Marketing director vs director of sales

The differences between marketing directors and directors of sales can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 8-10 years to become a marketing director, becoming a director of sales takes usually requires 6-8 years. Additionally, a marketing director has an average salary of $114,906, which is higher than the $111,068 average annual salary of a director of sales.

The top three skills for a marketing director include digital marketing, marketing campaigns and market research. The most important skills for a director of sales are sales process, customer service, and customer satisfaction.

Marketing director vs director of sales overview

	Marketing Director	Director Of Sales
Yearly salary	$114,906	$111,068
Hourly rate	$55.24	$53.40
Growth rate	10%	5%
Number of jobs	93,503	91,891
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 76%	Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Average age	39	46
Years of experience	10	8

What does a marketing director do?

Marketing directors are responsible for the overall branding and marketing direction of the company. They are in charge of identifying goals and strategies related to marketing. They create strategies that cater to the target market of the organization's products and services to help with sales. They lead the company's marketing department and create the company's brand promise. They ensure that all marketing collateral is in line with the rest of the marketing campaigns of the organization. They should be updated on all the current trends in the marketing world.

What does a director of sales do?

A sales director is responsible for managing the sales operation of the team, ensuring that members comply with the sales strategies and procedures in meeting sales goals. Sales directors' duties include maintaining consistency of sales targets, providing reports and important updates for sales improvement, managing customers' inquiries and resolving complaints, launching new services to expand product offers, researching the current market trends, and improving sales plans. A sales director must have excellent leadership and decision-making skills to support and acknowledge the team's best efforts.

Marketing director vs director of sales salary

Marketing directors and directors of sales have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Marketing Director	Director Of Sales
Average salary	$114,906	$111,068
Salary range	Between $68,000 And $193,000	Between $73,000 And $168,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	New York
Best paying company	Brookfield Properties	Mayo Clinic
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	Finance

Differences between marketing director and director of sales education

There are a few differences between a marketing director and a director of sales in terms of educational background:

	Marketing Director	Director Of Sales
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 76%	Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Georgia	University of Southern California

Marketing director vs director of sales demographics

Here are the differences between marketing directors' and directors of sales' demographics:

	Marketing Director	Director Of Sales
Average age	39	46
Gender ratio	Male, 46.7% Female, 53.3%	Male, 69.4% Female, 30.6%
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, 3.2% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 4.1% White, 78.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	10%	7%

Differences between marketing director and director of sales duties and responsibilities

Marketing director example responsibilities.

Manage staging of NCAA athletics events.
Manage RFP, RFI & SOQ process; track, analyze and report on sales pipeline.
Train, manage, and develop customer service / sales team strategies and oversight of day-to-day operations.
Manage the portal website build, including PPC and search engine optimization, email broadcasts and affiliate marketing efforts.
Manage all marketing operations - recruiting, hiring, training, retaining, payroll, and continual staff education.
Utilize marketing/sales automation tools (salesforce.com, pardot.com) to help track, manage and properly distribute each individual lead.

Director of sales example responsibilities.

Lead the OEM business transformation.
Manage projects & action items for EVP.
Manage during periods of dynamic challenge and change relative to start-up, turnaround and revitalization situations.
Manage relationships with toll manufacturers and logistics providers to exceed cost reduction and inventory turn targets.
Cultivate and manage business relationships with wholesale distributors creating positive impact for newsstand product sell at retail.
Full responsibility for all sales activities for a start-up electronic commerce company managing electronic data flow in the healthcare industry.

Marketing director vs director of sales skills

Common marketing director skills

Digital Marketing, 12%
Marketing Campaigns, 6%
Market Research, 5%
Sales Strategies, 4%
Integrated Marketing, 4%
CRM, 4%

Common director of sales skills

Sales Process, 7%
Customer Service, 7%
Customer Satisfaction, 6%
Sales Management, 6%
Healthcare, 5%
CRM, 4%

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Marketing Director vs Director Of Sales

Updated January 8, 2025

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