April 2, 2025 The realm of marketing is more complex than ever — in turn leaving marketing managers with an obligation to do more across channels. If you're thinking about a career in marketing and aspire to work your way into a management role, it's essential to understand the skills required for this type of position in a world where traditional and digital media continue to intersect.
How Traditional and Digital Marketing Intersect
What do you associate with “traditional" marketing? More than likely, mediums like television, print, and radio are a few of the first methods that come to mind. And while these marketing mediums are certainly still relevant, digital marketing has slowly over the past couple of decades.
Today, with billions of people online, businesses must learn to leverage social digital marketing strategies effectively. From social media and content marketing to search engine optimization, the right digital marketing campaigns can to maximize market reach.
Digital Marketing Channels
In today's evolving business landscape, have become crucial to reaching customers. Not only are digital marketing campaigns highly cost-effective; they're also easy to measure and analyze, and they offer highly targeted strategies to reach consumers.
With a better understanding of the responsibilities of marketing management as they relate to common digital marketing techniques, you can prepare to pursue your own professional goals.
- Social Media Marketing (SMM) – On social media channels (such as Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn), marketing managers oversee content creation, audience engagement, paid social ads, and influencer collaborations.
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – When it comes to SEO, marketing managers must help ensure websites and content are optimized to increase visibility and organic reach.
- Email Marketing and Marketing Automation – As email marketing remains one of the most cost-effective digital marketing strategies, marketing managers are responsible for overseeing the sending of personalized emails to build customer relationships, nurture leads, and drive conversions.
- Content Marketing (blogs, videos, podcasts, etc.) – , and marketing managers can support marketing teams by overseeing the development of content strategies that ensure alignment with business goals.
- Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC) – Many businesses rely on PPC advertising to reach their target audiences — and marketing managers play a critical part in allocating budgets and optimizing ad performance based on analytics.
- Affiliate Marketing and Influencer Partnerships – As more brands turn to affiliate marketing and influencer partnerships to get the word out about their products and/or services, marketing managers take on the integral role of identifying the right partnerships and tracking performance metrics.
- E-commerce and Online Marketplaces – As marketing strategies shift to include e-commerce and online marketplaces, marketing managers must work to ensure effective product listings, digital promotions, and ad targeting as part of the evolving marketing manager job description.
Traditional Marketing Channels
Even though digital marketing is the priority for most of today's businesses, this isn't to say that traditional marketing doesn't still play a pivotal part in reaching audiences who engage with offline media. So, what does a marketing manager do when it comes to supporting traditional marketing campaigns?Â
- Television and Radio Advertising – In TV and radio advertising, marketing managers must decide on ad placement, audience targeting, and media buying.
- Print Advertising (Magazines, Newspapers, Brochures) – In this area of traditional advertising, marketing managers have an important responsibility to coordinate the design, placement, and distribution of print ads.
- Billboards and Outdoor Advertising – For businesses that pay for billboards and other outdoor advertising mediums, marketing managers may strategize placement and design for maximum visibility.
- Direct Mail and Flyers – When executed properly, direct mail remains print advertising methods, so marketing managers assume a central role in targeting specific demographics and measuring campaign response to optimize success.
- Trade Shows and Networking Events – At industry events, marketing managers can improve marketing efforts by overseeing such elements as booth design, materials, and event strategies.
How the Marketing Manager Role Fits into Each Channel
Ultimately, marketing managers have an obligation to bridge both traditional and digital marketing strategies in order to create more comprehensive and effective brand campaigns. With this in mind, aspiring marketing managers must be proficient in all channels — both traditional and digital.
Core Marketing Manager Responsibilities
While no two marketing manager jobs will come with exactly the same duties, those in this role can expect to carry out certain on a regular basis, such as:
- Strategy development, including the creation of multi-channel marketing plans to align with overall business goals and objectives.
- Market research and data analysis, including analyzing consumer behavior, competitor trends, and industry insights.
- Budget management, such as allocating funds between traditional and digital platforms for maximum ROI.
- Campaign execution and optimization, which involves overseeing ad placements, content creation, and audience engagement.
- Brand positioning, or ensuring consistent brand messaging across all marketing channels.
- Customer engagement and experience through the building of strong customer relationships as a result of personalized digital and traditional marketing efforts.
- Sales and lead generation, or collaborating with sales teams to create conversion-focused marketing campaigns that drive revenue.
- Performance analytics and optimization, which involves monitoring key performance indicators (KPIs) throughout a campaign to improve its overall effectiveness.
How a Bachelor's Degree in Marketing Prepares You for the Role
If you see yourself in a future marketing management role, you'll want to start with a quality, formal education. Specifically, a bachelor's degree in marketing can provide you with the foundational skills and knowledge necessary to launch a promising career in this ever-changing and increasingly competitive industry.
Real-World Applications
Ideally, a marketing degree program should provide you with plenty of opportunities to put into practice the abstract concepts and marketing techniques you learn about in the classroom. With the ability to apply these ideas in real-world situations, you can be better prepared for the realities, challenges, and opportunities of working in the marketing field.
Through hands-on projects, case studies, and even internships, students in a marketing degree program can enjoy opportunities to put what they're learning into practice — which can improve comprehension and understanding.
Networking and Industry Exposure
Another way in which a degree program can help to prepare you for working as a marketing manager is through direct networking opportunities and industry exposure. As part of your degree program, you'll have the ability to attend a wide range of , such as guest lectures and workshops. At these events, you can establish and develop professional relationships with others in the field — which can improve your industry exposure when it comes time for you to enter the job market. These events can also be an excellent chance for you to ask questions and learn more about what it takes to succeed in the dynamic world of marketing.
Likewise, during your time in a marketing degree program, you might get to explore valuable mentorship opportunities. By working alongside established experts and leaders in the marketing field, you can enjoy personalized guidance as you prepare to break into the industry yourself. All of this can give you a competitive advantage while helping you build your own confidence as a marketing professional.
Capstone Projects and Internships
Students in a marketing degree program will also have the opportunity to complete a handful of real marketing projects (including a capstone project) they can use to build a professional portfolio. This, combined with internship experience and professional networking opportunities, makes it possible for graduates to enter the job market with an impressive portfolio they can use to demonstrate their unique skill sets and value as they apply for open roles in marketing.
Meanwhile, internship roles can be added to students' professional resumes, allowing them to enter the field with some real-world experience already under their belts. In turn, this may help graduates compete with other job applicants.
Learn More 51°µÍø SSU's Bachelor's Degree in Marketing
Marketing manager responsibilities can vary greatly from one role to the next, but those in this position must be prepared to lead teams with purpose while empowering businesses to optimize every campaign.
If you think you have what it takes to thrive in marketing management, then it may be time to take the first step by pursuing your marketing bachelor's degree from 51°µÍø (SSU). Our bachelor's in marketing program is designed to teach aspiring marketing professionals the concepts and applied principles they need in the field while offering hands-on opportunities to work in partnerships with local businesses, nonprofits, and other organizations.
Learn about 51°µÍø's marketing program by , or start filling out your online application for admission today.Â