How To Become A Director Of Channel Marketing: What It Is and Career Path

What is a director of channel marketing and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Richard Tate

As the director of channel marketing, you will oversee the personnel within the marketing department in developing and implementing various marketing programs that target specific channels to promote the company's products and services. You will essentially report to senior executives regarding your department and improve current practices for better outreach and profitability.

Some of the duties and responsibilities you will perform in this capacity include defining and driving channel marketing strategies and programs to meet marketing objectives. You will also measure the performance of current practices, monitor and market current trends, and molding strategies to better suit them. You will manage channel marketing budgets, develop and manage communication and relationship strategies, and lead channel marketing teams. Essential skills required for this role are leadership, interpersonal, communication, and attention to detail.

To qualify for this role, you will need at least a bachelor's degree in business administration or a related discipline, although a master's degree will be given preference for such senior positions. Prior work experience of five or more years is also required. The average hourly pay for this role is $79.38, which amounts to $165,107 annually. This career is projected to grow and create new opportunities in the near future.

What's a day at work look like for a director of channel marketing?

Richard Tate

Director, Center for Professional Sales, James Madison University

Probably what it looks like for a student today - a lot of time online, head down, and peering into a device. Businesses have learned that the former traditional business model where many reported to an office, perhaps "on the clock" is really not necessary anymore. Confidence has been gained that employees can work just as effectively from remote locations, perhaps more effectively. We are learning that we can develop trust online and conduct business with others without having direct human interaction. I think this is a paradigm shift for business today.

ScoreDirector Of Channel MarketingUS Average

Salary

8.5

Avg. Salary $133,987

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.5

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.23%

Asian 8.15%

Black or African American 3.04%

Hispanic or Latino 8.67%

Unknown 5.32%

White 74.58%

Gender

female 38.39%

male 61.61%

Age - 38

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38

Stress level

7.5

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.5

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a director of channel marketing

Explore director of channel marketing education requirements

Most common director of channel marketing degrees

Bachelor's

80.2 %

Master's

16.7 %

Associate

1.6 %

Start to develop specific director of channel marketing skills

Skills	Percentages
Channel Marketing	23.55%
Digital Marketing	15.21%
Marketing Campaigns	6.42%
Channel Strategy	3.82%
ROI	3.23%

Complete relevant director of channel marketing training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New directors of channel marketing learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a director of channel marketing based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real director of channel marketing resumes.

Research director of channel marketing duties and responsibilities

Manage and execute MDF to aid co-marketing initiatives within global channel to drive pipeline.
Lead multi-stage consumer and customer research that result in successful B2C and B2B brand re-positioning.
Translate business vision and strategy into operational tactics and build the organizational support and infrastructure need to achieve them.
Evaluate and track ROI on all marketing programs execute by team through use of POS and MDF reports.

Get director of channel marketing experience

Generally, it takes 8-10 years to become a director of channel marketing. The most common roles before becoming a director of channel marketing include marketing director, marketing manager team lead and manager, channel marketing.

Prepare your director of channel marketing resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your director of channel marketing resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a director of channel marketing resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable director of channel marketing resume templates

Build a professional director of channel marketing resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your director of channel marketing resume.