Marketing salary questions are on every business owner’s mind. As business moves increasingly and unchangeably digital, the costs associated with a marketing team are a matter of when and not if. Building strong relationships with marketers is crucial for small and medium business growth, but the costs associated with staffing and managing an internal team can quickly add up.

In this post, we’ll explore what a marketing salary looks like for various roles across Canada and the USA. From recruitment and onboarding to salary, benefits, and turnover, we’ll compare the cost of an internal marketing team to the cost of hiring a full-stack digital marketing and technology company.

Internal Marketing Salary and Team Costs: What You Need to Know

The true cost of hiring an internal marketing team is often more than just salary. Let’s break down the expenses involved in building an in-house team:

1. Recruitment Costs

Recruiting top talent doesn’t come cheap. Between posting job listings, working with recruiters, and conducting interviews, companies in the USA can expect to spend an average of $4,700 per hire (Oyster). This figure doesn’t include the time and effort managers spend on interviews, candidate screening, and negotiations. According to Edie Goldberg of E.L. Goldberg and Associates, some employers say the combination of soft and hard costs can mean that the total cost to hire a new employee can be 3-4 times the position’s salary. All the time spent recruiting and training takes away from moving the needle on the company’s goals and outcomes.

2. Onboarding Costs

Onboarding a new employee can cost anywhere from $1,200-$5,000, depending on the position.

Marketing roles, especially more technical ones like marketing managers or digital strategists, often require additional training, further increasing these costs.

3. Marketing Salaries in Canada and the USA

Salaries vary widely depending on the role and experience level. Here’s a quick snapshot of the average salaries for key marketing positions based on data from GlassDoor and Robert Half:

Position Title	Marketing Salary Range in Canada (Robert Half)	Marketing Salary Range in the USA (Talent.com)
Marketing Coordinator Salary	$50,750-$68,000	$40,000-$65,000
Marketing Manager Salary	$86,750-$107,750	$68,225-$140,000
SEO Specialist Salary	$55,250-$78,500	$47,500-$107,550
Content Strategist Salary	$60,000-$95,250	$70,000-$138,550
Copywriter Salary	$63,500-$89,500	$54,981-$101,025
UX Designer Salary	$78,250-$108,500	$86,750-$153,754
Graphic Designer Salary	$60,750-$87,250	$43,875-$95,850
Full Stack Developer Salary	$85,000-$130,000	$71,200-$135,000
Paid Search Specialist Salary	$56,250-$75,750	$57,509-$93,600
Digital Project Manager Salary	$60,000-$103,750	$72,500-$135,000

4. Benefits and Overhead

Marketing salaries are just the tip of the iceberg.

Benefits, including health insurance, paid time off, and retirement contributions, typically add an additional 30-40% of the employee’s salary. A marketing manager salary of $95,000 could quickly add an extra $28,000-$38,000 per year.

Overhead costs like office space, technology, and software licenses also add up. A fully equipped marketing department may need tools for project management, SEO tracking, analytics, design, web development, lead tracking, and more. These costs can easily run into tens of thousands per year.

Companies can save some money on overhead because marketing departments hold some of the most accessible roles to hire remotely. Teams can work out of their homes in regions with lower costs of living, and companies can minimize their office space needs.

5. Turnover Costs

Employee turnover is a reality in any business. In marketing, where the competition for skilled talent is fierce, turnover can be especially costly.

The average cost of replacing an employee is about 33% of their salary. This means replacing a marketing manager could cost about $36,000 in lost productivity, recruitment, and training.

Total Cost of An Internal Marketing Team

Let’s add it all up.

For a modest marketing team of five (marketing manager, SEO specialist, content strategist, paid ads specialist, and designer) in Canada, you could easily spend:

• Salaries: $375,000-$500,000 per year
• Benefits and Overhead: $110,000-$150,000 per year
• Recruitment and Turnover: $20,000-$50,000 per year

Agency vs. Internal Marketing Teams: A Cost-Benefit Breakdown

When it comes to growing your business, having the right marketing team in place is key.

Should you build that team in-house or partner with an external marketing agency?

Let’s look at the pros and cons of each approach to help you make an informed decision about where to invest your resources.

Internal Marketing Teams: Pros and Cons

Building an internal marketing team means having dedicated employees under your roof who are focused solely on your brand.

Pros:

• Brand Familiarity: Internal teams live and breathe your brand every day. They understand your company culture, product, and voice, which can result in consistent messaging and a deep emotional connection to your business.
• Control: With an in-house team, you directly oversee their day-to-day activities and can shift priorities quickly if needed.
• Long-Term Strategy: In-house teams can work on developing long-term campaigns and have the luxury of building strategies that evolve with the business.

Cons:

• High Costs: As outlined above, the costs of recruiting, onboarding, and paying salaries for a full team of marketing professionals can easily reach hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. On top of that, there are benefits, overhead, and turnover costs to factor in.
• Limited Expertise: It’s rare for a small or medium-sized business to be able to afford all the specialized roles needed for a comprehensive marketing strategy. It’s more likely that they will end up with a jack-of-all-trades generalist who lacks expertise in any one area. An internal team may feel that they need more support in SEO, UX design, or paid advertising, forcing business owners to outsource those functions anyway.
• Turnover: Employee retention can be a huge challenge, particularly in competitive industries like marketing. Losing a key team member to a better offer can derail campaigns and leave you scrambling to find and train a replacement.

Marketing Agencies: Pros and Cons

On the flip side, working with an external marketing agency can provide access to a wide array of expertise without the full-time commitment.

Pros:

• Specialized Talent: Marketing agencies offer a full roster of specialists– SEO experts, content creators, designers, data analysts, and paid ad strategists– who are ready to dive into your projects. These are people who live and breathe their areas of expertise.
• Scalability: Agencies are built to grow with you. Whether you need extra help during a campaign launch or want to scale back in slower seasons, agencies offer flexible solutions that align with your business needs.
• Cost Efficiency: While agencies charge for their services, they often save you a lot of money in the long run by eliminating recruitment, onboarding, and benefit costs. You’re only paying for the services you need, not for full-time salaries and overhead.
• Outside Perspective: An agency brings fresh eyes to your brand, often offering innovative ideas and new strategies that in-house teams may overlook. They’re able to benchmark your efforts against a wide range of industries and campaigns, providing insights that go beyond your internal experience.

Cons:

• Less Control: Since the agency isn’t embedded in your company, it may take longer for them to get up to speed with your brand’s nuances. While they’re experts in execution, you’ll need to communicate your vision clearly to ensure alignment.
• Shared Focus: Agencies work with multiple clients simultaneously, meaning they’re not solely focused on your brand. However, most agencies are designed to allocate the necessary time and attention to each client, ensuring no one falls through the cracks.

Full-Stack Digital Marketing

The decision between an in-house team and an agency ultimately comes down to the specific needs of your business.

For small and medium-sized businesses, the upfront cost savings and broad expertise offered by an agency often outweigh the benefits of building an in-house team. This is especially true if your marketing strategy requires a wide range of skills that would be difficult and costly to find in just a few full-time employees.

Rather than spend your budget on recruitment, salaries, and the overhead associated with a full-time internal team, you can access a full suite of marketing experts by partnering with a digital marketing agency.

Our Team Is Your Team

PaintedRobot is eager to be your perfect full-stack web and digital marketing partner.

Our team operates like your in-house marketing and web development team without the high costs and logistical headaches. Instead of managing multiple hires, paying for onboarding, and dealing with turnover, you get a well-oiled machine of web development, UX-UI design, copywriting, SEO, paid ads, strategy, project management, and more.

1. Comprehensive Expertise

Our team is built to cover every angle of your marketing needs, from web development and design to advanced SEO and paid advertising strategies. The cost of hiring each of these specialists in-house would be staggering. At PaintedRobot, you get access to leaders in each specialty under one contract, with a dedicated focus on growing your business.

2. No Overhead, No Turnover

You won’t need to worry about recruitment, onboarding, or benefits. We handle everything for you, allowing you to focus on what you do best– running your business. No need for additional office space, software licenses, or turnover headaches. Our team is in place and ready to go.

3. Flexible Pricing

Hiring an internal team locks you into long-term salaries and benefits, but at PaitnedRobot, you get flexible pricing models based on your specific needs. Whether you’re looking for a one-time project or an ongoing partnership, we provide solutions that scale with your business.

4. Results-Driven Success

Our success is your success. We execute tasks while helping you develop a marketing strategy that grows your business. Our data-driven approach ensures that every campaign, website update, and ad spend is designed to deliver results.

The Bottom Line

When you compare the costs of building an internal marketing team with hiring a full-stack digital marketing company like PaintedRobot, the choice becomes clear. With no recruitment, onboarding, benefits, or turnover to worry about, and with a team of seasoned professionals ready to dive in, small and medium business owners can save both time and money.

Whether you’re looking to reduce overhead or get more out of your marketing budget, we’ve got the team, the tools, and the expertise to drive your business forward.