Are you a business owner wanting to build your in-house digital marketing team? Or a brand owner who wants to understand how an outsourced digital marketing team works? Or are you an aspiring digital marketer who wants to know how your career can progress?
This piece will guide you through the roles and responsibilities of a digital marketing team, particularly:
- Core Roles in a Digital Marketing Team and Their Average Salaries
- Extended Roles in Larger Teams
- Corporate Hierarchies
- How To Successfully Structure a Digital Marketing Team
Importance of Defining Roles in a Digital Marketing Team
According to Statista, there are 5.45 billion internet users, amounting to 67.1% of the global population in 2024. Because of this high internet penetration, there is an evident shift in how users consume information. This shift also flows into how users want to experience brands. Therefore, brands are changing how they connect to their customers, leading to a growing preference for digital marketing.
As more consumers level up their expectations and preferences, brands are trying to keep up to cater to these demands, hence building a dedicated team focusing on digital marketing efforts. There are three primary purposes of a digital marketing team:
- Increase Online Visibility and Brand Awareness: Implement strategies to enhance a brand’s presence across digital channels like search engines, social media, and email.
- Drive Traffic and Lead Generation: Create targeted campaigns to attract potential customers, generate leads, and convert website visitors into buyers.
- Improve Customer Engagement and Retention: Build and maintain customer relationships through personalised content, email marketing, and social media interactions to boost loyalty and retention.
To achieve the goals mentioned above, which can improve the brand’s bottom line, you must define the roles and responsibilities of digital marketing team members, particularly:
- Defining clear roles and responsibilities is crucial for maximising efficiency and achieving business goals in digital marketing.
- Role clarity helps avoid task overlap and prevents skill gaps, ensuring coverage of all key areas (e.g., SEO and content strategy).
- A well-structured team reduces miscommunication and aligns results with business objectives.
Core Roles in a Digital Marketing Team
Are you ready to build your digital marketing team as a brand owner? As an aspiring digital marketer, are you ready to discover the endless possibilities in the digital marketing field? Then, here are the core roles in a digital marketing team arranged according to a corporate hierarchy.
| Role | Responsibilities | Key Focus Areas |
| Digital Marketer (Team Lead/Director) |
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| Content Marketing Manager |
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| Strategist |
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| Web Developer Manager |
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| PPC Manager |
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| SEO Specialist |
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| Social Media Manager |
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| Email Marketing Specialist |
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| Data Analyst |
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| Graphic Designer |
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| Website Content Writer |
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| Blog Writer |
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In the section below, we will examine each role’s primary responsibilities. You will also learn about the role’s typical work day, key activities, and average annual salary in US dollars, according to indeed.com.
Digital Marketer (Team Lead/Director)
The digital marketer serves as the strategist and coordinator for the entire team. Their day usually starts with reviewing the analytics using platforms like Google Analytics, built-in social media analytics, email performance, etc. They are laser-focused on the key performance indicators (KPIs) to ensure the campaigns are on track to meeting their projects’ objectives.
Typically, their days are consumed by meetings. They meet with the content manager to review the content calendar. They can also meet with the SEO specialist to ensure content aligns with search optimisation goals. Sometimes, you can see the digital marketer collaborating with other departments like sales, product development, or customer service, ensuring the marketing strategy integrates seamlessly into the company’s business goals.
After the meetings, digital marketing is more likely to work on refining strategies, brainstorming new campaigns, or attending high-level meetings with the company’s decision-makers.
Key activities: Reviewing campaign performance, team meetings, strategy planning
Average salary: USD 108,814/year
Content Marketing Manager
The Content Strategist plays a vital role in shaping the content direction of the digital marketing team. They are responsible for developing and executing a content strategy aligning with business objectives and audience needs. Their day usually begins with checking the content calendar and ensuring deadlines are met for the content pieces. They may also start their day reviewing blog post drafts, video revisions, and social media content drafts.
Throughout their shift, the content marketing manager collaborates with writers, graphic designers, and sometimes the video production team. They are also obsessed with metrics. They want to know how the blogs perform and how the followers receive social media posts.
After these observations, they continue their day by refining the content strategy, considering the insights they gathered. What’s on their mind must be how to create and what content will best resonate with the target audience to achieve their marketing goals.
Key activities: Content creation planning, team collaboration, performance analysis
Average salary: USD 74,318/year
Strategist
The Strategist in a digital marketing team is like the architect who builds the blueprint for marketing success. They are responsible for shaping the overall strategy to guide the digital marketing campaigns, aligning them with the company’s goals, and ensuring all marketing efforts work cohesively to achieve measurable outcomes.
Their typical workday is filled with these key responsibilities:
- Campaign Planning: Develop marketing plans that define objectives, target audiences, messaging, and the best digital channels to use
- Audience Research: Analysing audience demographics and behaviours to refine marketing strategies
- Trend Analysis: Researching and keeping up with industry trends and analyses competitors, ensuring strategies are relevant and competitive
- Cross-Team Collaborations: Working with other departments to ensure alignment across the stakeholders
- Measuring Success: Monitoring campaign performance and making data-driven adjustments
Key activities: Strategy development, data analysis, team collaboration
Average salary: USD 63,457/year
Web Developer Manager
The Web Developer Manager is the technical backbone of the digital marketing team. They are responsible for building and maintaining the company’s website and ensuring it is operational and optimised across different devices.
Their shift may start with a quick of the website’s health, including checking page load speeds, mobile responsiveness, and any critical errors that need fixing or troubleshooting. The web developer manager guides the web developers in coding, ensuring the landing pages function correctly for the marketing campaigns.
If the content marketing manager needs a new landing page for an upcoming campaign, the web developer works to get it live, ensuring it’s optimised for both UX and SEO. They may also collaborate with the SEO specialist throughout the day to ensure the website meets all technical SEO standards. Testing, coding updates, and monitoring are everyday daily tasks.
Key activities: Website maintenance, landing page development, technical optimisation
Average salary: USD 80,735/year
PPC Manager
The Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Manager oversees all paid campaigns, whether Google Ads, Facebook Ads, or LinkedIn ads. Their day typically revolves around checking and analysing key metrics, such as:
- Click-through Rates (CTR)
- Cost-per-Click (CPC)
- Cost-per-Acquisition (CPA)
- Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)
- Return on Investment (ROI)
- And others
The rest of their day involves tweaking campaigns. They might adjust bidding strategies, change ad copy, or A/B test different visuals to see what performs better. They meet with the SEO or data analysis teams daily to compare performance across channels and brainstorm new paid campaign ideas.
Key activities: Campaign management, budget optimisation, A/B testing
Average salary: USD 82,516/year
SEO Specialist
The SEO Specialist focuses on improving a brand’s visibility in search engines, which is critical for attracting organic traffic. Their responsibilities include conducting keyword research, performing on-page and off-page optimisation, and addressing technical SEO issues that may hinder a website’s performance.
Their day usually starts with keyword research—analysing trends and seeing what people are searching for. They use tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush to refine the SEO strategy, looking for opportunities to optimise existing content or create new, high-ranking articles.
A well-executed SEO strategy ensures the brand ranks higher on search engine results pages (SERPs), driving more relevant traffic and improving lead-generation efforts. The SEO specialist works closely with content creators, developers, and marketing managers to align the SEO strategy with other digital marketing efforts and ensure that all content is optimised for search engines and user experience.
Key activities: Keyword research, content optimisation, technical SEO improvements
Average salary: USD 64,314/year
Social Media Manager
The Social Media Manager is tasked with growing the brand’s presence across social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. They create and manage social media campaigns, engage with the community, and monitor the performance of posts and ads. Their morning might start with checking notifications and engagement on social posts from the previous day, responding to comments or engaging with followers.
They spend much of the day creating posts—designing visuals, writing captions, or scheduling content for the week ahead. They are also responsible for responding to customer queries and comments, creating a positive brand image, and fostering a loyal online community. They also monitor performance, adjusting posts that aren’t performing well.
Key activities: Content creation, community engagement, performance tracking
Average salary: USD 59,165/year
Email Marketing Specialist
The Email Marketing Specialist uses email as a key channel for customer engagement, retention, and lead nurturing. They create personalised, segmented email campaigns targeted based on customer behaviour, preferences, and demographics. Their day revolves around nurturing leads and maintaining customer relationships through email campaigns.
Typically, they can begin their work shift by checking the performance of existing email campaigns. They observe the open rates, click-through rates, and conversions. They review data to see which segments of their audience are most engaged.
After gathering relevant insights, they spend most of their day creating and optimising email content. This role involves crafting compelling email copy, managing email lists, designing templates, and automating workflows according to the buyer’s journey. They can also do A/B tests to know which subject lines, copy, or other elements work with their target segments.
Key activities: Email creation, audience segmentation, automation
Average salary: USD 63,457/year
Data Analyst/Performance Analyst
A Data Analyst plays a crucial role in analysing the performance of marketing campaigns across all channels. They gather and interpret data from various sources, such as Google Analytics, social media platforms, and CRM systems, to provide insights into campaign effectiveness.
Their mornings are usually spent reviewing dashboards and analytics platforms like Google Analytics or marketing software tools to assess the performance of various campaigns. Once they’ve gathered insights, they share these findings with other team members, helping them make data-driven decisions. They also set up A/B tests, track campaign progress, and offer optimisation recommendations.
This role is essential for data-driven decision-making. It allows the team to adjust strategies based on performance metrics like ROI, customer behaviour, and conversion rates. The Data Analyst helps pinpoint areas for optimisation, ensuring that the team’s efforts align with business goals and produce the desired results.
Key activities: Analysing data, creating reports, offering insights for optimisation
Graphic Designer
A graphic designer’s day involves turning ideas into visually compelling content. They might start by reviewing requests from the content or social media managers for new visuals—from infographics to social media images or email banners.
Graphic designers spend most of their day creating these assets using design software like Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator. Collaboration is key for graphic designers, so they often check in with the marketing team to ensure the visuals align with brand guidelines and campaign goals. In the afternoon, they might work on revisions based on feedback and prepare final versions for distribution.
Key activities: Visual content creation, collaboration, brand consistency
Average salary: USD 61,798/year
Website Content Writer
The website content writer is responsible for crafting the messaging across the company’s website. Their day typically starts with reviewing any briefs or SEO guidelines from the content marketing manager. They research keywords and focus on writing compelling, SEO-optimized content for the website, whether it’s landing pages, product descriptions, or service pages.
In the afternoon, they might work on updating older content to improve SEO performance or collaborate with the web development team to ensure the content is appropriately displayed on the site. They also track performance to see how well their content ranks on search engines.
Key activities: Website copywriting, SEO optimisation, collaboration with web developers
Average salary: USD 61,844/year
Blog Writer
The blog writer starts their day researching topics that align with the content marketing strategy and SEO goals. They’ll often receive a brief from the content manager or SEO specialist outlining each blog post’s target keywords and objectives.
Once they’ve researched, they spend much of the day writing, ensuring the tone aligns with the brand’s voice. They’ll likely work on multiple drafts, refining the content until it’s ready for review. Toward the end of the day, they might submit their draft for feedback and start researching their next topic.
Key activities: Writing blog content, keyword research, content revisions
Hierarchy of the Core Roles in a Digital Marketing Team
Here’s a typical hierarchy of core roles in a digital marketing team, organised by levels of responsibility. This hierarchy ensures a structured flow of duties, with leadership guiding strategy and other roles executing, analysing, and refining digital marketing initiatives.
Extended Roles in Larger Teams or Agencies
In a larger organisation, the digital marketing team becomes more complex, adding more roles and team members to cater to the business needs. Here are some of the extended roles in a larger team or agency in a tabulated format:
| Role | Responsibilities | Key Focus Areas |
| Marketing Automation Specialist |
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| Influencer Marketing Manager |
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| Brand Strategies |
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| Video Marketing Specialist |
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Marketing Automation Specialist
In larger teams, the Marketing Automation Specialist is critical in streamlining repetitive marketing tasks using automation tools like HubSpot, Marketo, or Pardot. They set up workflows to automate email marketing social media posts, and lead nurturing campaigns. Their primary objective is to increase efficiency and ensure that leads are effectively managed and moved through the sales funnel without manual intervention.
This role also involves monitoring and optimising the performance of these automated campaigns by analysing customer behaviour and engagement data and tweaking workflows for better results. Specialists also integrate automation platforms with CRM systems to track customer journeys and refine insights-based marketing strategies.
The importance of this role lies in its ability to create scalable marketing systems. These systems enable teams to handle larger audiences and campaigns with minimal resources while personalising the customer experience. Automation specialists ensure that marketing efforts are timely, targeted, and consistent, helping businesses nurture leads more effectively.
Influencer Marketing Manager
The Influencer Marketing Manager builds partnerships with influencers to extend a brand’s reach and authenticity. This role involves identifying key influencers within a brand’s niche, negotiating collaboration terms, and managing influencer relationships.
The manager is responsible for planning and executing influencer campaigns across platforms like Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, or blogs, ensuring that content aligns with the brand’s messaging and objectives.
Tracking engagement metrics such as likes, shares, and comments and monitoring the ROI of influencer partnerships are crucial responsibilities. This role also entails creating influencer briefs, setting clear deliverables, and working closely with content creators to ensure the campaigns feel authentic and resonate with the target audience.
As influencer marketing becomes increasingly prevalent, this role helps brands connect with audiences in a more personal and relatable way. The manager ensures that collaborations drive awareness, engagement, and conversions while maintaining the brand’s integrity.
Brand Strategist
A Brand Strategist is tasked with maintaining and shaping a brand’s identity, voice, and positioning across all marketing channels. This role goes beyond day-to-day marketing efforts, focusing on long-term strategy and ensuring that the brand remains consistent and recognisable across touchpoints like social media, websites, advertisements, and even offline events.
The strategist ensures that all marketing activities align with the company’s values, target audience, and overarching business goals.
They often conduct market research and competitor analysis to refine brand messaging and positioning. They are also responsible for guiding the creation of campaigns that reflect the brand’s personality and are consistent across multiple platforms. A strong brand strategist ensures that the audience perceives the brand in the desired way, building loyalty and differentiation in the marketplace.
The Brand Strategist’s work lays the foundation for marketing campaigns by ensuring that every piece of content reinforces the brand’s identity. This alignment helps establish trust and fosters a deeper connection with customers.
Video Marketing Specialist
As video content dominates online platforms, the Video Marketing Specialist has become a key player in larger digital marketing teams. Their responsibilities include conceptualising, scriptwriting, shooting, and editing videos for marketing campaigns on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and even company websites.
In addition to production, they optimise videos for SEO by using proper keywords, meta tags, and descriptions to ensure they rank well in search results.
This role requires creativity, technical skills, and an understanding video trends and audience behaviour. Video specialists collaborate closely with content and social media teams to ensure that a brand’s visual and narrative aspects align with broader marketing goals. Their work is crucial for creating engaging content that captures attention and drives conversions, particularly in an era of rapidly increasing video consumption.
Video Marketing Specialists also track metrics like view counts, watch time, and engagement rates to assess the effectiveness of video content. By doing so, they can optimise future videos to meet audience expectations and marketing objectives better.
Hierarchy of the Extended Roles in a Digital Marketing Team
Here’s a hierarchy of extended roles in a digital marketing team typically found in larger companies or agencies, organised based on their level of responsibility and function:
How to Successfully Structure a Digital Marketing Team
Aside from clearly defining the roles and responsibilities, you must learn how to harmonise and align each talent to achieve the business goals as a brand owner. Here are some best practices you can consider to achieve successful collaboration and maximise productivity:
Consider the Business Size
The size of a company plays a critical role in determining the structure of its digital marketing team.
- Small Companies: Resources may be limited in smaller organisations, necessitating a lean team where individuals wear multiple hats. A flat structure is often effective, with a few key roles (e.g., a marketing manager, a content creator, and a social media manager) collaborating closely. This approach fosters agility and quick decision-making, allowing small businesses to respond swiftly to market changes.
- Medium to Large Companies: As companies grow, they adopt a more hierarchical structure to manage the increasing complexity of marketing activities. Larger teams can afford specialised roles (e.g., SEO specialists, PPC managers, content strategists), allowing for more profound expertise in each area. In this scenario, clear reporting lines and role definitions are essential to ensure accountability and efficiency. A hierarchical structure can help delineate responsibilities while fostering collaboration among team members.
Consider the Industry Where the Business Belongs
The industry in which a company operates also influences its digital marketing team structure.
- B2B vs. B2C: B2B companies may focus more on content marketing and lead generation strategies, necessitating roles like account-based marketing specialists or data analysts to track and analyse leads. In contrast, B2C companies may prioritise social media engagement and influencer partnerships, leading to a stronger emphasis on creative roles, such as content creators and social media managers.
- E-commerce vs. Traditional Retail: E-commerce businesses often require specialised roles in website optimisation, user experience (UX) design, and digital advertising. Conversely, traditional retail companies might focus on integrating digital marketing with in-store experiences, necessitating collaboration with sales and customer service teams.
Build a Results-Driven Digital Marketing Team
A deep understanding of the overarching business goals is vital to building and managing a results-driven marketing team. These goals guide the team’s structure, whether centralised or decentralised. The marketing manager plays a crucial role in defining roles and managing resource allocation to achieve the team’s goals.
The team should also encourage a culture that promotes collaboration and innovation for successful digital marketing strategies, including developing a solid digital marketing strategy to generate leads and have customers create leads.
Aligning Team Goals with Business Objectives
Setting SMART business objectives provides clear direction for the organisation. These objectives should align with the marketing strategies to ensure that marketing efforts translate into sales and growth for the business. By setting marketing objectives, the company can better focus on achieving its goals.
- Short-term vs Long-term Goals: A more agile, cross-functional team (often in a pod structure) may benefit a business focusing on quick growth or product launches. This allows for rapid experimentation and iteration. Alternatively, if the goal is long-term brand building, a more stable team with dedicated roles might be required to maintain consistent messaging and engagement.
- Global vs Local Reach: Companies with a worldwide presence may need to adapt their team structure to cater to diverse markets, employing regional marketing managers who understand local cultures and consumer behaviours. This can lead to a hybrid structure where a centralised strategy meets localised execution.
Balancing In-House and Outsourced Talent
Balancing in-house talent with outsourced or freelance roles can also shape team structure.
- In-House Talent: Building a core in-house team can foster a deep understanding of the brand, company culture, and long-term goals. In-house teams are typically more engaged and invested in the brand’s success.
- Outsourced or Freelance Roles: On the other hand, leveraging freelance professionals or agencies can provide access to specialised skills and expertise that may need to be more cost-effective to maintain in-house. This can be especially beneficial for projects like website redesigns, video production, or large-scale advertising campaigns.
Fostering a Collaborative and Innovative Environment
Promoting open, honest, and respectful communication fosters a collaborative and innovative environment where new ideas and opinions are welcomed. Work-life balance is critical for this.
Collaboration and support among team members are encouraged to develop innovative solutions. This collective effort is critical to better understanding the business, problem-solving, and creating successful marketing strategies.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the ideal size for a digital marketing team?
The ideal size for a digital marketing team varies depending on the company’s size and goals. Small companies may function effectively with a team of 3-5 individuals, while medium—to large companies might require ten or more specialised roles. The key is to ensure that all essential functions are covered while maintaining efficient communication and collaboration.
How should roles be assigned in a digital marketing team?
Roles should be assigned based on individual strengths, expertise, and the business’s specific needs. Key areas such as content creation, SEO, social media management, and analytics must be identified. Clear definitions of responsibilities help avoid overlap and ensure accountability within the team.
What is the difference between in-house and outsourced digital marketing roles?
In-house roles are filled by employees who fully integrate into the company culture and deeply understand the brand. Outsourced roles, on the other hand, involve hiring external freelancers or agencies to provide specialised skills or handle specific projects. A balanced approach often combines both to leverage internal knowledge and external expertise.
How can a digital marketing team adapt to changing business goals?
A digital marketing team can adapt by regularly reviewing its structure and roles in relation to current business objectives. This may involve reallocating resources, adding new roles to address emerging needs, or shifting focus to prioritise different marketing channels. Agile methodologies can also enhance adaptability through iterative planning and rapid change response.
What are the common team structures in digital marketing?
Common team structures include:
- Flat Structure: Few management layers, fostering direct communication and quick decision-making, suitable for small teams
- Hierarchical Structure: Clear reporting lines and defined roles, effective for larger teams requiring specialised functions.
- Pod Structure: Cross-functional teams collaborating on specific projects, allowing for agility and integrated strategies.
