How Digital Marketing Has Changed a Marketing Manager’s Job
The central goal of marketing remains the same: communicate the benefits of a product or service to the target audience in the most effective way possible.
It’s how those communications happen that has changed radically in the past decade.
Where once print, TV, and radio dominated marketing, the digital world has opened new avenues for delivering messages to potential customers. Social media, Pay Per Click advertising, content marketing, mobile, and email are just some of the many ways marketers can reach a wider audience.
It’s a world that those who earn an MBA with a concentration on marketing must understand thoroughly. They’ll need knowledge in digital marketing to successfully lead a team, and to understand the kinds of people needed to make a marketing department successful.
An In-Demand Job
Marketing manager jobs continue to expand across the country. That’s partly driven by digital marketing and the demand it has created for more data-driven, focused marketing campaigns on digital channels.
It’s led to a change in focus for many campaigns. Now, it’s about speed and reaching individuals, and less about mass marketing and branding (although branding still plays a vital role).
Certainly, the demand for skilled marketing managers is there. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects 10% growth in the marketing manager field by 2026. They also report a median annual salary in May 2017 of $129,380.
In larger cities, the mean annual salary can grow much bigger. Some of the top metropolitan areas for marketing managers include New York City ($195,390), San Jose ($195,030), San Francisco ($181,800), Seattle ($157,550), Los Angeles ($153,840), and Boston ($150,930).
The Digital Marketing Age
Modern technology enables a more focused approach to marketing. For example, data gathered from online customers helps marketers target them with information and calls to action about the products and services they are most likely to buy. The best-known example of this is recommendations from streaming sites such as Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime.
While intuition and creativity have been major assets for marketing managers – and are still important today – most employers are looking for digital marketing professionals with skills in analytical thinking. Marketing savvy is still important, but hiring managers will also want those who have skills in programming, data analysis, and working with marketing automation.
Combined with the business skills learned by earning an MBA, understanding digital marketing makes graduates especially attractive for leadership roles and ready to continue successful careers.
