What Is a Marketing Director?
A marketing director is responsible for managing and overseeing all the marketing campaigns for every product or service offered by his or her company. Marketing directors can work for small businesses as the sole marketing director, or for large corporations or government agencies as the director of a team of marketing assistants, marketing research analysts and product development managers. They may work for small firms that sell one product, or they may maintain and oversee the marketing plans for a large number of products sold be one company.
Marketing directors are also usually responsible for making sure a marketing strategy does not go over budget and uses resources effectively. Because of this, a good marketing director needs to have a broad background in advertising and marketing strategy coupled with the ability to budget and allocate funds in a way that will best represent a product. Marketing directors need to be, first and foremost, great at marketing, and, secondly, excellent with team building and promotion of cooperation.
How to Become a Marketing Director
Many online universities offer online marketing degrees which provide the necessary educational background for a marketing director. Traditional universities offer marketing degrees, as well, and degrees in business administration, advertising or public relations are also suitable for marketing training. Regardless of chosen major, students should see that their coursework includes areas such as business law, economics, management, accounting, finance, mathematics, and statistics.
Oftentimes, the most available degree will be a bachelor’s degree in business with an emphasis in marketing. For marketing management/director positions, firms will prefer candidates holding master’s degrees, but those with bachelor’s degrees and exceptional past experience may also have a great chance of moving up within a firm or moving to a better position in another firm. Completion of an internship during school is also highly desirable. Most people become marketing directors by gaining experience and moving up the ladder.
Marketing Director Career Outlook & Salary
The overall job market for those working within this industry is expected to grow by 13% in the decade from 2008 to 2018. In 2008, out of the 623,800 jobs held by employees working as advertising, marketing, promotions, public relations, and sales managers in the United States, 175,600 of those were held by marketing managers, or directors. Also, about 32% of those working as marketing directors worked within the professional, scientific, technical and insurance industries.
Marketing directors will see a nice amount of job security, as those positions are oftentimes among the most important in the firm. However, competition for good positions is strong. With the expansion of trade necessities both nationally and abroad, the work of good marketing directors will become even more valuable.
The average salary for a marketing director varies greatly depending on the specific firm or industry. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual wage for marketing directors in 2001 was $108,580. Payscale.com reports salaries ranging from $29,032 to $33,573 annually at Chic-Fil-A Inc., to $140,531 – $170,381 at Microsoft Corp.
