Marketing Managers
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Overview
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. 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.
Highlights
Undergraduate program resulting in the highest median salary ($127K): Mechanical Engineering
Largest undergraduate program (14.0% of workers): Marketing
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Titles for this career often contain these words
MarketingManagerDirectorSalesBusinessDevelopmentMarketProductSupervisorCommercialFashionCoordinatorExecutiveAccountBrandDeveloperCategoryChannelLinesDigitalMarketerHeadInternetAnalysisResearchAdministratorCommunicationsOperationsMediaMembershipPricingLinePLMVicePresidentSustainableProductsVPWorldTradeMaritimeDivision
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Responsibilities and activities

Advertising, promotions, and marketing managers typically do the following:

  • Work with department heads or staff to discuss topics such as budgets and contracts, marketing plans, and the selection of advertising media
  • Plan promotional campaigns such as contests, coupons, or giveaways
  • Plan advertising campaigns, including which media to advertise in, such as radio, television, print, online media, and billboards
  • Negotiate advertising contracts
  • Evaluate the look and feel of websites used in campaigns or layouts, which are sketches or plans for an advertisement
  • Initiate market research studies and analyze their findings to understand customer and market opportunities for businesses
  • Develop pricing strategies for products or services marketed to the target customers
  • Meet with clients to provide marketing or related advice
  • Direct the hiring of advertising, promotions, and marketing staff and oversee their daily activities

Advertising managers create interest among potential buyers of a product or service. They do this for a department, for an entire organization, or on a project basis (referred to as an account). Advertising managers work in advertising agencies that put together advertising campaigns for clients, in media firms that sell advertising space or time, and in organizations that advertise heavily.

Advertising managers work with sales staff and others to generate ideas for an advertising campaign. They oversee the staff that develops the advertising. They work with the finance department to prepare a budget and cost estimates for the campaign.

Often, advertising managers serve as liaisons between the client and the advertising or promotion agency that develops and places the ads. In larger organizations with extensive advertising departments, different advertising managers may oversee in-house accounts and creative and media services departments.

In addition, some advertising managers specialize in a particular field or type of advertising. For example, media directors determine the way in which an advertising campaign reaches customers. They can use any or all of various media, including radio, television, newspapers, magazines, the Internet, and outdoor signs.

Advertising managers known as account executives manage clients’ accounts, but they are not responsible for developing or supervising the creation or presentation of advertising. That task becomes the work of the creative services department.

Promotions managers direct programs that combine advertising with purchasing incentives to increase sales. Often, the programs use direct mail, inserts in newspapers, Internet advertisements, in-store displays, product endorsements, or special events to target customers. Purchasing incentives may include discounts, samples, gifts, rebates, coupons, sweepstakes, or contests.

Marketing managers estimate the demand for products and services that an organization and its competitors offer. They identify potential markets for the organization’s products.

Marketing managers also develop pricing strategies to help organizations maximize their profits and market share while ensuring that the organizations’ customers are satisfied. They work with sales, public relations, and product development staff.

For example, a marketing manager may monitor trends that indicate the need for a new product or service. Then he or she may assist in the development of that product or service and to create a marketing plan for it.

Salary
Median salary: $142,170 annually
Half of those employed in this career earn between $101,690 and $191,760.
$142K$0$50K$100K$150K$200K
Note: The salaries for marketing managers have been top-coded by the BLS; in 2019, all annual salaries larger than # are recorded as #.
Context: Median Salary
How do salaries for this career compare to other jobs' salaries?
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Salary growth for marketing managers
Is this job likely to reward you for sticking with it through pay raises and promotions? The higher a job’s “experience quotient,” the more you are likely to get as you stay there.
Experience quotient percentile
Take a minute to look at how much you might expect your salary to increase with each five years' experience, as well as how the numbers working at each age change. Does this seem to be a job for the young or the old, or could it be a career offering steady salary growth for many years?
Salary distribution
$70K$89K$91K$94K$84K$37K$52K$90K$90K$0$50K$100K$150K$200K20-2425-2930-3435-3940-4445-4950-5455-5960-64
Number employed
020K40K60K80K20-2425-2930-3435-3940-4445-4950-5455-5960-64
About Marketing Managers
How do benefits for this career compare to other jobs? The availability of health care, especially employer provided health care, and pension plans can add significantly to the value of compensation you receive in a career. These charts compare how this career compares to other careers with regard to health care and pension plans.
Employee has health insurance
Employer is providing health insurance
Employer-provided pension plan is available
Worker concerns
Some jobs are more stressful than others, and some are just plain dangerous. The following list gives the percentages of marketing managers who report hazardous or difficult situations typically occurring at least once a week.
  • Time Pressure (88%)
  • Consequence of Error (41%)
  • High Conflict Frequency (36%)
SOURCES:
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Personality and skills
Can you see yourself in the ranks of Marketing Managers? Here are the skills and traits that could lead to success.
Analytical skills
Advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must be able to analyze industry trends to determine the most promising strategies for their organization.
Communication skills
Managers must be able to communicate effectively with a broad-based team made up of other managers or staff members during the advertising, promotions, and marketing process. They must also be able to communicate persuasively with the public.
Creativity
Advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must be able to generate new and imaginative ideas.
Decisionmaking skills
Managers often must choose between competing advertising and marketing strategies put forward by staff.
Interpersonal skills
Managers must deal with a range of people in different roles, both inside and outside the organization.
Organizational skills
Advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must manage their time and budget efficiently while directing and motivating staff members.
Injury and Illness
About 25 marketing managers become injured or ill for every 10,000 workers, making this job more dangerous than 56% of other careers. The most common specific illnesses or injuries are detailed following.
Sprains, strains, tears
Fractures
Soreness and pain
Education pathways to this career
Education attained by marketing managers
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), marketing managers typically hold a bachelor's degree.
Sometimes the typical education identified by the BLS differs a bit from the reality of the how much education current workers actually have. The donut shows the education level held by people currently working as marketing managers as reported in responses to the American Community Survey.
Details: Education and training recommended for marketing managers

A bachelor’s degree is required for most advertising, promotions, and marketing management positions. For advertising management positions, some employers prefer a bachelor’s degree in advertising or journalism. A relevant course of study might include classes in marketing, consumer behavior, market research, sales, communication methods and technology, visual arts, art history, and photography.

Most marketing managers need a bachelor’s degree. Courses in business law, management, economics, finance, computer science, mathematics, and statistics are advantageous. For example, courses in computer science are helpful in developing an approach to maximize online traffic, by utilizing online search results, because maximizing such traffic is critical for the success of digital advertisements and promotions. In addition, completing an internship while in school can be useful.

Education level of Marketing Managers
About 76% of marketing managers have at least a bachelor's degree.
Education attained by marketing managers
None
High School
Some College
Associate's Degree
Bachelor's Degree
Master's Degree
Professional Degree
Doctorate
Top college degrees
Here are the top college degrees held by the 75% of people in this job who have at least a bachelor's degree. Some of degrees may link to multiple programs due to the way Census classifies college majors. Click on a program to learn more about career opportunities for people who major in that field.
  1. Marketing
  2. Business Management and Administration
  3. Communications
  4. Business/Commerce
  5. English Language and Literature
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College majors held by marketing managers
This table shows the college majors held by people working as marketing managers. If you see "**" before the name of a degree/program, that means this field is one that the Department of Education believes is preparatory for this career. However, you can see from this list that those recommendations are far from your only path to this job!
Salary comparison for bachelor's only
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Career salary (tail) versus Career/Major salary (dot)
Does the bachelor's-only salary rise or fall with this major?
$53K$127K
Salary for bachelor's-only
For people with this career and major
Median
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Salary for all workers
For people with this career and major
Median
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Middle 80%
Education for Career and Major
Bachelor's
Master's
Professional
Doctorate
Workers with this career/major
Percentage in this career with this major
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The link between degrees and this career
With the following sankey diagram, you can follow the top ten bachelor's degrees held by people working as marketing managers, and then, in turn, you can see the 10 occupations that hire the most of each degree's graduates. We hope this provides ideas for similar jobs and similar fields of study.
Expand degrees
MarketingBusiness Management ...CommunicationsGeneral BusinessEnglish Language and...PsychologyJournalismEconomicsPolitical Science an...FinanceAll other degreesThis jobTop 10 majors
Where are the jobs
State-by-state employment numbers
Some careers tend to be centered in specific parts of the country. For example, most jobs in fashion are in New York or California. Let's see if your dream job is easy to find in your dream location! We have a few choices for viewing the data that can help you get a full employment picture.
Select a state to see local area details
Number of Marketing Managers per 1,000 workers (ACS)
AKMEWIVTNHWAIDMTNDMNILMINYMAORUTWYSDIAINOHPANJCTRICANVCONEMOKYWVVAMDDEAZNMKSARTNNCSCDCOKLAMSALGAHITXFLPR
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Job density versus job count
Which states hire the most marketing managers? We wonder if that's a fair question since states come in all sizes, so instead let's start with the question of which states have the highest density of people working as marketing managers. You can choose to view the number of jobs per state if you prefer.
Salaries by state
Let's get a feel for where marketing managers earn the highest salaries. There are several choices for which data we consider and how we view that data, and each can lead to different conclusions, so please read on...
Median salary versus state ratio
We use two methods to compare salaries across states:
  • In-state comparisons: the ratio of median (middle) salaries for marketing managers compared to the median salary for all people working in each state, or
  • Median salary: the unaltered median salaries for marketing managers.
We hope the ratio allows perspective about how salaries may compare to the regional cost-of-living.
The darkest shading corresponds to states in which marketing managers earn the highest salary when compared to other jobs in the state. We think this figure might be a better indicator than the actual salary for your buying power as a state resident.
Select a state to see local area details
Location-adjusted median salary for Marketing Managers (ACS)
AKMEWIVTNHWAIDMTNDMNILMINYMAORUTWYSDIAINOHPANJCTRICANVCONEMOKYWVVAMDDEAZNMKSARTNNCSCDCOKLAMSALGAHITXFLPR
Employment
7% of Marketing managers are working part time.
We’ve found that some jobs have a huge number of part-time workers, and typically that is because they are unable to find full-time work or the job itself can’t provide full-time hours. With 7% part-time workers, this occupation has a lower percentage of part-time workers than 67% of careers.
7%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Employer types
This donut shares the break-down of workers by employer type, giving us a picture of what employers most typically hire for this career.
Employers of undefined (ACS)
Private for-profit
Private not-for-profit
Local government
State government
Federal government
Self-employed incorporated
Self-employed not incorporated
Working without pay
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Distribution: Salaries of marketing managers by type of employer
Here are the salary distributions based on employer type.
$74K$78K$62K$63K$62K$48K$58K$80K$0$50,000$100,000$150,000$200,000Self-employed not incorporatedSelf-employed incorporatedFederal governmentState governmentLocal governmentPrivate not-for-profitPrivate for-profitAll
Gender
Marketing managers and gender
With 58% women, this occupation has a higher percentage of women than 71% of careers.
Gender of Marketing managers
Men (42%)
Women (58%)
Distribution: salaries by gender
Does gender greatly influence your salary in this career? The closer the bars are, the less discrepancy there is.
$67K$87K$0$100K$200K$300KWomenMen
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
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Context: Women in the workforce
How does this career compare to other careers with regard to the percentage of women in the career.
58%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Context: Salary inequity
The median (middle) salary for all full-time male workers in the US exceeds the full-time median salary for women by 19%, and the difference for marketing managers tops that, with the median salary for men 30% higher than the median salary for women.
30%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Race/Origin
Race and origin of Marketing managers
This donut shows the distribution of race and origin among those employed as Marketing managers.
Race/origin of marketing managers
White (84% )
Asian (7% )
Black (5% )
Multiracial (2% )
Other (1% )
Hispanic (0% )
American Indian (0% )
Pacific Islander (0% )
Distribution: salaries by race/origin
Some careers might have a pay disparity based on race or origin, the closer the below bars are the less of a discrepancy is present.
$52K$55K$62K$64K$65K$75K$84K$0$50K$100K$150K$200KAmerican IndianOtherHispanicBlackMultiracialWhiteAsian
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.