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.
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. The role reports a median annual salary of $161,030 in the US with the middle 80% earning between $81,330 and $239,200 and is projected to grow 7% over the next decade (about as fast as average). Entry typically requires a Bachelor's degree, and shows moderate AI exposure (0.61 on a 0-1 scale) — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. The most in-demand skills for the role include Active Listening, Speaking, Critical Thinking, Coordination, Social Perceptiveness.
Salary distribution (US)
Real salary data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The p10–p90 spread tells you more than the median alone.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £57,625 a year for Sales accounts and business development managers (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
Middle half of full-time jobs: £43,049 to £79,598 a year
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 3556). ONS rates this estimate precise. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Managers” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only Marketing Managers, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 1. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
How to get here in India
The usual route into this career in India. Each step links to the official page it comes from.
- 1 · Qualification Bachelor's degree in any subject (CA, CS or CMA also qualify)[1]
- 2 · Entrance exam CAT for admission to a management programme at an IIM[1]
Rules change: check the exam body's and regulator's current notice before you apply.
- CAT eligibility — Indian Institutes of Management (read on 2026-09-27)
Entrance exams on this route — Dates, eligibility and cut-offs for the exams on the way to this career:
289 open listings on our jobs board → Recent listings whose job title matches this career. Some jobs in this career are advertised under other titles.
Top skills
Knowledge you'll build
- Sales and Marketing
- English Language
- Customer and Personal Service
- Administration and Management
- Communications and Media
- Computers and Electronics
- Mathematics
- Economics and Accounting
A day in the life
You arrive to a dashboard full of campaign metrics—click-through rates, conversion funnels, and social engagement numbers—and spend the first hour deciding where to double down and where to pivot. Mid-morning is a strategy session with your team, brainstorming a product launch campaign that spans paid media, influencer partnerships, and email sequences. After lunch you review creative assets from the design team, approve ad copy, and jump on a call with an agency partner to align on media buys. The role is fast-paced and data-driven, yet deeply creative, and the buzz of watching a campaign go viral makes the juggling act worthwhile.
Illustrative: one typical day. Real days vary by employer and seniority.
What you'd actually do
- Identify, develop, or evaluate marketing strategy, based on knowledge of establishment objectives, market characteristics, and cost and markup factors.
- Formulate, direct, or coordinate marketing activities or policies to promote products or services, working with advertising or promotion managers.
- 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.
- Compile lists describing product or service offerings.
- Direct the hiring, training, or performance evaluations of marketing or sales staff and oversee their daily activities.
Tools & technology you'd use
Frequently asked questions
What does Marketing Managers do?
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.
What does a typical day look like in Marketing Managers?
You arrive to a dashboard full of campaign metrics—click-through rates, conversion funnels, and social engagement numbers—and spend the first hour deciding where to double down and where to pivot. Mid-morning is a strategy session with your team, brainstorming a product launch campaign that spans paid media, influencer partnerships, and email sequences. After lunch you review creative assets from the design team, approve ad copy, and jump on a call with an agency partner to align on media buys.
How much does Marketing Managers earn?
The median annual salary for Marketing Managers in the US is $161,030. The middle 80% of workers earn between $81,330 and $239,200 annually. Entry-to-mid-career earners typically fall between $113,400 and $208,000.
What is the job outlook for Marketing Managers?
The role is projected to grow 7% over the next decade (about as fast as average). Current US employment is approximately 407,000 workers.
How do I become marketing managers?
The typical entry education is a Bachelor's degree. Building a foundation in the top skills below will strengthen your application.
What skills does Marketing Managers need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include Active Listening, Speaking, Critical Thinking, Coordination, Social Perceptiveness, Judgment and Decision Making. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace Marketing Managers?
Our AI-durability model gives Marketing Managers a score of 0.61 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at moderate AI exposure — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. Learning to work with AI tools rather than against them is the path forward.
How hard is it to enter this field?
Marketing Managers has moderate barrier to entry — moderately gated — a bachelor's degree or equivalent training is typically required.