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BUSINESS CAREER GUIDES

Marketing Manager Career

OVERVIEW

What Is a Marketing Manager?


 

Marketing managers will study the marketing and sales trends that define a company’s advertising and outreach. Whether a company is looking to improve brand awareness or generate more customers, a marketing manager must leverage all web, social media, and traditional branding materials to accomplish company outreach goals.

RESPONSIBILITIES

What Does a Marketing Manager Do?

Marketing managers regularly fulfill a series of daily tasks, to ensure the ongoing success of all corporate marketing efforts. These exact responsibilities can include:

  • Allocating appropriate budgets across all active marketing efforts.
  • Creating and optimizing all wording and phrasing deployed online or in print.
  • Establishing a comprehensive brand voice across all marketing materials.
  • Collaborating with marketing team members and corporate executives, to establish correct tone and appropriately manage assets once completed.
  • Brainstorming new marketing initiatives.
  • Performing ongoing customer evaluations to better understand target demographics and pair them with appropriate marketing resources.
  • Controlling any online marketing platforms responsible for reaching web-based customers.

These are only some of the responsibilities a marketing manager must complete to be successful.

EDUCATION & BEST DEGREES

What Education Does a Marketing Manager Need?

To best fulfill the position of a marketing manager, students will first need to complete a bachelor’s degree in online marketing or a related field. This degree equips potential marketing managers with the skills they need to find success daily, teaching critical skills like market analysis, content creation, and marketing analytics. 

The most qualified marketing manager candidates often pursue further marketing education, typically through a master’s degree in business administration (MBA) or a master's degree in marketing. After establishing a foundation for successful marketing management through an undergraduate degree, a master’s degree in marketing can help students understand niche marketing and work effectively in a team setting.

Best Degrees for a Marketing Manager

Marketing – B.S. Business Administration

For those who want to lead brands and steer consumer markets:...

For those who want to lead brands and steer consumer markets:

  • Time: 71% of graduates finish within 40 months.
  • Tuition: $3,755 per 6-month term.
  • Courses: 41 total courses in this program.

Some careers and jobs this business degree will prepare you for:

  • Marketing and PR manager
  • Director of marketing and communications
  • Director of publications
  • Customer intelligence manager
  • Marketing sales manager

Marketing is a creative and exciting field—and one where an undergraduate degree will open better opportunities.

Marketing – M.S.

Two online marketing master's degree options with a focus on either...

Two online marketing master's degree options with a focus on either digital marketing or marketing analytics.

  • Time: 72% of graduates finish WGU master's programs in 24 months.
  • Tuition: $4,530 per 6-month term.
  • Courses: 11 total courses in this program
  • Program Options: Students choose from two degrees to focus their marketing studies on digital marketing or marketing analytics.

Sample careers and jobs this business degree will prepare you for:

  • Marketing manager
  • Marketing analyst
  • Marketing director
  • SEO manager
  • SEM manager
  • Email manager

A marketing master's degree will help you prepare for a wide range of exciting marketing careers.

Master of Business Administration

The flexible MBA program you need, focused on business management,...

The flexible MBA program you need, focused on business management, strategy, and leading teams:

  • Time: Graduates can finish in 12 months.
  • Tuition: $4,755 per 6-month term.
  • Courses: 11 total courses in this program.

Sample careers and jobs this business degree will prepare you for:

  • President and CEO
  • Vice president
  • Executive director
  • Chief strategic officer

Our competency-based model gives you an innovative learning experience you won't find anywhere else—and our MBA grads tell us they loved accelerating their program to see a faster ROI.

How Much Does a Marketing Manager Make?

$127,140

The exact income of a marketing manager can vary widely, based on their employer, employer location, years of experience, and the industry in which they are hired. 

The average salary of a marketing manager was $127,140 in 2021, where the lowest 10% of managers earned less than $68,940 and the top 10% of earners took home over $208,000

What Is the Projected Job Growth?

1%

While the BLS’s estimated growth rate for the position of a product manager is only 1% from 2019 to 2029—slower than the average for all jobs—the position still maintains a positive outlook. Some manufacturing industries are expected to see declines in total employment due to more efficient productivity levels. However, the need remains for product managers to effectively manage inventory and optimize customer reception, a need that isn’t expected to decline in the years to come. Specifically, industries like vehicle parts manufacturing, machinery shops, and medical manufacturing are expected to add product manager jobs in the coming years.

SKILLS

What Skills Does a Product Manager Need?

The role of a product manager requires certain skills necessary to continually manage product creation, release, and customer feedback. These specific skills can include:

  • Operations management. The ability to maintain strict control of product inventory, as well as the vital business processes that contribute to immediate and lasting success.
  • Creative problem-solving. The ability to come up with new strategies and solutions to product issues.
  • Interpersonal communication. The ability to correspond with fellow team members and corporate executives, to clearly communicate product goals, and suggest product optimizations to further improve customer response.
  • Data-based product reporting. The ability to create user-friendly reports that convey accurate product reception metrics, and present findings regularly to interested stakeholders.
  • Financial management. The ability to understand financial benefit or loss, as it relates specifically to product-related costs and dividends.
  • Holistic marketing. The ability to understand, and leverage, cross-channel marketing to promote products across appropriate channels.
  • Research and analysis. The ability to analyze past and current product reception trends to inform future business operations and product strategies.

These skills and others help make a product manager successful on a day-to-day basis. High levels of creativity and a strong desire to communicate are central to this role, whether a product manager is presenting results to investors or developing more efficient production processes.

Our Online University Degree Programs Start on the First of Every Month, All Year Long

No need to wait for spring or fall semester. It's back-to-school time at WGU year-round. Get started by talking to an Enrollment Counselor today, and you'll be on your way to realizing your dream of a bachelor's or master's degree—sooner than you might think!

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Interested in Becoming a Marketing Manager?

Learn more about degree programs that can prepare you for this meaningful career.