Career profile for Marketing Manager

What does a Marketing Manager do?

Marketing Managers plan, direct, or coordinate marketing policies and programs, such as determining the demand for products and services offered by a firm and its competitors, and identify potential customers.

In addition, Marketing Managers

develop pricing strategies with the goal of maximizing the firm's profits or share of the market while ensuring the firm's customers are satisfied,
oversee product development or monitor trends that indicate the need for new products and services.

What kind of tasks does a Marketing Manager perform regularly?

Marketing Managers are often responsible for overseeing or executing some or all of the following tasks:

Identify, develop, or evaluate marketing strategy, based on knowledge of establishment objectives, market characteristics, and cost and markup factors.
Formulate, direct, or coordinate marketing activities or policies to promote products or services, working with advertising or promotion managers.
Evaluate the financial aspects of product development, such as budgets, expenditures, research and development appropriations, or return-on-investment and profit-loss projections.
Develop pricing strategies, balancing firm objectives and customer satisfaction.
Compile lists describing product or service offerings.
Direct the hiring, training, or performance evaluations of marketing or sales staff and oversee their daily activities.
Consult with product development personnel on product specifications, such as design, color, or packaging.
Use sales forecasting or strategic planning to ensure the sale and profitability of products, lines, or services, analyzing business developments and monitoring market trends.
Negotiate contracts with vendors or distributors to manage product distribution, establishing distribution networks or developing distribution strategies.
Coordinate or participate in promotional activities or trade shows, working with developers, advertisers, or production managers, to market products or services.
Initiate market research studies, or analyze their findings.
Confer with legal staff to resolve problems, such as copyright infringement or royalty sharing with outside producers or distributors.

The above responsibilities are specific to Marketing Managers. More generally, Marketing Managers are involved in several broader types of activities:

Activities	Importance	Details
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates		Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships		Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
Working with Computers		Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.
Making Decisions and Solving Problems		Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work		Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.

Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates

Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.

Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships

Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.

Working with Computers

Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.

Making Decisions and Solving Problems

Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.

Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work

Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.

What is a Marketing Manager salary?

The median salary for a Marketing Manager is $142,170, and the average salary is $154,470. Both the median and average roughly describe the middle of the Marketing Manager salary range, but the average is more easily affected by extremely high or low salaries.

Many Marketing Managers earn significantly more or less than the average, due to several factors. About 10% of Marketing Managers earn less than $74,620 per year, 25% earn less than $101,690, 75% earn less than $191,760, and 90% earn more than $208,000.

Between the years of 2020 and 2030, the number of Marketing Managers is expected to change by 10.0%, and there should be roughly 28,500 open positions for Marketing Managers every year.

Median annual salary: $142,170
Typical salary range: $74,620 - Over $208,000
Projected growth (2020 - 2030): 10.0%

What personality traits are common among Marketing Managers?

Interests

Career interests describe a person's preferences for different types of working environments and activities. When a person's interest match the demands of an occupation, people are usually more engaged and satisfied in that role.

Compared to most occupations, those who work as a Marketing Manager are usually higher in their Enterprising and Conventional interests.

Marketing Managers typically have very strong Enterprising interests. Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.

Also, Marketing Managers typically have strong Conventional interests. Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

Values

People differ in their values, or what is most important to them for building job satisfaction and fulfillment.

Compared to most people, those working as a Marketing Manager tend to value Working Conditions, Achievement, and Relationships.

Most importantly, Marketing Managers very strongly value Working Conditions. Occupations that satisfy this work value offer job security and good working conditions.

Second, Marketing Managers very strongly value Achievement. Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment.

Lastly, Marketing Managers strongly value Relationships. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment.

Psychological Demands

Each occupation brings its own set of psychological demands, which describe the characteristics necessary to perform the job well.

In order to perform their job successfully, people who work as Marketing Managers must consistently demonstrate qualities such as initiative, leadership, and dependability.

Below, you'll find a list of qualities typically required of Marketing Managers, ranked by importance:

Demands	Importance	Details
Initiative		Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
Leadership		Job requires a willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction.
Dependability		Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
Achievement/Effort		Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.
Adaptability/Flexibility		Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.

Initiative

Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.

Leadership

Job requires a willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction.

Dependability

Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.

Achievement/Effort

Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.

Adaptability/Flexibility

Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.

What education and training do Marketing Managers need?

Many Marketing Managers will have a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

Marketing Managers usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

Educational degrees among Marketing Managers

0.7% did not complete high school or secondary school
3.8% completed high school or secondary school
9.3% completed some college coursework
5.0% earned a Associate's degree
55.8% earned a Bachelor's degree
23.5% earned a Master's degree
2.0% earned a doctorate or professional degree

Knowledge and expertise required by Marketing Managers

Marketing Managers may benefit from understanding of specialized subject areas, such as sales and marketing, administration and management, or customer and personal service knowledge.

The list below shows several areas in which most Marketing Managers might want to build proficiency, ranked by importance.

Knowledge areas	Importance	Details
Sales and Marketing		Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Administration and Management		Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Customer and Personal Service		Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Communications and Media		Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Computers and Electronics		Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

Sales and Marketing

Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

Administration and Management

Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

Customer and Personal Service

Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

Communications and Media

Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.

Computers and Electronics

Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

Important Abilities needed by Marketing Managers

Marketing Managers must develop a particular set of abilities to perform their job well. Abilities are individual capacities that influence a person's information processing, sensory perception, motor coordination, and physical strength or endurance. Individuals may naturally have certain abilities without explicit training, but most abilities can be sharpened somewhat through practice.

For example, Marketing Managers need abilities such as oral comprehension, written comprehension, and oral expression in order to perform their job at a high level. The list below shows several important abilities for Marketing Managers, ranked by their relative importance.

Abilities	Importance	Details
Oral Comprehension		The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Written Comprehension		The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Oral Expression		The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Written Expression		The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Deductive Reasoning		The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

Oral Comprehension

The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

Written Comprehension

The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

Oral Expression

The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

Written Expression

The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

Deductive Reasoning

The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

Critical Skills needed by Marketing Managers

Skills are developed capacities that enable people to function effectively in real-world settings. Unlike abilities, skills are typically easier to build through practice and experience. Skills influence effectiveness in areas such as learning, working with others, design, troubleshooting, and more.

Marketing Managers frequently use skills like reading comprehension, active listening, and speaking to perform their job effectively. The list below shows several critical skills for Marketing Managers, ranked by their relative importance.

Skills	Importance	Details
Reading Comprehension		Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Active Listening		Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Speaking		Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Critical Thinking		Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Active Learning		Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.

Reading Comprehension

Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.

Active Listening

Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

Speaking

Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Critical Thinking

Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.

Active Learning

Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.

What is the source of this information?

The information provided on this page is adapted from data and descriptions published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration under the CC BY 4.0 license. TraitLab has modified some information for ease of use and reading, and the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment, and Training Administration has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

If you have any questions or suggestions about this information, please send a message.

Career profile Marketing Manager

Marketing Manager

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