Many small businesses choose to outsource marketing to an agency rather than build a team in-house. Either way, it’s helpful to understand who you’re going to work with when reviewing an agency contract or deciding whom to hire. Learn the most common marketing job titles and the responsibilities within each role.
[Read more: 3 Strategies for Writing a Great Job Description]
Chief marketing officer (CMO)
The chief marketing officer is the senior executive on the marketing team. The CMO is responsible for building the company’s brand, promoting the business, and developing a strategy for communicating with and engaging customers to boost sales.
The CMO may oversee advertising, marketing, and public relations, all of which serve to promote the company to new and existing customers. CMOs not only manage the team and set strategic priorities, they also stay up to date on market trends and work to grow the business.
[Read more: Sales Job Titles and What They Mean]
Creative director
Usually, this position is common at marketing or advertising agencies. The creative director leads a team of designers, copywriters, and other creatives who develop visuals, taglines, and other media for an advertising campaign.
This person may be directly involved in brainstorming ideas, editing video, or managing a photoshoot; or they may have a purely managerial role, supporting the creative department’s time and resources. The creative director is a relatively senior role with a minimum of five years of hands-on experience.
Marketing manager and product marketing manager
A marketing manager straddles the duties of creating a high-level strategy and working in the weeds to bring the organization’s marketing to life. Marketing managers hire and train marketing staff, delegate tasks, oversee the marketing budget, and conduct research to develop new campaigns. The marketing manager also performs competitive analyses, researches consumer trends, and measures the efficacy of marketing campaigns to readjust the strategy as necessary.
A product marketing manager performs this role for a specific product. This role is involved in planning and managing the product release, setting competitive pricing, positioning the product, identifying the target audience, and managing the postlaunch follow-up to retain customers and keep the product relevant. This role will also collaborate with marketing for product updates.
Experts predict that AI will change the role of marketers rather than eliminate them. While AI can speed up many marketing tasks, it still requires significant human oversight.
Digital marketing manager
Also known as digital media managers, this role focuses on the “how” of marketing, whereas product marketing managers focus on the “what.” Digital marketing managers create visual content online and use web analytics to measure traffic, conversions, and the success of different channels.
This professional is likely to run your e-commerce site, social media pages, and email campaigns. They may also run paid search campaigns or influencer campaigns. This role requires a fair amount of expertise in analytics; digital marketing managers help you optimize your marketing to get the most ROI for your efforts.
Communications manager
Public relations often falls under the purview of marketing, unless you hire a specific PR firm to help you work with the media. A communications manager handles many PR responsibilities, including drafting press releases, communicating with local media, distributing newsletters, and writing social media posts about company news.
The communications manager works to build a favorable reputation for your business and establish trust with your customers. This person has strong writing and pitching skills to get your brand covered (for the right reasons) by local news outlets.
Content marketing specialist
Content marketing specialists are experts at creating blog posts, videos, social media posts, email campaigns, and other types of content for a particular audience. A person in this role understands how to craft content that engages prospective and existing customers and drives traffic to the company’s website, boosting sales.
The content marketing specialist combines both analytics and creativity to deliver high-quality targeted campaigns that speak to your specific audience. They also help differentiate your brand from others.
Emerging marketing roles in 2026
Artificial intelligence (AI) is impacting virtually every career path, including marketing. Talent agency Robert Half predicts that new hybrid marketing positions that blend AI and creativity will be in demand. For instance, an “AI content strategist” will create and manage AI-generated content while an “AI marketing specialist” will use AI to enhance customer outreach and optimize campaign performance.
“From chatbots to social media management to full-scale marketing campaigns and automation, artificial intelligence is changing the way marketers do their jobs. Routine tasks like writing copy, mining consumer data, and creating visuals that once took hours can now be done in minutes,” wrote the Harvard Business Review.
Experts predict that AI will change the role of marketers rather than eliminate them. While AI can speed up many marketing tasks, it still requires significant human oversight. Marketing professionals must learn to incorporate AI while ensuring the information it generates is accurate.
Meanwhile, data-driven roles will become even more essential. As search engine optimization (SEO) evolves into generative engine optimization, marketers will need to learn new best practices to get their brands in front of consumers. Likewise, look for more technical roles to emerge that specialize in using the vast amounts of data today’s businesses can access for deeper customer insights.
How to structure a small business marketing team
If and when you decide to bring your marketing team in-house, you’ll want to create a structure and workflow to keep things running smoothly. Small businesses typically only need a few people, or even one very capable person, to run their marketing. Let your budget guide your hiring decisions.
“There is no single best marketing team structure,” wrote Mailchimp. “Given the distinct nature of each company, it's often necessary for certain marketing tasks to be handled by the same person.”
Start by hiring a marketing generalist who can do most tasks individually or with a third-party marketing agency. This person is capable of basic content creation, social media management, and email marketing. Look for someone who confidently wears multiple hats and is well versed in marketing tools that automate routine tasks.
Your next hire should be a specialist in the marketing channel where you’re seeing the best results. “This could be an SEO expert, paid media specialist, content marketer, or an expert in any other area that aligns with your primary marketing strategies,” wrote MarketerHire. Bring in someone who can take what’s working to the next level.
From there, continue to build out your team as the needs arise. For instance, you might decide to bring in a data analytics person or automation expert to help you scale. Or, maybe your business needs a rebrand; a dedicated designer could be the right fit. Test what’s working and iterate as your business grows.
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