacts, which belong to prospected people who might be interested to invest in their service or product.

The buying center

On another side, there is the so called buying center, which is that group consisting of company employees particularly assigned to do the sensitive purchase decisions in behalf of their employer. These purchase decisions are typically made for services or products such as software, conference calling rates, and information systems. Prospect lists are also target purchases that will contain contacts of people who likely will be interested with the targeted marketing.

The features

The business to business email marketing has features which you need to know in case you are interested to utilize it in the business industry. One is the increased awareness of brands through the spread of email communication. It allows you to do direct marketing sales in a convenient and hassle-free manner.

With the dependency on the technological advancement, it keeps you always in touch with your client base in the same manner that it allows you to build many new client relationships; therefore, more potential of meeting and tracking people who might be interested in your telemarketing business and might bring in profits to you. And of course, the B2B email marketing gives you stronger knowledge of your information database.

In this age when the advanced technology is obviously becoming the biggest influence in business industries, the B2B email marketing is an approach which businesses would benefit a lot due to its ho hassle approach and cheapest conference calling rate.

This business to business email marketing is web server based so it gives the most convenient and high-end manner of disseminating and forwarding messages. Messages can be pre-scheduled at your own discretion, you can track reports easily, and it has an ability that allows you to review status of your mailings.