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The 10 highest marketing salary increases for the year ahead
6 min read | Barney Ely | Article | Market trends Salary and pay | Market trends
In our UK Salary & Recruiting Trends 2025 guide, we received insights from over 400 employers and employees in the marketing industry, offering a comprehensive picture of salaries, recruiting trends and candidate expectations. Our latest data gives rise to three crucial questions:
Our survey data reveals that over three-quarters (76%) of employers increased marketing salaries in the past year. This seems to have been viewed positively by employees, with almost two-thirds (65%) saying they’re satisfied with their pay. Salaries across the industry rose by an average of 1.7%, while half (50%) of employers awarded their teams performance-related bonuses over the past 12 months.
Meanwhile, transparency regarding salary levels and pay rises remains a priority for employees. However, only 56% of employers say their organisation is consistently open about these matters. Additionally, 60% of employers report that they include salary information in job descriptions at least some of the time.
With almost two-thirds (64%) of marketing professionals planning on moving jobs in the year ahead – and over half (53%) of those who aren’t planning to do so saying they could still be tempted by a better salary and benefits package – it’s imperative that employers offer an attractive salary to mitigate concerns about staff retention.
With 88% of marketing employers suffering skills shortages, the hiring arena remains a tight one, especially since 76% are planning on hiring in the year ahead – an increase from the 70% who said the same the year prior.
When hiring, 71% of employers said they would be inclined to hire individuals who lack some of the required skills, intending to upskill them on the job. Marketing professionals would prefer this to be facilitated by their employers investing in their training (66%), allocating time for training during working hours (61%) and allowing them to attend relevant conferences, seminars or talks during their contracted hours (48%).
Along with the ever-evolving nature of today’s workplaces, there’s a greater call for more transferable core marketing skills that support business agility. Being a strong communicator with good interpersonal skills will always be a priority, but it’s clear that employers also value marketing professionals who are willing to adopt change and have the ability to upskill.
The average marketing salary rose by 1.7% over the last year. While this increase falls short of the UK average (2.4%), our salary data shows that some areas have seen more significant salary uplifts.
PR and internal communications roles have seen the largest average salary increases (2.9%) in the sector, while public sector and general marketing roles increased by an average of 2.3% and 2.2%, respectively.
Widespread skills shortages will mean that employers need to have an appealing offering in order to attract and retain top talent. Most employers appear to be aware of this, with over half (53%) expecting that being able to recruit the right talent will be an external challenge in the year ahead, while attracting talent is anticipated to be the greatest internal challenge (57%) for employers.
However, differentiating your organisation in a tight hiring market will require more than just a competitive salary. When considering a new role, marketing professionals say the top factors that would make an organisation most attractive to them are: an engaging and supportive team culture (81%), tailored flexible working policies (67%) and job security (65%).
To secure the best marketing talent, the onus is on organisations to provide a balance between competitive pay and fulfilling workplace environments that allow marketers to make a difference.
For a comprehensive look at salaries across the entire marketing industry, along with exclusive employer insights, download our UK Salary and Recruitment Trends 2025 guide.
Barney Ely, Director - Human Resources, Hays
Barney joined Hays in 1993 as a business graduate and is now Director for Hays Human Resources. Barney also has operational responsibility for Hays offices across the South of England, placing professionals in over 20 industry sectors covering everything from accountancy and finance to construction, marketing, IT, education and healthcare.
