U.S. Marketing Jobs Report - Q3, 2024
How we define "marketing jobs"
We are capturing all marketing jobs outside of the advertising, PR and media agency space. We are focused on "in house", "client side" or "brand side" positions.
We went in this direction for two reasons:
- Marketing jobs inside agencies are quite different, often requiring skillsets focused on relationship, client and account management.
- We want to start small and humble. We can include agency jobs data in future reports.
If you're interested, the total number of agency jobs is close to 5000, and the lions share is Publicis, WPP, Omnicom, AKA the big 3.
In 2024, the stability and resilience of marketing roles within the job market were surprising, even as various sectors experienced turbulence.
Marketing jobs maintained a steady demand and increased by 7.7% year -over-year
highlighting the critical role of marketing disciplines in sustaining customer loyalty and driving growth. This consistency suggests that marketing is integral to businesses' adaptive strategies but also offers a reliable career path in the face of economic shifts.
*Click on the arrow to view Vacancy Volume by State Type (Blue, Red and Swing)
States traditionally considered Democratic strongholds report more marketing job postings than Republican and battleground states combined.
This trend may be linked to the presence of major economic centers and industries, such as technology and media, which require advanced marketing expertise. Factors such as higher urbanization and diversity in these blue states foster demand for varied and sophisticated marketing strategies.
*Click on the arrow to view Senior Vacancies by State Type (Blue, Red and Swing)
Demand for Senior Marketing Talent (defined as Director level and above) remained strong throughout 2024.
Digital transformation, the necessity for rapid pivots, the strategic decisions around offshoring, and the questions posed by AI implementations are all best navigated by seasoned experts.
It's quite a feat that salary transparency has gained such widespread adoption in such a short period.
This trend started gaining momentum with key pieces of legislation in states like California and New York, which mandated that employers disclose salary ranges in job postings and these early legislative efforts set a new precedent spreading rapidly across the country.
In 2024, even more states joined the transparency movement for marketing job postings, and even where no regulation exists, around 1/3rd are including salary levels.
*Click on the arrow to view Salary Transparency by State Type (Blue, Red and Swing) >>
What's Next for Salary Transparency?
The rise of salary transparency is not only about compliance—it’s becoming a key factor in attracting top talent, improving equity, and fostering trust between employers and employees. We predict states with changing demographics like Florida and North Carolina, economically diverse states like Texas and Georgia and moderate swing states like Pennsylvania may jump aboard the transparency train in 2025.
The Remote Work Story
Remote marketing roles are up, although below pandemic levels.
In 2020, the world witnessed a shift in how we work. Fast forward to 2024, and while the initial frenzy around remote work has leveled out, the data reveals that remote roles have cemented their place in hiring. Despite some public company CEO posturing - this is the new normal.
What’s Next for Remote Work?
Looking forward to 2025, we predict remote work is here to stay, and will rise to 20% or beyond, evolving from a temporary solution into a foundational part of modern business strategy.
Salaries Show Strength in Stability
*Explore our interactive chart on salary trends.
In a year where inflationary pressures in the U.S. have eased, salary trends in the job market have reflected a more measured approach to compensation. While salary midpoints across the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles remain competitive—with the median salary currently at $80,995 and top earners approaching $130,000—the anticipated dramatic salary surges haven’t materialized.
This stability, while less headline-grabbing than sharp increases, tells its own story: employers continue to value high-skill professionals, but they are exercising caution in a more predictable economic environment.
What's Next for Compensation?
In 2025, marketing compensation will likely see steady, but not explosive, growth. Specialized skills, AI expertise, and roles that can directly demonstrate ROI will command higher salaries. At the same time, geographic flexibility, performance-based pay, and enhanced benefits will shape how companies compete for top marketing talent.
Vacancy Growth and Salary Trends Diverge
* Click on the bubbles to view details
As you can see from this interactive chart, in Texas, while marketing job openings have surged 7.4%, salary growth has been stagnant. The rise of remote-first roles expanded employer access to a national talent pool, possibly contributing to this slower wage growth, and many openings are for mid-level positions like digital marketing managers.
Conversely, New York and California are witnessing strong job growth of around 20% and rising salaries for marketers at 10.8%, fueled by demand for specialized roles in sectors such as technology and media. These roles, like growth strategists, command higher salaries partly due to the high cost of living in cities like New York City and San Francisco, which forces companies to offer competitive compensation.
However, some states like Illinois see a steep decline in salary averages (-14.7%) despite more job openings (8.7%), primarily influenced by more entry-level positions, which naturally have lower salaries.
The Rise of Dual Marketing Roles
Marketing teams are evolving, with companies merging previously separate functions like Demand Generation with Content Marketing, or Brand with PR. This shift reflects a need to break organizational silos, refine messaging and control costs.
This is reflected in the data, which shows a significant rise of 14% in dual function marketing positions through the last 12 months.
* Explore our interactive chart for more details. >>
* Click on the bubbles to view details
General Marketing continues to dominate the job market, with the highest number of vacancies. This indicates a sustained demand for broad marketing skills that can adapt across multiple sectors. However, the YOY vacancy growth for this segment is relatively modest at 2.7%, suggesting that while demand remains high, it is not accelerating as quickly compared to more specialized areas.
Among the specialisms, Product Marketing stands out with a remarkable 26% YOY growth in job vacancies. This surge aligns with the increasing focus on product-led growth strategies, where companies prioritize tight alignment between marketing and product development.
Content Marketing and Brand Marketing are also seeing solid growth, at 11.9% and 11.1%, respectively. This reflects the growing recognition that solid content and brand identity are essential drivers of sustainable customer engagement and loyalty, especially in a digital-first environment.
Conversely, Communications & PR has seen a slight decline in job openings, with a 4.5% drop in YOY vacancy growth. This suggests a shift in how companies allocate resources for public relations, moving towards integrated marketing roles that combine brand, content, and communications into a single mandate. It may also be because of limited IPO action in the public markets.
"The rise of the importance of great product marketing to lead with a value-based message to the buyer is critical to break through in competitive landscapes. Aligning product-led growth positioning to sales plays influences driving revenue."
- Christine Jennings, Founder of CJ Strategic Marketing (formerly Salesforce, Adobe, and The Trade Desk)
Doers Over Leaders
* Click on the arrow to view Salary Growth and Vacancy Growth
Early career hires have the largest share of marketing vacancies, followed by Manager and Senior Specialist, Specialist and Senior Associate and then Director | VP. It's a positive signal that even in the age of AI, there's still a career entry point for early marketing talent, and high demand in the first decade or so of experience.
However the outlook is grim for senior marketers at the SVP or equivalent levels based on the trend.
Jobs postings at the SVP and EVP levels are down almost 20% year over year.
One theory is that the tension around the election and layoffs, especially in tech, leads to less movement of senior talent and caution on the hiring side. Another is that many companies prefer hiring these highly paid positions via retained executive search firms for precision and to avoid scrutiny of their pay levels in public.
After all, at CMO Ladder, we've tracked more 227 Global CMO moves since the beginning of the year, most of which have been US-based appointments - so we know C-suite talent is still fluid.
Meanwhile, roles at the early career stages in the first decade are up, especially at the Manager and Senior Specialist level, which is up almost 13%. Certainly the worry that AI will eliminate opportunities for young marketeers because of automation has not come to pass.
"Marketing careers aren't vanishing; they’re evolving. Those who blend AI with creativity will lead the charge."
- Max Cheprasov, Former Chief Automation Officer at Dentsu and Chief Transformation Officer at Tinuiti
Conclusion
Marketing in 2024 continues to develop, with steady demand for mid-career talent, the rise of dual marketing roles, and increasing salary transparency reshaping the industry. Blue states lead in marketing job vacancies, but geographic flexibility and the expansion of remote work are redefining where businesses can source top talent.
For early-career marketers, the outlook is bright. Despite concerns about AI replacing jobs, there are growing opportunities in roles where data, creativity, and technology intersect. Entry-level and mid-level positions, especially in digital marketing, continue to see robust demand, proving that automation hasn't closed the door on career paths in marketing. And don’t give up on remote marketing roles because of big headlines, they are still growing at quite a clip.
As the market shifts, businesses that invest in agile, innovative marketing talent will stay ahead of the curve. Taligence is here to help you navigate. Whether you’re looking to hire or looking for your next career move, reach out to learn how we can help you find the right talent—or the right opportunity—at the right time.
