How to hire a marketing specialist

How to hire a marketing specialist, step by step

Here's a step-by-step marketing specialist hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a marketing specialist job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new marketing specialist
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a marketing specialist do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your marketing specialist job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a marketing specialist for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A marketing specialist's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, marketing specialists from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   Here's a comparison of marketing specialist salaries for various roles:

   Type of Marketing Specialist	Description	Hourly rate
   Marketing Specialist	Market research analysts study market conditions to examine potential sales of a product or service. They help companies understand what products people want, who will buy them, and at what price.	$17-39
   Marketing Communications Coordinator	Marketing communications coordinators play an administrative role in supporting the communications department in the execution and monitoring of communications strategies. The coordinators establish public relations and marketing materials and implement advertising and marketing campaigns... Show more	$17-32
   Digital Marketing Consultant	A digital marketing consultant specializes in developing marketing strategies for a company's products and services, aiming to expand customer engagement and brand awareness through digital media. Their responsibilities revolve around performing research and analysis to identify the marketing trends and opportunities, recommending marketing techniques and plans through reports and presentations, and producing cost estimates for clients... Show more	$23-48

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Digital Marketing
   • Marketing Campaigns
   • Project Management
   • Email Marketing
   • PowerPoint
   • Customer Service
   • CRM
   • Email Campaigns
   • Salesforce
   • Facebook
   • WordPress
   • Market Research
   • Work Ethic
   • Google Analytics

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage company twitter feed, posting new requisitions and articles of interest.
   • Generate leads, create property postings, social media (Instagram, Facebook, etc . )
   • Manage PPC campaigns, including SEM budgeting, writing ad copy, keyword selection (incl.
   • Manage end-to- end process for the brand brochure including creative brief development, copywriting, proofreading and executive approvals.
   • Manage LinkedIn client group by promoting conversations, approving user requests to join and posting company updates and relevant content.
   • Accomplish in presentation, negotiation, and closing with demonstrate talent for establishing positive rapport and instilling client confidence and loyalty.

   More marketing specialist duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your marketing specialist job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A marketing specialist can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, marketing specialists' average salary in hawaii is 59% less than in washington.
   • Seniority. Entry-level marketing specialists 56% less than senior-level marketing specialists.
   • Certifications. A marketing specialist with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a marketing specialist's salary.

   Average marketing specialist salary

   $54,942yearly

   $26.41 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level marketing specialist salary

   $36,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 29, 2025

   Average marketing specialist salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Washington	$92,218	$44
   2	New Jersey	$66,637	$32
   3	Minnesota	$66,377	$32
   4	California	$65,036	$31
   5	Maine	$64,459	$31
   6	New York	$63,886	$31
   7	District of Columbia	$63,821	$31
   8	Oregon	$60,823	$29
   9	Massachusetts	$57,609	$28
   10	Illinois	$56,712	$27
   11	Colorado	$56,264	$27
   12	Pennsylvania	$54,292	$26
   13	Tennessee	$54,179	$26
   14	North Carolina	$52,097	$25
   15	Ohio	$51,832	$25
   16	Texas	$49,879	$24
   17	Indiana	$49,387	$24
   18	Utah	$49,275	$24
   19	Nevada	$48,038	$23
   20	Missouri	$46,540	$22

   Average marketing specialist salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Google	$121,059	$58.20	33
   2	Microsoft	$118,706	$57.07	46
   3	IFTTT	$115,142	$55.36
   4	Riverbed Holdings, Inc.	$112,871	$54.26
   5	Apple	$111,639	$53.67	8
   6	Synopsys	$108,812	$52.31	1
   7	PayPal	$105,985	$50.95	9
   8	Lord Abbett	$105,102	$50.53	3
   9	Citi	$105,088	$50.52	9
   10	Morgan Stanley	$103,176	$49.60	12
   11	BNY Mellon	$102,734	$49.39	13
   12	Corsair	$101,957	$49.02	5
   13	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$101,720	$48.90	137
   14	Snowflake Computing	$101,329	$48.72	13
   15	Adobe	$100,883	$48.50	29
   16	Houlihan Lawrence	$100,450	$48.29	1
   17	SeaSpine	$98,801	$47.50
   18	MathWorks	$98,638	$47.42
   19	eBay	$97,723	$46.98	6
   20	Cisco	$97,459	$46.86	96

4. Writing a marketing specialist job description

   A job description for a marketing specialist role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a marketing specialist job description:

   Marketing specialist job description example

   The Marketing Specialist will be responsible for developing, executing, and optimizing targeted Email, Direct Mail and SMS programs to support Atlantic Health System's marketing and business objectives. This role reports into the Sr. Manager of CRM and will play an integral role in driving personalization, segmentation, and customer journey mapping to deliver the right message to the right audience at the right time.
   This is a hybrid position with the flexibility to work from home a few days each week. Responsibilities Partner with internal creative teams and external production partners to develop and deploy Email, Direct Mail and SMS programs Manage Email, Direct Mail and SMS production schedules and marketing calendars Develop and execute multi-touch, cross-channel automated campaigns Maintain and continually optimize always-on nurture/trigger streams and customer journeys Execute test plans and make recommendations based on response data and test results Support CRM Analytics Manager ensuring email blasts, campaigns and nurtures are set up accurately to support all reporting needs Analyze, manage, and improve email and SMS acquisition, response and conversion metrics, and opt-out/unsubscribe rates Increase email address acquisition, open rates, click-thru rates, new patient conversion, engagement, and retention. Manage segmentation and targeting to build and select audience files Identify and refine target audiences by leveraging CRM platform and partnering with external vendors, including direct mail list brokers when necessary Support automation and personalization capabilities development Contribute to copywriting, editing, image selection and template design Proofread each touchpoint to ensure quality, accuracy and appropriateness for each intended audience; route rounds of revisions to key stakeholders for review and approval Maintain, optimize all web forms and associated user journey's reporting out to the business on performance Produce response reporting and socialize insights and test results Support CRM team in data-related enterprise initiatives, opportunities to streamline the MarTech stack, and development of a 360-degree view of the customer Track Email, Direct Mail and SMS expenses against the marketing budget Complete additional responsibilities and/or duties as assigned Qualifications Required Qualifications
   • Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business, or related field
   • 3-5 years of hands-on experience with email development, execution, and deliverability
   • Experience in direct mail, email and/or SMS marketing
   • Experience with marketing automations tools (e.g. Marketo, Marketing Cloud, etc)
   • Exceptional project management, collaboration, and communication skills
   • Deadline oriented and comfortable handling multiple initiatives simultaneously
   • Knowledge of customer data analytics and segmentation
   • Experience with data privacy regulations (e.g. CAN-SPAM, CCPA, GDPR, HIPAA, TCPA)
   • Health care experience preferred Preferred Qualifications
   • Marketo Certified Expert
   • Basic HTML experience
   • Experience with project management tools About Us Atlantic Health System aims to deliver the highest quality, safety and care combined the best experience for our patients and their families. We are confident that you will find success within Atlantic Health System, which has been named for the 14th year in a row to Fortune's “Top 100 Best U.S. Companies to Work For” list. We believe you will find that our culture of collaboration and care exemplifies the value we place on our patients, their families and our employees. EEO Statement Atlantic Health System, Inc. is an equal employment opportunity employer and federal contractor or subcontractor and, therefore, abides by applicable laws to protect applicants and employees from discrimination in hiring, promotion, discharge, pay, fringe benefits, job training, classification, referral, and other aspects of employment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, gender identity or expression, sexual or affectional orientation, national origin or nationality, citizenship status, disability, age, genetics, protected veteran status, ancestry, marital status. Not Ready to apply? Stay connected with us to learn more about upcoming career opportunities and onsite Recruitment events. Connect with us

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5. Post your job

   To find the right marketing specialist for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with marketing specialists they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit marketing specialists who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   To find marketing specialist candidates, you can consider the following options:

   • Post your job opening on Zippia or other job search websites.
   • Use niche websites that focus on engineering and technology jobs, such as swipe files, exit five, marketinghire, american marketing association.
   • Post your job on free job posting websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting marketing specialists requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new marketing specialist

   Once you've selected the best marketing specialist candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new marketing specialist. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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