Head of Content Salary in 2023

We analyzed over 500 content marketers' salaries, job titles, and demographic information to create The Content Marketing Salary Report (Updated for 2023). Of those 500 responses gathered, 30 people had the job title "Head of Content" or similar. By looking at the salary data by job title, we were able to find the average head of content salary according to gender, years of experience, and industry.

Accurate salary data helps improve the content marketing industry as a whole. If you're an employee, you can benchmark your salary and avoid getting underpaid. If you're an employer, you can ensure you're paying equally across demographics. Finally, you can make data-backed decisions about your career as a content marketer, such as whether to work for B2B or B2C businesses.

The average head of content earns $119,212

This is the average total base salary for anyone with the job title of "Head of Content" or similar. This accounts for both full-time and freelance folks with this title, meaning someone could be a full-time head of content and earn additional income from freelancing.

The average content marketer earns $95,379 ↗

In general, the average income of a content marketer has risen by 1.77% in the last year, a small but still meaningful increase. This is a positive sign in the midst of uncertainty, as the job market has been tough during the past 12 months.

This data includes all income from all sources, regardless of experience, employment status, gender or ethnicity, meaning that a person could make 90% of their income from a full-time job while supplementing some of their income with some freelance work. Conversely, someone could make 50% of their income from full-time work and 50% from freelance work. All of these variables are included in the average number.

How much does a content head make?

So, how much does a head of content earn?

To give a clearer picture of average salary ranges, here’s a breakdown of the count of respondents by salary range. It's important to note that these are global averages with some of the respondents coming from lower cost-of-living countries.

The majority of heads of content in our survey earn between $100,000 and $119,000 per year. Interestingly, there were nearly equal counts of people in the other salary bands, telling us the salary range is quite varied for this position.

For your comparison, here are the most common salary bands for the other job titles in this study:

• Content Marketing Manager - $60,000 and $79,000 per year
• Content Strategist - $80,000 and $99,000 per year
• Content Director - $100,000 and $119,000 per year

Do years of experience translate to higher income? (Spoiler: yes)

Average income can only tell us so much—knowing how salary increases with experience is helpful to know what to expect if you stay in the industry. In general, folks with the title "Head of Content" are in the $100k Club, regardless of years of experience. This data includes income from any source and does not delineate between full-time and freelance.

• 0 to 3 years - $125,000
• 4 to 7 years - $102,212
• 8 to 12 years - $139,037
• 13+ years - $132,967

B2C heads of content earn $10,919 more per year than B2B heads of content

Interestingly, B2C/DTC content marketing managers earned a slightly higher average salary than their B2B peers. This does not follow the trend in the larger salary report, where B2B content marketers earned slightly more on average ($97,118) than B2C content marketers ($88,421).

• B2B - $119,035
• B2C/DTC - $129,954
• Other - $94,136

It’s worth noting there were more B2B folks (20) who responded as heads of content than B2C folks (5) which could explain the pay gap. It’s a smaller sample size and one that we’re not quite as confident about.

Male heads of content make $37,121 more per year than female heads of content

Content marketing is a well-paying field overall but, sadly, income is not consistent for everyone. We asked respondents which gender they currently identify as. We left the field open for folks to respond however they like (i.e. not a dropdown).

While the larger salary report shows income disparity by gender has improved over the years, we still clearly have work to do when it comes to income equality.

For your comparison, here are the average differences in salary by gender for the other job titles in this study:

• Male content marketing managers make $6,239 more per year than female CMMs.
• Female content strategists make $25,258 more per year than male content strategists.
• Female content directors make $27,858 more per year than male content directors.

It's time to act

Knowledge is power. When you know the average salary for heads of content, you're better equipped to negotiate your salary at your next job or ask for a raise at your current one.

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