The marketing director: a strategist who listens to customers and trends
The marketing director, also known as the marketing manager in small companies or the CMO (Chief Marketing Officer), is a strategic position in the company that is constantly evolving.
According to an American study carried out in June 2019 by McKinsey, a management consultancy, 83% of company directors consider marketing to be a key driver of their growth.
Here's the job description for a marketing manager, their tasks, training and career opportunities, with a bonus toolbox for practical use.
Job description :
The role of a marketing manager: definition, duties, responsibilities
The marketing director faces two major challenges:
- adopting a cross-channel strategy, particularly with digital marketing,
- working in cross-functional collaboration to ensure consistency between the brand and customer expectations.
But who is this marketing manager?
The Marketing Director works directly with General Management. They steer the company's marketing policy and teams.
They can work in any business sector, whether manufacturing or providing services, but may also specialise in a particular field (sport, luxury goods, automotive, cosmetics, IT, etc.).
Their tasks are at the crossroads of the company's objectives, so they are creative, commercial, analytical and communicative all at the same time.
☞ In small and medium-sized companies, their role is sometimes similar to, or even merged with, that of a communications manager. In this case, we talk about a communications and marketing manager.
☞ In larger organisations, there are several positions corresponding to clearly defined skills. For example, a digital marketing manager will be dedicated to implementing a web marketing strategy.
► This interview looks at some aspects of the job of marketing and communications manager:
What are its responsibilities?
- Market analysis (trends, competitive intelligence or benchmarking, technological intelligence, customer needs and expectations),
- defining the marketing strategy (targets, objectives, marketing mix, channels),
- budget management (acquisition, communication, etc.),
- drawing up the marketing plan (email campaigns, SEO, SEA, SMO traffic acquisition),
- Developing, engaging and retaining communities on social networks;
- measuring and analysing the impact of each action.
The CMO's objectives
- building the brand, raising its profile and supporting innovation,
- developing new products and communication channels,
- traffic acquisition (physical and digital),
- generating qualified leads,
- building customer loyalty,
- increasing sales.
Zoom: the CMO job description
The skills required
As well as mastering traditional marketing and e-marketing, digital prospecting and monitoring Key Performance Indicators(KPIs), the international context requires a good knowledge of English and global markets.
To understand the market and the customer, the CMO needs to be able to :
- listening skills
- observation
- analysis
- anticipation,
- initiative
- negotiation skills.
As a manager, you need to be able to unite and lead a team.
Training
In most cases, a position in the marketing department requires 5 years' higher education (Master's degree, specialised Master's degree, MBA) from a business, management or marketing school.
There are several specialisms
- Marketing and Communication,
- Marketing and Brand Management,
- BtoB Marketing,
- Marketing Decision and Research,
- Marketing and Sales Practices,
- Marketing and Advertising.
In most cases, they include the digital dimension, which is now essential, with mobile marketing, viral marketing and social marketing.
Some renowned schools
- ESSEC Business School,
- ESCP Europe
- ISEG,
- INSEEC,
- ESG, etc.
Career opportunities
On leaving school, before managing a team, marketing managers begin their careers in lower-level positions such as product manager, marketing research manager, advertising manager, marketing project manager, webmarketing manager, etc. After a few years' successful experience, they may aspire to a management position.
After a few years' successful experience, you may be eligible for a management position.
► Here's an example of a marketing director 's career development in video:
Remuneration
Salaries vary depending on the employer, the size of the company, the experience of the employee, the sector of activity and the geographical location.
On average, based on sources and job offers, the salary of a junior marketing manager is around €3,000 gross per month. Salaries can rise to over €10,000 gross per month for a senior marketing manager in a large company.
The CMO's toolbox
To support the Chief Marketing Officer in the digital transition of their profession, there's nothing like scalable, modular and flexible cloud-based software to assist them on a day-to-day basis.
Here are a few examples...
Project and task management software
- Asana
- Monday.com
- Redmine
Search Engine Marketing software (SEM, SEO, SEA)
- Ranxplorer
- Seiso
- SEMrush
Marketing automation software
- Koban
- Salesforce Marketing cloud
- Webmecanik
Data marketing and lead generation software
- lead
- Mapp Acquire
- Quintessence
Competitive intelligence and marketing software
- Agorapulse
- Mention
- Simple Feedback
An infinitely strategic role
There's no doubt about it: the marketing director has to adapt constantly to the way things are done, to society and to the new tools at their disposal.
As well as being a key player in helping companies adapt to the digital revolution, they also contribute to their company's growth and act as a bridge between the sales, product and communications teams.
Machine learning, artificial intelligence, chatbots: technological solutions are now essential if we are to stay one step ahead of the competition.
The marketing department is therefore given an IT budget and targets in terms of sales and return on investment. A great challenge ahead.