The real cost of hiring a marketer for businesses in the UK
- OutpostX
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
The cost of hiring a marketer to a business in the UK is quite obviously more than the number on the job offer. If you're hiring a Marketer in the UK with over 3 years experience, you're looking at an on paper wage of around £35,000 per annum - £45,000 per annum. The final number of course depends on specifics that will vary from business to business such as the details on the role (i.e Marketing executive or Marketing Manager) total years of experience and qualifications.
Now lets Add National Insurance (NI) and Pension
This gives us the actual cost per person for your business. The total amount / cost to the business each year. This has increased recently due to changes in NI from April 2025 - going up from 13.8% to 15%. After adding 15% NI the on paper wage of a Marketing executive at £35,000 per annum adds up to £39,500 and a Marketing Manager on £45,000 per annum adds up costing your business £51,000 approximately. Adding the minimum pension contributions of 3% to these figures gives us a total official cost of hiring: £35000 = actual business cost of £40,363 after NI & Pension £45,000 = actual business cost of £52,163 after NI & Pension
Adding Equipment & Subscriptions
We're sticking to the bare minimum, Excluding the absolute essentials like a computer, A marketing executive or manager would need a couple of subscriptions such as Canva or Adobe Suite to deliver marketing. Typically the Adobe suite meets most marketing requirements for a medium sized business in the UK. Adobe Business Plan: £1055.95 / Year
Canva Business: £180 / Year
Other Costs
If you're using an agency for hiring they typically charge 15% of base salary so you could add in another 5000 - 9000 to the total.
You could add an AI subscription or E-mail marketing if that is part of the requirements. Also consider agency costs if all or some of the operational tasks are outsourced, examples are SEO, or Video Content.
As these are indirect costs we're not including these in our calculations.
So what does it cost to hire a marketer in the UK?
The total cost including NI, Pensions and Subscriptions is;
