Director, product marketing vs marketing manager

The differences between directors, product marketing and 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 director, product marketing and a marketing manager. Additionally, a director, product marketing has an average salary of $141,699, which is higher than the $104,550 average annual salary of a marketing manager.

The top three skills for a director, product marketing include product management, digital marketing and market research. The most important skills for a marketing manager are digital marketing, marketing campaigns, and project management.

Director, product marketing vs marketing manager overview

	Director, Product Marketing	Marketing Manager
Yearly salary	$141,699	$104,550
Hourly rate	$68.12	$50.26
Growth rate	10%	10%
Number of jobs	173,038	89,627
Job satisfaction	-	3
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 75%	Bachelor's Degree, 75%
Average age	39	39
Years of experience	10	10

What does a director, product marketing do?

A Director of Product Marketing directs the marketing activities of one or more products or product lines within the organization. They develop strong relationships with key customers.

What does a marketing manager do?

Marketing managers are experienced employees who oversee the marketing department of the organization. They manage activities such as marketing campaigns, social media postings, company branding, and other strategic marketing activities. They provide strategic direction and come up with departmental goals. They also provide proper training for employees in the department to ensure that they have a deep understanding of its marketing tools. Marketing managers should be creative, should have good interpersonal skills, and should be flexible.

Director, product marketing vs marketing manager salary

Directors, product marketing and marketing managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Director, Product Marketing	Marketing Manager
Average salary	$141,699	$104,550
Salary range	Between $97,000 And $205,000	Between $71,000 And $153,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Menlo Park, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	Meta	Meta
Best paying industry	Technology	Technology

Differences between director, product marketing and marketing manager education

There are a few differences between a director, product marketing and a marketing manager in terms of educational background:

	Director, Product Marketing	Marketing Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 75%	Bachelor's Degree, 75%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Georgia	University of Georgia

Director, product marketing vs marketing manager demographics

Here are the differences between directors, product marketing' and marketing managers' demographics:

	Director, Product Marketing	Marketing Manager
Average age	39	39
Gender ratio	Male, 74.7% Female, 25.3%	Male, 44.4% Female, 55.6%
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%

Differences between director, product marketing and marketing manager duties and responsibilities

Director, product marketing example responsibilities.

Hire and manage product owners and scrum masters.
Lead product launches and associate marketing efforts for SaaS provider of real-time customer service and online sales CRM solutions.
Increase brand awareness and leads through partner alliances, CRM, online advertising, brand communications and media placement.
Manage on-shore and offshore software development, UI and program management teams on user-centered product designs with ultimate UX.
Lead regional marketing in the Americas, EMEA and APAC to deliver comprehensive re-brand of company and acquire entities globally.
Lead successful development of large-scale web-base e-commerce offering for use by pharmaceutical manufacturers and their patients.

Marketing manager example responsibilities.

Utilize SalesForce database to update contacts and prospect new leads.
Manage account process from RFP to full execution of campaign in its entirety.
Manage agency partners to develop target print media, sampling programs, POS, merchandising.
Manage redesign of four bank websites and implementation of new content management system (CMS . )
Utilize SalesForce daily to update and follow up on the sales team's leads and clients.
Manage various day-to-day projects for small e-commerce startup including constructing wine storage shelves and fulfilling club shipments.

Director, product marketing vs marketing manager skills

Common director, product marketing skills

Product Management, 8%
Digital Marketing, 7%
Market Research, 6%
Market Trends, 5%
Cloud, 4%
Product Line, 4%

Common marketing manager skills

Digital Marketing, 14%
Marketing Campaigns, 7%
Project Management, 4%
Integrated Marketing, 4%
Email Marketing, 4%
CRM, 3%

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Director, Product Marketing
Director, Product Marketing vs Marketing Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

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