Management · Holland code ECI

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. 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.

Also called: BD Director (Business Development Director), Brand Manager, Marketing Director, Product Manager, BD Manager (Business Development Manager), Market Development Executive, Market Development Manager, Marketing Communications Manager.

O*NET 11-2021.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $166,790; Middle half earn $123,020 to $216,410. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 4 of 5; Considerable preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Formulate, direct, or coordinate marketing activities or policies to promote products or services, working with advertising or promotion managers.
Use sales forecasting or strategic planning to ensure the sale and profitability of products, lines, or services, analyzing business developments and monitoring market trends.
Identify, develop, or evaluate marketing strategy, based on knowledge of establishment objectives, market characteristics, and cost and markup factors.
Direct the hiring, training, or performance evaluations of marketing or sales staff and oversee their daily activities.
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.
Initiate market research studies, or analyze their findings.
Consult with buying personnel to gain advice regarding the types of products or services expected to be in demand.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Active Listening4.1 / 5
Speaking4.0 / 5
Reading Comprehension3.9 / 5
Critical Thinking3.9 / 5
Active Learning3.9 / 5
Monitoring3.9 / 5

Knowledge areas

Sales and Marketing4.7 / 5
English Language4.5 / 5
Customer and Personal Service4.3 / 5
Communications and Media4.1 / 5
Administration and Management4.0 / 5
Education and Training3.2 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic0
Investigative32
Artistic24
Social30
Enterprising100
Conventional62

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

chief marketing officer · DE Marketingleiter/Marketingleiterin · FR directeur du marketing/directrice du marketing
marketing manager · DE Führungskraft für Marketing · FR responsable du marketing
promotion manager · DE Werbeleiter/Werbeleiterin · FR responsable de la promotion des ventes
commercial director · DE Kaufmännischer Leiter/Kaufmännische Leiterin · FR directeur commercial/directrice commerciale
clothing development manager · DE Bekleidungsentwickler/Bekleidungsentwicklerin · FR directeur artistique mode/directrice artistique mode
marketing assistant · DE Marketingassistent/Marketingassistentin · FR assistant marketing/assistante marketing

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Marketing and commercial managers (2432)140,600 employed
Research and development (R&D) managers (2161)86,200 employed
Advertising and marketing associate professionals (3554)211,800 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Managers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Managers, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€96,629
Italy	€96,052
Germany	€90,192
Austria	€82,936
Netherlands	€69,857
Sweden	€60,369
France	€58,740
Ireland	€55,854
Spain	€54,121
Portugal	€39,189
Poland	€19,596

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the higher third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +1.32. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (11-2021).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test