Marketer’s satisfaction tied to seniority.

Results from the Aquent | AMA 2009 Survey of Marketing Professionals highlight distinct differences in satisfaction between senior-level marketers and their more junior colleagues. While top executives are largely satisfied with their professional responsibilities and challenges, entry- and mid-level marketers are in large measure less than satisfied with their current responsibilities and the challenges afforded them at their work. These are the key findings summarized in “Where You Stand Depends on Where You Sit,” the first of the Insight Series related to the survey. The largest and most inclusive free survey of its kind, it draws its results from data sampled from more than 70,000 marketing and creative professionals.

“While marketers at all levels of the organization are faced with enormous strategic and tactical challenges, their view of these challenges, and the satisfaction they gain from resolving them, are colored by where they stand in the company hierarchy. The higher the marketer ranks, the higher the job satisfaction,” said Aquent Director of Marketing Colleen Woods.

The first of the Insight Series from the Aquent | AMA 2009 Survey of Marketing Professionals discerned sharp differences in how marketers assess the challenges facing them and their organizations. For example, across a broad range of traditional marketing functions (including corporate communications and brand management) and across nearly all organization sizes, marketers on average ranked “Quantifying and measuring the value of marketing programs/investments” as the number one strategic challenge they face. Yet top-level marketers overwhelmingly ranked something other than this as their primary strategic challenge.

“These survey findings tell us that entry- and mid-level marketers need to understand and respond to this disconnect between themselves and their more senior colleagues,” said Nancy Costopulos, chief marketing officer, American Marketing Association. “For marketers to achieve greater personal career success and satisfaction, they should not only address their own challenges but also anticipate the challenges faced by senior leaders. That will ultimately deliver greater value to their organizations and enhance their professional advancement.”