How Much Should You Pay a Marketer?

How Much Should You Pay a Marketer?

Many home care agency owners are unsure how to structure the salary, commission, or bonuses of marketers at their agencies. This is because it takes time to predict the impact a new hire will have on an agency's bottom line.

In this guide, you’ll learn how much you can pay a marketer for your agency based on average data and the state of your business.

 

Factors to Consider When Considering a Home Care Marketer’s Salary

When considering a marketer's salary, you should remember that it should be a combination of base pay, commission, and/or bonus. 

Also, how much you pay your marketer will depend on your region, location, marketer's experience, local economy, cost of living, and performance outcomes. For instance, 

  • According to PayScale, the average salary for a Home Care Marketer is $50,283 in 2023. The base salary ranges from $37k to $72k. There may also be additional earnings from bonuses, profit sharing, and commissions.

  • Salary.com reports that the average salary for a Home Health Marketer is $63,786 per year.

  • ZipRecruiter states that the average annual pay for a Healthcare Marketer in the United States is $55,649.

While pay can vary largely within the U.S. and other countries or regions, ensure you comply with labor laws and regulations during the hire.

Guidelines to Help You Structure Your Marketer’s Pay

Here are some general guidelines that can help you determine the salary to be paid to a marketer in your homecare agency:

 

  • Base only

  • Commission only

  • Base + commission

  • Base + tiered commission

  • Base + performance bonus

1. Base Only

You can pay your marketer a base salary, but, this is usually not the best option for a new home care agency. This is because most marketers want a steady and reliable income with bonuses and commissions. 

So, if you pay just the base salary, they may be less incentivized to work hard. However, this salary structure is best if you focus on inbound leads rather than chasing deals.

The base salary for a marketer should be enough to cover their basic needs and high enough to help them do well in their location. 

If you interview a competent marketer, they may be able to negotiate more money during salary negotiations, but this is something that you should discuss before hiring them. 

In a base-only salary structure:

  • You don't have to pay marketers per sale (they are guaranteed a salary regardless of performance).

  • There are no complicated calculations (an advantage for you).

  • You have to pay a salary that is high enough to incentivize and motivate the marketer to do a satisfactory job (this could be a disadvantage for your business).

2. Commission Only

Commission only means that the marketer is getting paid on a commission basis for every client they bring in—and if they bring in enough clients, they'll get paid more.

Here, the marketer receives a predetermined percentage of sales they make as compensation for their services. This could be an attractive option for start-ups, especially if you do not have the funds available to pay a base salary and expect your sales numbers to grow over time. 

Since the only pay the marketer earns is from the commission, the marketer will work more to earn more. This can dramatically increase your sales. 

However, commission-only marketers are considered independent contractors (technically not in-house marketers). It may be harder to get these marketers, and the turnover rate may be high. Also, when you agree on a percentage, you'll want to consider any additional costs of bringing in new clients (like advertising).

In a commission-only salary structure:

  • There's no base salary, and marketers will only make money based on the number of new clients they bring.

  • You can hire more than one marketer and be able to afford them.

  • It may be difficult to get interested applicants.

  • The turnover rate may be high.

3. Base + Commission

This common salary structure allows marketers to get paid more than just the base salary. Here, the base salary and commission are combined into one package for the marketer. You can pay the base salary at an hourly rate or as a straight salary.

The base + commission payment structure is beneficial because it assures the marketer that they’ll have a guaranteed base salary even when sales are low. So while the base salary, in this case, is low (obviously not as high as a base-only salary), the marketer has guaranteed income and greater income potential the better they perform.

Usually, the standard salary-to-commission ratio is 60:40, with 60% being the base salary rate and 40% being the commission-driven percentage. 

For example, if your marketer earns $100,000 a year, the fixed base salary will be $60,000, and the variable commission salary will be $40,000. However, you can tweak the ratio to suit your agency.

Let’s consider the role of a hypothetical home care agency marketer who gets paid with the base pay + commission structure. Here, the marketer’s main job is to close deals and bring new opportunities for the agency.

Here’s a commission plan example: 

Responsibility: Close deals

KPIs/Goals: Number of deals closed

On-Target Earning: $100,000 per year [60:40 = $60,000:$40,000]

Target: 10 deals per month

When the base salary and commission ratio is 60:40, the marketer will earn $5,000 of base salary every month, with the remaining $3,333 as variable pay.

Example Scenario 1: 

The marketer closes 10 deals monthly, attaining 100% of their target.

Monthly target = 10 | Actual deals closed = 10

Target attainment % = 100% x (Target Attainment) =100% x (10/10) = 100%

Final variable pay = 100% of $3,333 = $3,333.

So, the marketer takes home $5,000 + $3,333 this month = $8,333.

Example Scenario 2: 

The marketer underachieves. The variable pay will decrease depending on the % of attainment.

Monthly target = 10    |     Actual deals closed = 7

Target attainment % = 100% x (Target Attainment) =100% x (7/10) = 70%

Final variable pay = 70% of $3,333 = $2,333.

So, the marketer takes home $5,000 + $2,333 this month = $7,333.

Example Scenario 3: 

The marketer overachieves. The variable pay will increase depending on the % of attainment.

Monthly target = 10    |     Actual deals closed = 15

Target attainment % = 100% x (Target Attainment) =100% x (15/10) = 150%

Final variable pay = 150% of $3,333 = $4,999.

So, the marketer takes home $5,000 + $4,999 this month = $9,999.

 

In a base + commission structure:

  • You pay a smaller base salary regardless of performance and a commission based on your efforts.

  • It helps you to keep the payroll costs lower on months with less productivity.

  • You need a highly motivated marketer to meet or surpass the target. 

 

4. Base + Tiered Commission

This is a compensation structure that pays employees a base salary irrespective of performance, with an increasing commission in tiers depending on performance. So, the best marketers or closers earn a higher commission once they hit certain targets.

For example, the marketer may earn a 5% commission on sales revenue when selling up to $100,000. After that, you may up the % commission to 7% until they sell $300,000. Once they hit the $300,000 target, you can increase the percentage to 10% and so on.

All you need to use this system is to set a quota, set milestones, and assign the increasing payout rates for each milestone. 

In a base + tiered commission structure:

  • You pay a fixed base rate and varying commission percentages depending on performance.

  • Marketers can be motivated and get creative to achieve higher sales.

  • Effective because the more deals the marketers close, the more benefits they get.

  • You must ensure that increasing payouts remain profitable for the firm. Don’t state commission percentages you cannot afford or you run into big problems.

5. Base + Performance Bonus

Base + performance bonus is a salary structure that pays employees a base salary and a performance-based bonus as extra compensation. Your marketer can get a bonus for meeting pre-established benchmarks and goals. So, instead of paying marketers commissions for sales, you pay them a fixed bonus monthly, quarterly, or annually.

In a base + performance bonus structure:

  • If your marketer does not reach the agreed goal, you don’t pay them the bonus. But if they do and surpass it, you pay on the agreed fixed rate.

  • You have a payment structure that is transparent and easier to calculate.

 

Final Thoughts

It's important to note that compensation should be fair and competitive to attract and retain skilled marketers. Well, get to work. Find the marketer who can scale your agency to the next level.