This article is part of an ongoing series that will take a deeper look at the jobs featured in our annual Austin Tech Salaries Guide.
Job Outlook
Career website Glassdoor recently listed marketing manager as the 14th "Best Job in America."
The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects marketing manager positions to experience 9% growth from 2014 to 2024, which is faster than the average for all other occupations.
"Advertising, promotions, and marketing campaigns will continue to be essential for organizations as they seek to maintain and expand their share of the market," the BLS writes.
Our job board currently has many openings from Austin startup and tech companies looking for people with marketing skills—and the listings are growing everyday.
Related: View open marketing manager jobs
Austin vs. National Average
On average, a marketing manager in the U.S. makes $84,835, according to research from CyberCoders, a leading recruiting firm in the U.S.
Built In Austin’s salary range of $55,000 to $70,000 is based on a survey of hiring managers at local tech companies. Salary is dependent on company size, employee experience, and the negotiating ability of the employers and applicants.
Skills Required
Marketing is in the midst of fundamental change. CMOs and other managers are looking for their departments to become revenue generators, not just cost centers.
"The Rise of the Marketer," a 2015 report by The Economist Intelligence Unit that was commissioned by Marketo, spoke to 478 CMOs and senior marketing executives worldwide. More than 80% say they need to restructure their departments to better support the business—29% believe the need for change is urgent.
"We're shifting money away from things like conferences, physical samples or building high-profile face-to-face exhibits and instead investing in marketing automation infrastructure, data and content," John Dragoon, executive vice-president and CMO of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, said in the report.
"And when we hire," Dragoon continued, "we look for people with digital capabilities, who can do things like run a marketing automation platform, a data analytics function, or execute and listen to multiple social media properties."
It's clear that marketing managers not only need fluency in traditional branding and creative techniques, but also digital advertising, social media, data analysis, operations, and technology.
Strong strategy and planning skills are also highly desirable as managers must help create and execute multiple campaigns, lead teams, and measure for ROI.
When asked the top areas in which they needed to develop skills, respondents in the aforementioned report replied with the following:
- Marketing operations and digital engagement—39%
- Strategy and planning—38%
- Demand generation and data analysis—32%
- Customer experience and engagement—27%
- Advertising and branding—26%
- Creative and graphics—16%
