How Much to Pay a Marketing Director

Lawyers ask me all the time how much salary they have to pay to get a good marketing director.  The marketer would be somebody who generates revenue and is not part of overhead, so the salary is an investment.

You'll also want someone with experience in handling standard marketing activities such as brochures, advertising, direct mail, newsletters, email broadcasts, seminars & events, public relations, branding and your Web site. A marketer will give a law firm a strategy, articulate the firm's unique sales proposition, and generate leads. 

Important: the lawyers are still responsible for closing new clients, opening the new files and acting as the firm's sales force.  Your marketer is not your sales rep.

Here's what law firms are offering right now:

• 27-lawyer litigation boutique in Atlanta: $100,000 for a marketer with 5 years of experience.
• 120-lawyer firm in Chicago: $100,000 - $150,000 for 8 years' experience.
• 1,300 lawyer firm headquartered in Philadelphia: $100,000
• 114-lawyer firm in Oklahoma City: $100,000 - $125,000

For more detail, see the JOBS page on the LawMarketing Portal, www.lawmarketing.com

Comments

[Michael Gutman]

This I think is interesting. I am currently the marketing manager at legalmatch.com and found this article interesting. You are correct when you mention that it is the marketer's job to bring business to the door and up to the attorney's to close the sale. However one forgets to mention that attorney's went to law school as opposed to sales/marketing school. A good effective law firm marketer should understand the struggles, obstacles, and common mistakes that many law firms make every day. That knowledge should be used to train lawyers how to effectively sell their business. I do this all the time, and it really helps our attorneys retainment rates.

[Gillian]

I've always worked in professional services marketing but finding it difficult to get the right mix of experience to move up the ladder. Anyone have any suggestions on how I could gain experience fast?

[Dylan Kilgore]

I'm currently working for a company with 400 employees and I only make 42,000 a year. Are any of you hiring in the Seattle area?

[Patrick Hillman]

Clearly, there's something odd about that Philadelphia example. That "Director" should be making twice that much at a firm like that, in a city that big. Don't you think?

I suppose it just shows that the duties, empowerment, and responsibilities of those who work under the same title (Marketing Director) can be vastly different.