The number of women in marketing is increasing, but pay and seniority remain problematic

The marketing industry is in an interesting position when it comes to women in the workforce. According to LinkedIn data, 60% of all marketing jobs in North America are held by women, and now 52% of her CMO roles are held by women.

However, modern marketing roles are incredibly diverse in nature. As marketers know, roles in modern marketing organizations include people who analyze data, create content, develop platforms, buy media, and more.

In honor of International Women's Day, let's explore how women are making money in an industry dominated by women but historically unequal when it comes to pay.

One area of ​​marketing where women seem to do well is SEO.

Women hold 51% of jobs at UK SEO agencies, according to a new report from Enough Digitial. This is quite impressive considering, as the report states, “SEO has traditionally been seen as male-dominated.” Nevertheless, men are more likely to hold senior positions in these institutions.

• The most common job title for men in SEO agencies is managing director. For women, this is an account manager.
• At UK SEO agencies, women hold 24% of executive roles, despite making up more than half of the workforce.
• 32% of roles containing the term 'SEO' are held by people who identify as women at UK SEO agencies.
• Female employees at SEO agencies were less likely than their male counterparts to hold “manager'' or “director'' positions.

The report is based on data from over 2,000 employees at 102 UK-based SEO agencies.

Women in SEO

In other areas of marketing, such as martech, for example, it's even harder to get a clear picture of how women fare. Martech sits at the intersection of marketing, where women make up 60% of all jobs, and technology, where women make up only 35%. And since martech is a function rather than a separate business sector, it's probably impossible to figure out its gender profile.

This is in line with what we found in our upcoming 2024 Martech Salary and Career Survey (scheduled for presentation at the Martech Conference on March 19th). Overall, men earn 35% more than women, up from 24% last year.

But there's some good news too. At the senior level (director and above), women earn 5% more than men.

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