Customer marketing and advocacy is a specialized discipline, and compensation reflects it. But salary is only part of the story. Our benchmark survey of 126 CMA professionals revealed a field where ambition is high, career infrastructure is thin, and the skills that built CMA careers are rapidly giving way to new ones.
Here’s what we found.
What Does CMA Pay?
CMA is a specialized discipline and the compensation reflects it.
Salary bands and percentage of respondents:
- Under $60,000 — 3%
- $60,000–$79,999 — 2%
- $80,000–$99,999 — 13%
- $100,000–$124,999 — 17%
- $125,000–$149,999 — 17%
- $150,000–$174,999 — 20% ← largest segment
- $175,000–$199,999 — 14%
- $200,000–$249,999 — 9%
- $250,000–$300,000 — 3%
- Over $300,000 — 1%
The two top predictors of a higher salary were more years of marketing experience and a larger immediate team.
| Team Members | Mean Salary | Median Salary |
| 1 | $152,700 | $163,000 |
| More than 20 | $187,500 | $225,000 |
| Years of Experience | Mean Salary | Median Salary |
| Less than 2 years | $101,300 | $101,300 |
| 2–4 years | $117,000 | $112,500 |
| 5–7 years | $117,200 | $112,500 |
| 8–10 years | $141,800 | $137,500 |
| 11–15 years | $166,700 | $162,500 |
| 16–20 years | $160,500 | $162,500 |
| More than 20 years | $190,400 | $162,500 |
Base salary is just the starting point
7 in 10 CMA professionals receive a performance bonus on top of their salary.
Do you receive a performance bonus and/or sales commission?
- Yes, performance bonus — 69%
- No, base salary only — 30%
- Yes, bonus + commission — 1%
Approximately how much do you receive from your performance bonus in a typical year?
- Under $5,000 — 17%
- $5,000–$9,999 — 17%
- $10,000–$19,999 — 33% ← most common
- $20,000–$34,999 — 13%
- $35,000–$49,999 — 7%
- $50,000 or more — 2%
(Varies too much to estimate / prefer not to say — 10%)
The mid-career ceiling nobody’s talking about
In most B2B marketing functions, the biggest salary jump happens in the middle of your career. Exit Five’s 2025 salary benchmark found that the move from Manager to Senior Manager comes with a 33.5% pay increase. It’s the single largest leap on the title ladder.
In customer marketing and advocacy, that leap doesn’t exist — and the data is telling us a few reasons why that stagnation may happen.
The Structural Tensions
We just showed you how salaries break down. Now for the harder question: what determines where you land on that chart, and whether you’ll move up it?
CMA professionals are hungry for career growth
Across all seniority levels, team sizes, and industries, the overwhelming majority of CMA professionals are aiming for the next level. But ambition isn’t the problem.
Which of the following best describes your desired career level over the next 1–2 years?
- Advance to senior IC level — 33%
- Move into first-time management — 19%
- Advance to middle management — 13%
- Advance to senior leadership / exec level — 13%
- Remain at similar level — 18%
- Not sure — 4%
Fewer than 1 in 8 have a clear path there
Of those who want to advance, only 12% have both a role to grow into and a defined path to reach it. Nearly half are aiming for a destination that doesn’t yet exist on their org chart.
The drive is real. The infrastructure isn’t.
Do you have a clear path to that promotion at your current company?
- Yes — role exists and I have a path to it — 12%
- Yes — role promised, but doesn’t exist yet — 26%
- No — role exists, but no clear path — 14%
- No — role doesn’t exist and no clear path — 48%
64% are developing their careers on their own
Nearly half of CMA professionals describe professional development at their organization as “ad hoc”, occasional or informal at best. Another 18% have none at all.
If organizations want more strategic output from CMA, the math requires more strategic investment in CMA people.
How would you describe the professional development and training opportunities available to you in your current CMA role?
- Extensive (formally supported, actively encouraged) — 1%
- Structured (formal opportunities regularly available) — 9%
- Limited (some structured, but inconsistent) — 24%
- Ad hoc (occasional or informal only) — 46%
- None (no meaningful dev or training) — 18%
CMAs want to grow, but can’t do it alone
Wanting to advance plus no support structure equals a gap that’s hard to close individually. Even at organizations with structured development, CMA professionals often don’t have a defined promotion path.
Across almost every tier of professional development availability, 75–91% of people want to advance, but 0% to 15% have a clear path to move forward.
"Customer advocacy and Voice of the Customer are becoming priorities at my company, with more excitement and output desired. But there is no additional resourcing or bandwidth to allow me, a team of one, to take a more strategic approach. I wish it were seen as a more essential strategic imperative that needs resourcing in order to operate strategically rather than reactively."
46% of CMA professionals are their own biggest champion
That speaks to the resilience of the people in this field. But it’s also an organizational hurdle.
When nearly half of CMA professionals are the only voice in the room advocating for the impact of their programs, that’s not a personal achievement. That’s an org leaving them to carry the weight alone.
Who is the primary champion for CMA within your organization?
- Myself — 46% ← dominant response
- My direct manager — 20%
- Marketing leadership (VP/Head of Marketing) — 17%
- Executive leadership (CMO, CRO, CXO) — 9%
- Cross-functional partners (CS, Sales, Product) — 4%
- No clear champion today — 4%
"I wish we had an executive champion. It's hard to feel like our work gets the resources or prioritization or acknowledgement that it merits. This leaves us feeling a lack of clear direction, measurable impact, and a lack of empowerment."
Cross-functional champions drive strategic recognition
Organizations with cross-functional CMA champions are significantly more likely to view the function as strategic. Buy-in from the rest of the org isn’t a soft benefit, it’s a structural signal that reshapes what CMA is allowed to be and do.
Does cross-functional support correlate with CMA being seen as more strategic?
- Significantly more strategic — 25%
- Somewhat more strategic — 44%
- Stayed about the same — 18%
- Somewhat less strategic — 2%
- Significantly less strategic — 3%
- Not sure / Too new to say — 9%
CMAs with cross-functional partners were the most likely to report being viewed as significantly or somewhat more strategic (80%) by their orgs over the last year, while those without a clear champion were the least likely (40%).
CMA makes the case, but attribution closes it
Three-quarters of CMA professionals say their greatest organizational impact is creating customer proof for GTM. But fewer than 4 in 10 say they’re influencing pipeline and revenue growth.
The proof exists. The attribution infrastructure often doesn’t.
Beyond specific KPIs, where does customer marketing and advocacy have the greatest impact at your organization? (Select up to 3)
- Creating customer proof for GTM — 75%
- Strengthening customer relationships — 62%
- Increasing brand credibility and trust — 42%
- Influencing pipeline and revenue growth — 37%
- Improving customer retention and expansion — 33%
- Driving product adoption / customer value — 32%
- Supporting deal acceleration / sales confidence — 29%
- Elevating thought leadership / market positioning — 19%
- Improving cross-functional GTM alignment — 19%
The big dichotomy: 75% say creating customer proof is their biggest impact, but only 37% say they’re influencing pipeline and revenue.
1 in 3 CMA requests come from Sales
Sales generates more requests for CMA than any other team. And others don’t even come close. That’s not surprising. What comes next is.
Yet Sales doesn’t crack CMA’s top 3 closest collaborators
Despite generating 34% of CMA’s incoming requests, Sales ranks 4th in day-to-day collaboration. Customer success and product marketing (tied at the top) are the teams CMA actually partners with most. But high request volume without close collaboration turns CMA into a reactive order-taker rather than a strategic driver.
The fix isn’t working harder. It’s giving Sales what it needs to self-serve.
Which department do you get most requests from?
- Sales (new business) — 34%
- Product marketing — 18%
- Demand generation / growth marketing — 13%
- Customer success — 7%
- CS / account management (renewals) — 7%
- Content / communications — 6%
- Product management — 6%
- Brand / corporate marketing — 5%
- Executive leadership — 4%
Which department do you collaborate most closely with?
- Product marketing — 21% (tied for first)
- Customer success — 21% (tied for first)
- CS / account management (renewals) — 16%
- Sales (new business) — 13%
- Demand generation — 12%
- Brand / corporate marketing — 6%
- Content / communications — 4%
- RevOps / marketing operations — 2%
The gap: 34% of CMA requests come from Sales, yet only 13% say they collaborate closely with Sales.
"We are usually at the beck and call of other teams — sales needs a reference NOW, a CSM has a customer ready to advocate NOW, product/marketing has a customer comm that needs to go out NOW. I rarely have time to deep dive into customer data or work on customer lifecycle campaigns — because there are usually fires to put out for other people."
The Skills Shaping CMA’s Future
The skills that built CMA careers are shifting fast. Cross-functional collaboration, storytelling, and project management got the field to where it is. What comes next looks different.
Getting everyone on the same page has been CMA’s superpower
Which skills have been most critical in developing your CMA career to date? (Select up to 3)
- Cross-functional collaboration — 60%
- Customer storytelling and content development — 50%
- Customer relationship building — 46%
- Program and campaign management — 35%
- Project management and prioritization — 33%
- Executive communication and influence — 33%
- Community and advocacy program building — 29%
- Data analysis and KPI measurement — 23%
- Customer insights / Voice of the Customer — 21%
- Marketing automation and tools proficiency — 19%
- AI and emerging technology literacy — 16%
- Revenue and growth strategy alignment — 16%
Cross-functional collaboration, cited by 60% of respondents, tops the list of skills that have mattered most for CMA careers so far. AI literacy, on the other hand, barely registered. That’s about to change.
AI literacy was overlooked — now, it can’t be ignored
While AI and emerging technology literacy was at the bottom of the skills CMA said had helped them in their career to date, they expect it to be the most important one moving forward. Revenue and growth strategy alignment made an equally dramatic jump, suggesting that the skills that built CMA careers are rapidly being supplemented by new ones.
The field is adapting. The urgency is real.
Skills critical to CMA career to date vs. skills most important going forward:
- AI & emerging tech literacy: #11 (16%) → #1 (56%) ← biggest jump
- Revenue & growth strategy alignment: #12 (16%) → #2 (43%)
- Executive communication & influence: #6 (33%) → #3 (38%)
- Data analysis and KPI measurement: #8 (23%) → #4 (35%)
- Customer relationship building: #3 (46%) → #5 (33%)
- Cross-functional collaboration: #1 (60%) → #6 (33%) ← biggest drop
- Customer insights / VoC: #9 (21%) → #7 (28%)
- Community & advocacy program building: #7 (29%) → #8 (27%)
- Marketing automation & tools proficiency: #10 (19%) → #9 (27%)
- Customer storytelling & content development: #2 (50%) → #10 (23%)
- Program and campaign management: #4 (35%) → #11 (16%)
- Project management and prioritization: #5 (33%) → #12 (13%)
What Comes Next
We’ve named the tensions. Now, it’s time for the pivot. The momentum is real, and there are clear actions for both the CMA practitioners and the leaders in the room.
69% say their org views CMA as more strategic than before
Perceptions are shifting. Nearly seven in ten CMA professionals say their organization views the function as more strategic than a year ago.
That momentum is undeniable. But recognition isn’t the same thing as investment. For most, the gap between the two is exactly where the story we just told you lives.
For customer marketers
The great news: the gaps we found in our research are totally closable. The better news: many of your peers are already closing them. Head on over to The Outpost, where they’re sharing their best tips, tactics, and playbooks to keep elevating CMA within your org (and help win you your next promotion).
For marketing leaders
One of the best things you can do to ensure you’re building a strategic CMA team (and not just a reference request center)? Understanding how proof connects to pipeline. We’ve got all of that research (plus insights into what proof actually drives buyers to buy) in The Evidence Gap report.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average customer marketing salary in 2025?
The largest segment of customer marketing and advocacy (CMA) professionals — 20% — earn between $150,000 and $174,999 per year. Salaries range widely based on experience and team size: professionals with fewer than two years of experience report a mean salary of $101,300, while those with 20+ years average $190,400. Team size also matters — CMA professionals managing teams of 20 or more report a median salary of $225,000, compared to $163,000 for solo practitioners. On top of base pay, 69% of CMA professionals receive a performance bonus, with the most common bonus range falling between $10,000 and $19,999.
What career growth opportunities exist for customer marketing professionals?
Career growth is a top priority for CMA professionals — 78% want to advance within the next one to two years. However, only 12% have both a role to grow into and a defined path to reach it. Nearly half (48%) say the role they want doesn’t exist on their org chart and there’s no clear path forward. This makes CMA one of the more structurally challenging marketing disciplines for career progression, despite strong demand for the function itself.
What skills do customer marketers need in 2025 and beyond?
The skills shaping CMA careers are shifting rapidly. Cross-functional collaboration (60%) and customer storytelling (50%) have been the most critical skills to date, but CMA professionals expect very different skills to matter going forward. AI and emerging technology literacy jumped from last place (16%) to the top priority (56%) for future career success. Revenue and growth strategy alignment saw a similar surge, moving from 16% to 43%. Executive communication and data analysis round out the top four forward-looking skills.
How much do customer marketing professionals get in bonuses?
Seven in ten CMA professionals (69%) receive a performance bonus in addition to their base salary. The most common bonus range is $10,000–$19,999, reported by 33% of bonus recipients. About a third of bonus recipients (34%) receive under $10,000, while 22% receive $20,000 or more. Only 1% of CMA professionals receive both a bonus and a sales commission.
Why is there a mid-career salary ceiling in customer marketing?
Unlike other B2B marketing functions where the jump from Manager to Senior Manager can mean a 33.5% pay increase CMA doesn’t show the same mid-career salary leap. Several structural factors contribute: 48% of CMA professionals say the next-level role doesn’t exist at their company, 46% say they are their own primary champion (with no executive sponsor), and 64% are developing their careers with ad hoc or no professional development support. Without defined career ladders, executive sponsorship, or investment in professional growth, mid-career stagnation becomes a structural outcome rather than an individual one.
What is the biggest challenge facing customer marketing teams?
The data points to a gap between demand and investment. Three-quarters of CMA professionals say creating customer proof for GTM is their greatest impact area, yet only 37% say they’re influencing pipeline and revenue — largely because attribution infrastructure hasn’t caught up. Meanwhile, 34% of CMA’s incoming requests come from Sales, but Sales ranks just 4th in actual day-to-day collaboration. The result is a function that’s increasingly seen as strategic (69% say perceptions have improved) but still operates reactively, without the resourcing, career paths, or cross-functional partnerships to match the elevated expectations.
How does cross-functional support impact customer marketing?
Cross-functional support significantly elevates CMA’s strategic standing within an organization. CMA professionals who have cross-functional partners as their primary champion were the most likely to report being viewed as more strategic (80% said their org sees CMA as significantly or somewhat more strategic over the past year). By contrast, only 40% of those without a clear champion reported the same. Buy-in from teams like customer success, product marketing, and sales isn’t a soft benefit. It directly shapes what CMA is resourced and empowered to do.
Who do customer marketers collaborate with most?
Customer success and product marketing are tied as CMA’s closest collaborators, each cited by 21% of respondents. CS / account management (16%) and Sales (13%) follow. This is notable because Sales generates the most requests for CMA (34%) but ranks 4th in actual collaboration. The disconnect between request volume and partnership depth is one of the key structural tensions in CMA today, and it points to an opportunity: equipping Sales to self-serve on customer proof rather than funneling every request through CMA.
