Post job

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

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
Quoted experts
Tobias Sellier,
Richard Tate

A director of marketing and events helps promote a company's work by hosting events and create marketing campaigns across multiple platforms. They can use their creativity and organizational skills to fulfill both roles and increase their company's reach.

Directors of marketing and events usually supervise a whole staff of marketing professionals and events planners. They take care of the planning and administrative work that goes into planning a company's slate of events, such as developing strategic partnerships or managing the budget. They also oversee a company's marketing campaigns on traditional and online platforms. They sometimes get hands-on with marketing, such as redesigning a company website and making sure that all campaigns are cohesive and promote a unified brand image.

Directors of marketing and events earn an excellent average salary of $104,233 a year. However, becoming a director of marketing and events requires considerable work. Most get a bachelor's or even a master's degree in business, marketing, or a related field. They also have several years of professional experience working as event planners or marketing managers before earning a promotion to a directorial role.

What general advice would you give to a director of marketing and events?

Tobias SellierTobias Sellier LinkedIn profile

Senior Director, American Public Power Association

There are exciting opportunities to work for community-owned, not-for-profit, hometown public power. From engineers and customer service representatives to lineworkers and administrative professionals, there are many opportunities. And utility employees, being essential workers, even during these challenging times, there are still many jobs that will need to be filled.
ScoreDirector Of Marketing And EventsUS Average
Salary
6.5

Avg. Salary $83,311

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 65.42%

male 34.58%

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

Director of marketing and events career paths

Key steps to become a director of marketing and events

  1. Explore director of marketing and events education requirements

    Most common director of marketing and events degrees

    Bachelor's

    78.0 %

    Master's

    9.3 %

    Associate

    8.4 %
  2. Start to develop specific director of marketing and events skills

    SkillsPercentages
    Event Planning8.35%
    Marketing Campaigns7.02%
    Event Logistics5.84%
    Press Releases5.39%
    Email Campaigns4.73%
  3. Complete relevant director of marketing and events training and internships

    Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New directors of marketing and events 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 marketing and events based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real director of marketing and events resumes.
  4. Research director of marketing and events duties and responsibilities

    • Manage details and ROI for each event while providing a quality of service to the company standards and client's needs.
    • Develop and manage strategic B2C and B2B integrate marketing plans leveraging digital and traditional marketing efforts.
    • Measure ROI, track daily and weekly greets, captures, and transactions, research demographics, and examine various trends.
    • Conduct site visits; reviewing and consulting on local advertising, competitive positioning, outbound marketing strategies and co-op opportunities.
  5. Get director of marketing and events experience

    Generally, it takes 8-10 years to become a director of marketing and events. The most common roles before becoming a director of marketing and events include internship, account executive team lead and marketing director.
  6. Prepare your director of marketing and events resume

    When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your director of marketing and events 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 marketing and events 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 marketing and events resume templates

    Build a professional director of marketing and events 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 marketing and events resume.
    Director Of Marketing And Events Resume
    Director Of Marketing And Events Resume
    Director Of Marketing And Events Resume
    Director Of Marketing And Events Resume
    Director Of Marketing And Events Resume
    Director Of Marketing And Events Resume
    Director Of Marketing And Events Resume
    Director Of Marketing And Events Resume
    Director Of Marketing And Events Resume
  7. Apply for director of marketing and events jobs

    Now it's time to start searching for a director of marketing and events job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

    1. Browse job boards for relevant postings
    2. Consult your professional network
    3. Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
    4. Watch out for job scams

How did you land your first director of marketing and events job

Zippi

Are you a director of marketing and events?

Share your story for a free salary report.

Average director of marketing and events salary

The average director of marketing and events salary in the United States is $83,311 per year or $40 per hour. Director of marketing and events salaries range between $45,000 and $152,000 per year.

Average director of marketing and events salary
$83,311 Yearly
$40.05 hourly

What am I worth?

salary-calculator

How do directors of marketing and events rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Director of marketing and events reviews

profile
A zippia user wrote a review on May 2019
Cons

Unreasonable deadlines.

Pros

Overseeing printing For direct mail. Packaging design Developing hot mail list.


profile
A zippia user wrote a review on May 2019
Pros

I love content and marketing overall. As a former journalist turned marketer, I love connecting with audiences and catering to what their interests may be, whether they know it or not yet. As a content director, I get involved in various departments like business development, finance, presidental level and others. Normally, most expect to only be involved in marketing efforts, but that simply isn't true.


Working as a director of marketing and events? Share your experience anonymously.
Overall rating*
Career growth
Work/Life balance
Pay/Salary

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Browse executive management jobs