How much monetary resources you choose to allocate to the salary for marketing employees and the salary for sales employees greatly effects the amount of revenues you have left at the end of the day. That's why it's important to stay abreast of the most recent salary guidelines for sales and marketing news and trends. Barring unforeseen circumstances marketing salary and sales salary trends generally increase with time. However, by how much the amount they increase regularly is important to ensure you’re paying your employees while still earning a profit for your company.

You must also beware of biased data that skews numbers; for instance an online school that offers marketing degrees may advertise salaries for marketing that are higher than industry standards in an effort to recruit more students. Also, salary guidelines and trends do vary quite a lot from individual to individual, and it's important to find news of these trends that takes multiple factors into account. Here are some factors to consider when researching current trends in sales and marketing salaries:

1. Experience level is crucial to determining salary guidelines for sales and marketing salary.

2. You should also weigh education in salary considerations.

3. Specialized training or skills are also important pluses when determining sales rep salary.

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Research salary guidelines from objective news sources

Salary guidelines from objective sources are sometimes harder to interpret, but will give you a definite, accurate and unbiased idea of how much professionals are making.

I recommend: The Bureau of Labor Statistic's Occupational Outlook Handbook for 2008-2009 has by far the most up to date and accurate data on earnings for both advertising and marketing professionals and sales agents.

Research salary guidelines from proprietary news sources

Several proprietary sites offer salary guidelines news and trends that target marketing and sales professionals. Although the studies on these sites are often outdated or skewed, many professionals go to these sites to try to get a better idea of what they should be making. You will have an advantage in negotiations if you know what a potential hire expects to be earning from your company.

I recommend: Monster is a huge and highly popular job search site that has a section dedicated to trends of sales salaries that many people look to for information. Job Star Central has a directory of popular resources the average person goes to for salary trends and news in marketing.

Consider salary guidelines based on commission by researching trends in commission based earnings

Paying professionals, at least to start, on a part or full commission basis is a good way to see how new hires perform. This also ensures that you won't lose out heavily if their performance is sub-par.

I recommend: Investigate and research regulations and salary news on commission based earnings. The Free Management Library has a guide to employee compensation that covers commission earnings regulations. The Online Advertising Discussion List has a helpful article about commission pay versus traditional salaries.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  When offering salaries for marketing or salaries for sales to new hires, always offer under what you are prepared to actually offer. You can always negotiate with a potential employee if necessary.

Salary for marketing and salary for sales must be competitive enough to ensure the right candidate lands in the position and develops into a valuable employee. Yet as a business owner or manager you must also watch your bottom line, especially since salaries and other pay compensation benefits can account for the majority of business budgets.

Use knowledge of salary guidelines for sales and marketing as a recruiting tool. Employees working for you--especially those in marketing and sales positions--represent the face of your company. Finding just the right job candidate to take the position and the company seriously is key to any new hire.

Choosing and maintaining good employees with a competitive marketing salary continues to be an important aspect of the hiring process. Along with other factors, sales salary helps retain productive employees. Several salary tools exist online to help you establish salary guidelines. When researching marketing and sales compensation, be sure to consider the following:

1. What are the job requirements? A sales rep salary is going to be different from data entry.

2. Marketing salary guidelines should take into account the candidate's previous experience in the field.

3. Salary for marketing professionals should include compensation for special training or education the candidate will bring to the position.

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Research other companies' salary guidelines for sales and marketing

With a little research, you will be able to find marketing and sales salaries, base pay rates and sometimes commission schedules and industry averages online. Keep in mind compensation policies in sales encompass many different factors including bonuses, commissions and other factors besides just salary.

I recommend: Check out the summary of research conducted by Abbott, Langer Association Surveys in the marketing and sales field. Order the full report to get detailed findings. Find the national averages on certain marketing and sales jobs and then look at the comparison for your specific region at CareerBuilder.

Get inside tips on adding compensation to salaries for sales and marketing

To motivate employees effectively, sales salary is only one aspect. To come up with a fair compensation package you may need to investigate policies based on benefits and perks.

I recommend: Sign up for a free newsletter from 80/20 Performance Inc. The newsletter includes access to sales and sales management tips and free mini courses. Read up on different sales commission plans and the factors that should be included in salary guidelines from CellarStone, Inc.

Learn how to negotiate salary for sales

Salary negotiations must be taken seriously. You must walk the fine line of offering fair and competitive wages that also won't break the bank. Learn the techniques to negotiate effectively without turning off a potential job candidate.

I recommend: PayScale offers tips on how to manage negotiations. Salary.com offers negotiating tips and other benchmarks that can be discussed with a potential employee.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  When offering salary for sales, bundle pay with perks. Benefits can go a long way toward attracting talented candidates and boosting compensation. Consider mentioning employee contributions to health-care insurance, funding for retirement or flexible time.

Setting salaries for sales and marketing positions requires balancing your bottom line with the expense needed to attract the most qualified employees. You need to consider your company's budget, and the typical salaries paid by companies in your geographic region or of your size.

A competitive salary can be one of your most effective recruiting tools, if you take the time to research the most strategic way to set salaries. Salary guidelines for sales and marketing for beginners include:

1. Learning the basics of setting a sales salary
2. Comparing sales salaries by region
3. Finding the typical salary for marketing through online job listings

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Learn the basics of setting salary for sales and marketing

If you're a beginner when it comes to setting salaries, you'll want to start by learning the nuts and bolts of creating salary and compensation packages. This knowledge will serve as a foundation for creating compensation packages tailored to sales and marketing professionals.

I recommend: WorldAtWork offers several compensation management courses, including its "Elements of Sales Compensation" seminar, which is designed for people new to sales compensation. The seminar covers basic terms and definitions, as well as creating a compensation plan, implementing the plan and evaluating its effectiveness. HRCertification.com offers a compensation training and certification program that covers every step of determining salary. HRTrainingCenter.com offers several compensation training programs, including state-specific compensation training.

Determine the average marketing salary in your geographic region

Your city and state play an important role in determining the appropriate salary, because cost-of-living expense make a huge difference in what's adequate. A salary that's competitive in a small town may attract few applicants in a larger city.You can easily determine the average salary in your region through online salary calculators.

I recommend: At Payscale.com you can order custom salary reports based on job title, location, education, skills and experience. The site offers both free and premium reports, as well as other salary tools for employers. At Vault, you can download salary surveys based on company, location or industry.

Research marketing salary ranges at online job boards

Online job postings can serve as a basis for creating your own salary guidelines. You can see the salaries other companies at that time, and can narrow your search by location or by size and type of company. You can create a more competitive salary, because you'll know what salaries are being offered by other companies to applicants you may be interviewing.

I recommend: Search online job boards Monster, CareerBuilder and SimplyHired, which all have sections for marketing and sales jobs. You can also search by location, so you can find salary guidelines for your industry and your region.

If you're setting salaries for sales and marketing jobs, you need to consider both the monthly or annual salary, and also things like commission plans or incentives. Increasingly, employees are looking not just for a competitive wage, but for a compensation plan that offers significant benefits, bonuses and tools to help them prepare for their future. Before you offer anyone a salary--in fact, before you even advertise your open positions--review the most common salary guidelines for sales and marketing key terms so you can better understand what's needed to create an attractive compensation package.

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Sales compensation package

This refers to the overall salary, benefits and other incentives your company offers to its sales professionals. Many of today's job seekers aren't looking for the highest monthly or yearly salary, but instead a comprehensive compensation package that offers everything from a competitive salary to perks like flex time.

I recommend: Learn the basics of creating a competitive compensation package through the Compensation Training & Certification Program offered by HRCertification.com. The program covers everything from the various compensation methods, including sales compensation, to how to develop salary ranges and levels.

Commission

A commission arrangement is especially common in sales jobs, where some employees may be paid only a percentage of the sales they make. At other companies, employees earn a commission in addition to their base salary.

I recommend: Check out the "Elements of Sales Compensation" seminar, which is designed for people new to sales compensation, offered by World at Work. At 80/20 Sales Performance, learn how to develop an effective sales compensation plan.

Benefits and incentives

The benefits you offer are just as important as the monetary offer you make to a potential employee. You'll need to decide whether to include extras like a cafeteria plan, group health insurance and 401(k) plans, for example.

I recommend: Download the manuals offered by the Employee Benefits Institute of America. These manuals cover everything from COBRA to fringe benefits such as adoption assistance, education assistance and paid time off.

Regional average

The average salary in your city or state is a crucial influence on what salary you need to offer to be competitive. In geographic areas where the cost-of-living is lower than yours, companies can offer less and still attract top talent. But if your company is a major city, living expenses are probably much higher, and so the salary you offer needs to be, too.

I recommend: At MarketingHire, find the average marketing salaries for your city or state. The site also features cost of living studies, news on marketing hiring trends, and explanations in some of the factors that go into hiring marketing staff. Mercer offers its "Sales Salaries Around the World" report.

Federal wage law

Employers have a lot of freedom in determining what salaries they'll offer, but some things are mandated by federal law.

I recommend: To stay current on federal wage law and its impact on what kind of salary, compensation and incentives you should offer, visit the U.S. Department of Labor website. The site covers everything from commission to overtime pay to the impact of an employee's educational level on pay.

Exempt and non-exempt

In general, there are two classifications of employees based on salary: exempt and non-exempt, and because these groups are subject to different federal laws and pay standards, it's important to understand the difference.

I recommend: HRHero offers an explanation of each classification and how they differ.