Should you be paid extra for what you do?
Over half of content material entrepreneurs (54%) consider their compensation ought to be larger, in response to CMI’s Content Marketing Career and Salary Outlook 2023 (registration required).
And now’s a very good time to ask – the newest CMI B2B analysis discovered content material advertising and marketing’s significance in the enterprise has grown.
Of course, it’s additionally a difficult time to ask, as companies face larger costs and exterior financial pressures. As Tom McMullen, senior shopper companion at Korn Ferry, has stated: “This is the most turbulent compensation environment I’ve seen in my 30-year career.”
So how will you transfer from considering you deserve a increase to seeing a much bigger quantity in your paycheck? Do your analysis, prep your case, and current it successfully.
To get the raise you deserve, research #ContentMarketing salaries, pack your case with results, and practice your pitch, says @AnnGynn via @CMIContent. Click To Tweet
Do exterior analysis
To put together to make your case for a wage improve, discover out what others in your business and related positions earn. CMI’s wage analysis discovered the median wage for U.S.-based content material entrepreneurs who work for an employer is $82,738.
That quantity is simply a place to begin. Dig deeper to grasp how expertise and position have an effect on compensation, too.
CMI’s wage analysis discovered salaries range primarily based on expertise, starting from $51,190 for these with as much as seven years of expertise to $96,034 for these with greater than 15 years of expertise.
CMI divided content material advertising and marketing roles into three classes – hands-on, supervisor, and high-level. The median wage for hands-on content material entrepreneurs is $58,790, whereas at the government stage, the median wage quantities to $111,851.
For extra info on salaries particular to your position, discover job listings on platforms like LinkedIn and Indeed.
Another possibility is to make use of the salary tool from the recruiting company Creative Circle. When you choose a job title and placement, the instrument reveals each the common pay and the desired wage primarily based on what candidates say they need. All the information comes from Creative Circle’s purchasers and job candidates.
Research role-specific salaries on @LinkedIn, @Indeed, or with a salary tool like the one from @Creative_Circle, says @AnnGynn via @CMIContent. Click To Tweet
Get prepared internally
With the exterior benchmark comparisons in hand, you’re able to look inward. Evaluate two key issues: the normal enterprise setting and content material advertising and marketing’s influence on the enterprise.
If your employer is doing properly, asking for a increase is smart. Salary will increase could also be attainable even when your organization has been going by way of layoffs or shrinking workers sizes. But you’ll must assume critically.
If the firm isn’t bringing in sufficient income to pay the payments, overlook about asking for a increase. If the firm is reducing again for a leaner operation and your position has develop into extra essential, it could possibly be a very good time to ask for a wage improve.
Now it’s time to do a self-check.
Dominic Lill is an website positioning supervisor at Trafiki Ecommerce who efficiently negotiated wage will increase in his earlier position as a content material editor/marketer. He suggests asking your self these questions:
- Have my obligations grown?
- Have I develop into extra productive?
- What areas of my work may I enhance? (Anticipating negatives helps you put together responses to them.)
With that exterior, inside, and private analysis, you’re nearly able to make the ask. But right here’s an concept it’s best to contemplate lengthy earlier than you need the increase.
Build a bench of supporters
Steve Rose, vice chairman at Intent, affords a tip that will help you put together your case: “Aggressively cultivate your support base. Having someone else advocate for you can go a long way toward demonstrating your value.”
But don’t wait to develop your advocates till you’re able to ask for the wage bump. “Build these ties proactively over time,” Steve says. “If they’re comfortable, ask one or two of them to send a statement to your boss about your progress and improvement.”
Another useful method is to maintain your individual bullet list-style doc the place you paste constructive suggestions, metrics, and outcomes out of your work. Then, once you’re able to argue for a wage improve (or replace your resume), pull the most essential and related bullets into your formal request.
Prepare for the dialog
Even a well-researched request can really feel nerve-wracking. “Most people tremble at approaching their boss about a wage boost,” says Vaibhav Kakkar, CEO of Digital Web Solutions.
Think about the way you’ll introduce the matter, then rehearse the dialog.
Vaibhav affords this immediate to get you began: “As you’re aware, I just finished my (X) year with (organization). I am eager to continue working toward the company’s goals in my current position and expand my duties. On that basis, let’s talk about my pay.”
Make a selected request inside the reasonable potentialities. Otherwise, the employer may supply a increase quantity decrease than you needed.
Base your requested quantity in your earlier analysis. Think about the precise share improve. If you keep the identical obligations, a 3% increase is typical. “Anything over 5% is remarkable,” Vaibhav says.
If your duties have expanded or the circumstances have modified (i.e., a job with minimal journey turns into a job with 50% journey), the next charge of 10 to twenty% is likely to be attainable, he says.
If you keep the identical position and obligations however your analysis factors to a large hole between the common customary business charge and your compensation, plan for a extra intensive dialog. The business hole probably exists for different roles, too. A major change in your wage probably would lead your employer to wish to deal with different underpaid positions, too.
Your supervisor is unlikely to approve your request throughout your preliminary dialog. They could must revisit their funds, replicate on what you’ve shared, or have a dialog with their boss.
Set follow-up expectations at the finish of the dialog, says Adam Crossling, head of promoting at Zenzero. He suggests some language to make use of: “Is it OK if I check back with you two weeks from now if I haven’t heard anything?”
Aim for sure, however plan for no
Work for a “yes,” however plan for a “no” or “not now.” That approach, in case you’re informed the firm doesn’t have the cash, you’ll be able to suggest another resolution.
Josh Pelletier, chief advertising and marketing officer of BarBend, says: “To move up the ranks, you may ask for something other than a pay raise, such as more training or a chance to participate in special projects.”
As Josh explains, “Mortgages are paid with salary, but careers are built on terms. And those are words to live by if your boss is unable to increase your salary.”
To move up the ranks, ask for something other than a pay raise, says @barbendnews CMO Josh Pelletier via @AnnGynn @CMIContent. Click To Tweet
Salary success story
Content marketer Allison Gagliardi requested for 10% raises at two earlier employers. Both instances, she obtained a wage bump.
Allison says she made her case to 2 employers, each web advertising and marketing companies, in the annual assessment course of.
With her first employer, she had been a content material editor for three years and had obtained the annual 3% raises most everyone obtained. Then she made her case and obtained a ten% improve. She took the same tactic a couple of years later as a senior content material supervisor at one other company. In her first-year efficiency assessment there, she requested for and obtained a ten% increase.
How did she make the profitable shows? She wrote a letter outlining her compensation request and listed her accomplishments to this point in a bullet format. She signed the letter – with an precise pen – and put it in a two-pocket folder. In the different pocket, she included emails/letters from purchasers and colleagues singing her praises. “It’s proof they just can’t argue with,” Allison says.
Based on her success, Allison affords a couple of suggestions for making your presentation:
- Ask for a p.c improve vs. a greenback determine. Sometimes a share request is “easier on the eyes.”
- Use numbers to impress. Include percentages, hours labored, cash saved, folks employed, and many others.
- Be prepared with a comfort prize. Be ready with a counteroffer resembling, “I’m hearing you can’t meet my request this year. I think adding five paid-time-off days to my account is comparable.”
Be inventive about your comfort prize options. Allison affords some options: a bonus on attaining a selected benchmark, permission to deliver a pet into the workplace on sure days, a standing desk, an air card (for Wi-Fi wherever you go), an improved title, a unbroken schooling plan, and even management of the AC unit in your division (sure, for actual).
If you don’t get the wage you need? Consider transferring on. A latest Pew Research Center study discovered that individuals who switched jobs had been extra prone to get actual wage will increase (after accounting for inflation) than individuals who stayed with the identical employer. And keep in mind, it’s generally simpler to barter the next supply than a increase.
Are you able to make your case for the next wage? Share your success tales and suggestions in the feedback.
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Cover picture by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute