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The differences between category managers, marketing and product marketing managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 8-10 years to become both a category manager, marketing and a product marketing manager. Additionally, a product marketing manager has an average salary of $112,220, which is higher than the $104,562 average annual salary of a category manager, marketing.
The top three skills for a category manager, marketing include digital marketing, project management and strategic sourcing. The most important skills for a product marketing manager are digital marketing, product management, and project management.
| Category Manager, Marketing | Product Marketing Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $104,562 | $112,220 |
| Hourly rate | $50.27 | $53.95 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 112,118 | 166,047 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 75% |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 10 | 10 |
A category manager of marketing typically works at retail establishments where they are in charge of managing a particular category of products such as clothing, household supplies, electronics, etc. Among their responsibilities include setting sales and marketing objectives, managing marketing teams, gathering and analyzing data to determine product line ups, coordinating staff, overseeing the inventory of supplies, and participate in creating marketing materials. Moreover, as a manager, it is essential to lead and encourage the workforce to reach goals, all while enforcing the company's policies and regulations.
A product marketing manager is responsible for managing the company's goods and services, promoting brand awareness, developing effective marketing campaigns to attract existing and potential clients, generating more revenues, and achieving its profitability goals. Product marketing managers must have excellent knowledge of the marketing industry, as well as broad ideas on the current industry trends to meet clients' demands and identify business opportunities. A product marketing manager should be highly communicative and display excellent leadership skills to work with other departments and respond to clients' inquiries and concerns timely and efficiently.
Category managers, marketing and product marketing managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Category Manager, Marketing | Product Marketing Manager | |
| Average salary | $104,562 | $112,220 |
| Salary range | Between $79,000 And $138,000 | Between $83,000 And $149,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | San Bruno, CA |
| Highest paying state | - | California |
| Best paying company | - | Credit Karma |
| Best paying industry | - | Technology |
There are a few differences between a category manager, marketing and a product marketing manager in terms of educational background:
| Category Manager, Marketing | Product Marketing Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 75% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Georgia | University of Georgia |
Here are the differences between category managers, marketing' and product marketing managers' demographics:
| Category Manager, Marketing | Product Marketing Manager | |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 61.0% Female, 39.0% | Male, 61.6% Female, 38.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 10% |