What Are Your Salary Expectations? Answers for Marketers

Decide three numbers before the first call, and decide who names a number first. Let your number follow the scope of the role: the budget you would manage, the channels you would own, and whether you would lead people.

Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences career office describes three numbers. The floor is the least you would accept for a dream job. The target is fair pay for the location, role, company and level. The ideal is the highest reasonable figure. Your quoted range will often sit between the target and the ideal.

Ask the employer to name the first number. The same office calls that the ideal outcome. It suggests naming a range from your research only if the interviewer will not name one and keeps insisting.

Price the scope before you price the title. A paid search manager who owns the full budget and reports to a CMO is not the same job as one who runs search for a single product line, even when the titles match. Say the scope in your answer, so the number has a reason behind it.

The first number in a negotiation tends to set the frame. Harvard's Program on Negotiation says the first number typically anchors the discussion. It also warns that an implausible anchor damages credibility and trust.

Use the salary negotiation tactics page to plan the offer conversation that follows your first answer.

Use one deflection line for the screen, then a second line once the scope is clear. Say each line in your own words, and end with a question about the range.

K-State's career center says the salary question can come on the application, in the interview or at the offer, and that it is best to deflect it.

Harvard's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences career office suggests asking what the employer has allocated for the position, or saying that you are flexible while you learn about the role.

The first three lines hold your number back. The fourth gives a researched range after a second push. The fifth declines a range that does not fit you.

I am very interested in the [Role] role, especially the [channel or program, such as paid social prospecting]. Before I name a figure, I want to understand the scope. What budget and channels would this role own? Can you share the pay range the team has set for it?

Now that I understand the scope of the [Role] role, I can answer your question with more confidence. I would own [channel or program, such as lifecycle email] and report on [metric, such as trial-to-paid conversion]. What has the team allocated for this position?

I have enjoyed every conversation in this process, and I am very interested in the [Role] role. I would like to hear the range before I name mine. Would you share the range the team has budgeted for the work we discussed, including [marketing area, such as the partner channel]?

Based on my research, similar [Role] roles in [market, such as Chicago or remote] typically fall in the [low] to [high] range, depending on total compensation. I would be glad to revisit this if we move forward.

Name the scope in the second line. A range for a paid search lead who owns a budget reads differently from a range for a coordinator who supports one.

The Muse, reposted by Wesleyan University's career center, says it is respectful to share that a range does not align with your expectations, and then to withdraw.

Thank you for sharing that information. While I am excited about the opportunity, the salary range does not align with my expectations at this time.

Enter negotiable when the form allows it. If the form requires a number, enter a range you can defend from your research.

Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences career office says you may write negotiable or leave the field blank when no number is required.

K-State's career center says a required number should be your target salary, or a range based on your research.

In an undated article, the job board iHire offers a different tactic with a clear risk. When a number is forced, its career advisor suggests entering 000 or 999 and noting that salary is negotiable in any notes field. The same advisor warns that the negotiable entry can cause form errors that force a number. It also warns that an extreme figure may be discarded by an applicant tracking system or may alarm a manager, and that a number set too low weakens later negotiation. Harvard FAS recommends a researched range instead.

For a marketing role, the note matters more than the title. Name the budget, the channels and the reporting line in the note, so the reader can see why your number fits the job.

Target salary: [your target]. Salary is negotiable based on total compensation for the [Role] role. My target reflects [market source, such as BLS pay data for marketing managers] and the scope of the work, which includes [scope, such as the paid search budget and two channels].

If the posting shows a pay range that fits your research, you can say that it aligns with your expectations. If your research puts the offer high in a broad range, name a researched figure inside it, as the salary negotiation tactics page shows. Harvard's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences career office suggests that first reply.

Posted ranges can be wide. Harvard FAS says they are often very broad, so research the market rate for similar companies and roles at your level before you rely on the posted range.

The range listed for the [Role] role aligns with my expectations for [scope, such as owning the paid social budget and reporting to the head of growth]. I would look forward to discussing pay further if I receive an offer.

Several states require the pay range to appear in the posting. The table lists six, with the employers each rule covers and what the posting must show.

New Jersey says a posting should not leave out the bottom of the range. Its example is a posting that says up to $35 per hour, which names only a ceiling.

When the posting names a budget, a team size or a channel list, compare the range with that scope before you reply. A range that fits a coordinator will not fit a manager who owns the budget.

When an interviewer asks what you earn now, answer the question about the role instead. The pay you want for this scope is the number to share. If you choose to share it, tie it to the scope of the role.

Virginia bars an employer from seeking your wage history or relying on it. It also bars an employer from refusing to interview or hire you for not giving that history, or for requesting a wage or salary range.

Washington bars an employer from seeking an applicant's wage history.

Colorado bars employers from asking about pay history or relying on it. It also bars retaliation against a candidate who does not disclose it.

Many other states restrict pay history questions too. Confirm the rule for your state on its labor department website before the interview.

A question about the pay you want for the role is a different question from pay history. The bans above name past pay, so answer the expectation question with your target, and keep your history out of the conversation.

I would rather talk about the value I would bring to the [Role] role. For the scope we discussed, which includes [scope, such as owning the paid search budget and two channels], my expectation is [range]. Can you share the range the team has set for that scope?

Anchor your number on the BLS median for your occupation, then move it for the scope of the role. The table gives national annual wages for six occupations. The writers and graphic designers rows are adjacent roles for content and creative work.

BLS has no separate line for SEO or PPC specialists. The market research analysts and marketing specialists row is the nearest BLS group; adjust for channels and results.

The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook lists marketing manager medians by industry. Among the industries it lists, information has the highest median at $192,600. Management of companies follows at $172,580, and finance and insurance at $172,350. If the employer sits in one of these sectors, use the sector median as a check on your number.

When you quote a number, name the BLS table and the occupation. The recruiter can then check your figure against the same source.

Next step: when an employer makes an offer, read the job offer page for templates to accept, ask for time, or decline.