What Does a Marketing Director Do?

Why do some products and services catch on with consumers while others fade into obscurity? Much of it has to do with the way they’re marketed. Organizations rely on comprehensive marketing strategies to create brand awareness, generate interest in products and services, and convert leads into sales. Achieving these goals is vital to generating revenue and growing the business.

Developing an effective marketing strategy is one of the many responsibilities of a marketing director. These executives oversee an organization’s marketing operations and the teams responsible for executing them. Employing a variety of tactics, marketing directors find ways to connect with customers to drive interest in their brand’s products and services.

Those aspiring to this in-demand role can benefit from exploring what a marketing director does and understanding the steps they need to take to achieve professional success, including earning an advanced degree.

Marketing Director Job Description

A marketing director guides an organization’s marketing operations along with the personnel in the marketing department, helping to create awareness for the business and its products/services. Marketing directors work either as in-house directors or at marketing agencies. In-house directors promote their own organization’s products and services. Agency directors promote the products and services of the companies that have hired their agency, which means they often work with several clients spanning different industries. A marketing director holds a meeting with their team at a table in an office.

Regardless of the exact nature of their work and who they work for, the goal of all marketing directors remains consistent: to help organizations achieve their marketing and sales goals using a variety of strategies. They may use traditional marketing methods, such as print ads, television commercials, and direct mail campaigns, as well as digital marketing methods, such as email blasts, multichannel social media marketing, and display advertisements. It’s up to the marketing director to determine what will work best with respect to the product or service and the overall strategy.

What else does a marketing director do? Some additional duties that are typically part of their job description include:

Creating and/or managing marketing budgets
Developing marketing strategies that support the overall business strategy and offer a unique value proposition
Identifying key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the success of marketing efforts
Recruiting, hiring, and training marketing professionals
Leading a team of marketers and overseeing the day-to-day operations of the marketing department
Conducting a competitor analysis for each competitor
Collaborating with other departments, such as sales and client services
Creating reports for company leadership and/or clients that break down the performance of marketing efforts
Staying up to date on marketing trends and tools

Marketing Director Salary and Job Outlook

A marketing director is one of the most senior roles in an organization’s marketing arm, and therefore one of the most highly paid. According to Payscale, marketing directors had a median annual salary of approximately $95,700 as of July 2023, with a wide salary range between $54,000 and $155,000.

Numerous factors can influence an individual marketing director’s salary, such as their level of experience, the type of employer they work for, and the region where they work. Payscale reports that early-career marketing directors (1 to 4 years of experience) earned around $64,000 per year, while those with 10 or more years of experience earned more than six figures.

A marketing director has a significant impact on the success or failure of an organization’s marketing efforts, and ultimately, the overall success of the business. Consequently, there is high demand for these professionals in the labor market. According to projections from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), employment of advertising, promotions, and marketing managers will grow by 10% between 2021 and 2031, twice as fast as the average growth estimated for all occupations. The BLS cites the rise in the need for professionals with expertise in digital marketing as a large part of the reason for this rapid growth.

How to Become a Marketing Director

Marketing directors each follow their own path to reach their position. However, those interested in becoming a marketing director should know there are some critical steps they’ll need to take to ascend to the role.

Earn an undergraduate degree in either marketing, advertising, business, information technology, or a related field.
Gain marketing experience. Many in-house marketing departments and marketing agencies offer internship programs through which recent graduates can learn the business.
Earn a graduate degree in marketing, advertising, product management, or a related field. While not always essential, many employers prefer their directors to have an advanced degree.
Gain further experience with an entry-level or midlevel role — such as that of a product marketing manager — which can allow aspiring directors to hone their existing skills and acquire new ones.
Earn relevant certifications, such as the professional certified marketer (PCM) or project management professional (PMP) credentials. This is an optional step, but many employers prefer candidates with professional certifications that showcase their skills and knowledge.
Gain management experience and develop essential director-level skills and competencies, such as leadership, problem-solving, communication, teamwork, and strategy creation and implementation skills. Multiple years of experience are generally required to qualify for a director role.

Expand Your Career Options in Marketing

Marketing directors are vital to creating brand awareness, connecting customers with goods and services, overseeing marketing operations and staff, and ultimately contributing to revenue growth. Effective marketing drives conversions, which helps an organization meet its sales goals. Their impact on business success is why marketing directors are in such high demand and command such generous salaries.

If you’re researching how to become a marketing director, you may want to consider earning an advanced degree. A great way to prepare for a career in marketing — and particularly a leadership role — is by enrolling in a cross-industry business degree program, such as the online Master of Science in Product Management program at Regis College. Students in the program engage with relevant coursework that supports their career aspirations, including the following courses: