How To Become A Marketing & Community Relations Director: What It Is and Career Path

What is a marketing & community relations director and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted experts

Stephanie Dellande,

Jody McBrien

The average marketing & community relations director salary is $147,137. The most common degree is a bachelor's degree degree with an marketing major. It usually takes 2-4 years of experience to become a marketing & community relations director. Marketing & community relations directors with a Accreditation in Public Relations (PR) certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 8% and produce 6,300 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a marketing & community relations director?

Stephanie Dellande

Professor, Menlo College

Most likely, some 2020 graduates are feeling discouraged about their future. Particularly for those in fields in which job opportunities are generally less abundant, e.g., communication, psychology, majority of the humanities. Young adults, ages 18-35 years, have experienced and/or are experiencing, directly or indirectly, some of the country's most difficult times, the great recession December 2007 - June 2009, for many much longer, and now the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Congress has a significant role in determining the timeline of the fate of COVID-19 and a thriving economy. While the well-being (physical, financial, emotional, educational) of the American people is top of mind for this administration, if the economy is going to recover in a more expedient way, congress ultimately must agree to the administration's proposed recommendations, bills. If they do, recent graduates will likely be in good stead. It would be in the best interest of graduates to take a mindful approach (Celsi, Nelson, Dellande, Gilly, 2017) to their career. While the economy is in a state of collapse, young adults may have a difficult time launching their career. However, food for thought, accepting most any work although it may not be in a preferred field is suggested. Also recommended, while in a less desirable position, take advantage of or create opportunities to perform tasks related or only tangentially related to an aspirational career. Doing so will likely go a long way in helping to realize an ideal position.

ScoreMarketing & Community Relations DirectorUS Average

Salary

8.8

Avg. Salary $147,137

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.7

Growth rate 8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.42%

Asian 5.09%

Black or African American 5.85%

Hispanic or Latino 9.02%

Unknown 4.66%

White 74.96%

Gender

female 68.78%

male 31.22%

Age - 41

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 - 41

Stress level

8.7

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.4

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.8

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a marketing & community relations director

Explore marketing & community relations director education requirements

Most common marketing & community relations director degrees

Bachelor's

77.8 %

Master's

12.7 %

Associate

8.4 %

Start to develop specific marketing & community relations director skills

Skills	Percentages
Community Relations	15.09%
Press Releases	10.17%
Community Outreach	8.28%
Promotional Campaigns	7.72%
Market Research	3.85%

Complete relevant marketing & community relations director training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New marketing & community relations directors 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 marketing & community relations director based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real marketing & community relations director resumes.

Research marketing & community relations director duties and responsibilities

Manage all internal company-wide communications, including company intranet, quarterly all- company meetings broadcast to all locations and executive communications.
Conceive company offerings and strategic packages for analytics, optimization, marketing operations, campaign management and architecture service lines.
Direct strategic planning and execution for entertainment partnership platform to include B2C communications and marketing.

Get marketing & community relations director experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a marketing & community relations director. The most common roles before becoming a marketing & community relations director include marketing director, marketing manager team lead and account executive.

Prepare your marketing & community relations director resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your marketing & community relations director 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 marketing & community relations director resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable marketing & community relations director resume templates

Build a professional marketing & community relations director 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 marketing & community relations director resume.

Apply for marketing & community relations director jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a marketing & community relations director job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

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