Search Marketers Have Big Budgets, Lack Experience

Around one third of in-house search engine marketers are managing monthly budgets of over $200,000 according to The Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization’s (SEMPO) In-House SEM Salary Survey.

"We anticipated a lower ceiling of monthly spend closer to the $100,000 range so we were pleasantly surprised," says Duane Forrester, co-chair of SEMPO’s In-House SEM Committee and Lead SEO Program Manager with Microsoft.

"The $200K monthly spend is a healthy barometer of the search marketing industry and it syncs up with SEMPO’s current trend projections that SEM spending will double by 2011, to more than $18 billion."

Of those managing budgets over $200,000 a month, 42 percent are mangers, and within that group, 27 percent have salaries of more than $100,000 per year. Thirty-nine percent of those managing budgets in excess of $200,000 have 3 years of experience or less. Thirty-four percent have between 3 and 5 years experience, and those with 5 years or more experience totaled 26 percent.

Forty-two percent of those managing budgets larger than $200,000 per month do not manage staff. Ninety-two percent are part of a dedicated "in -house" SEM team and 77 percent of those teams are considered to be a part of their company’s marketing departments.