Introduction

Every company with an advertising budget has a vp marketing working behind the scenes to develop brand awareness and strategies; when it comes to marketing, the buck stops with them. Marketing VPs are responsible for some great, memorable marketing campaigns, and they’re also responsible for the not-so-great, caring ones.

To ascend to this executive position, you’ll need years of experience in marketing. Killer business chops are also essential to managing a company’s brand development and promotions. In addition, you’ll have to be a good salesperson, although your pitches won’t be directed at consumers. Instead, you’ll need to convince the chief marketing officer, chief executive officer. Possibly the board of directors that your team’s ideas and the results they can achieve are worth bankrolling.

What is a VP of Marketing?

What is a VP of Marketing

The vice president of marketing is the senior manager who leads the marketing team (along with the chief marketing officer). While both develop marketing strategies, the VP is more likely to get down in the weeds with creatives, researchers, sales staff, and marketing directors to oversee the implementation of those strategies. Correspondingly, the VP of marketing is typically held responsible for the success or failure of those strategies. When a system works, it can take credit, and when a plan bombs, they take the blame.

It is, as you might imagine, a stressful role. The best marketing VPs leverage every resource on every project, whether data analytics, public relations, or human resources. It isn’t a job for the fearful or the timid. The VP of marketing has to be comfortable talking to everyone about everything. They need to know what everyone contributes, from the executive vice president of product development to the lowliest assistant copywriter.

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What does a VP of Marketing do?

The vice president of marketing develops strategies and oversees programs designed to create brand recognition and product demand. It can include everything from product marketing to influencer marketing, public relations, and digital marketing. The vice president of marketing typically works closely with other officials, like the vice president of sales, the CMO, the CEO, and the managing directors of different sections, to ensure that their firm’s overall marketing plan is in tune with company-wide goals. On a given day, the vice president of marketing might:

  • Work on branding strategies for upcoming quarters
  • Collaborate with market investigators and analysts to gather customer insights
  • Work closely with product designers to meet customer needs
  • Brainstorm a go-to-market strategy with product management
  • Help set prices for new products
  • Conduct project status meetings
  • Interview candidates for jobs in the marketing department
  • Study data analytics related to recent advertising campaigns
  • Create, track, or review marketing department budgets
  • Prepare marketing metrics reports for the CMO and CEO

While the VP of marketing is mostly a managerial role. This executive is much more likely to contribute creative input to projects than the chief marketing officer.

What is a Usual Day Similar for a Marketing VP?

A marketing VP’s time is spent handling incoming and outgoing communications. The first thing you’ll probably do each day when you become vice president of marketing is to check your email and respond to any urgent messages. Many companies hold short status meetings each morning, and you might need to review mock-ups of current campaigns before these meetings. Then you might meet with higher-ups to get their feedback on those mock-ups and possibly approval for any work that’s close to completion.

After multiple meetings, you’ll finally get a chance to sit back at your desk, recheck your email, and review whatever is awaiting your attention. It might involve reviewing more work, assigning work, giving feedback, or requesting edits. At some point, you’ll stop for lunch, but your lunch might be a lunch meeting with potential partners or clients.

How Much does a VP in Marketing Earn?

The average vice president of marketing salary is about $146,000, according to Pay Scale, though that doesn’t tell the whole story. Less-experienced VPs and marketing executives at smaller companies may earn closer to $80,000, while mid-career execs and VPs at larger firms will probably earn closer to $124,000.

Whether the total compensation a VP of marketing earns feels like enough can depend on what a given company expects of its vice president of marketing. Some firms are looking for VPs who will toe the line, i.e., stay under budget while leading the teams in developing messaging for the marketing communications channels the company has always used. They don’t want VPs who go off-script unless they reuse proven strategic marketing tactics established by big brands. Some marketing professionals don’t mind working under those constraints if the pay is good enough. Others are willing to take lower-paying jobs at smaller companies that offer executives more opportunities to innovate and get creative with campaigns.

Conclusion

Please keep that in notice when thinking about what a vice president of marketing does and whether you want to do it. It can be a creative gig but typically isn’t, and the people most likely to succeed and be happy in this role are those who enjoy management more than creating mock-ups.

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