Here Are Marketing Technology Professionals’ Top Job Responsibilities

May 1, 2023

This article is included in these additional categories:

Analytics, Automated & MarTech | Business of Marketing | Customer-Centric | Staffing

Marketing teams in the US are increasingly leaning on specialists to use martech platforms and act as a service function for the wider business. In fact, marketing technology professionals are more apt to identify as service providers to marketers than as marketers themselves, according to a study [pdf] from MarTech.org and chiefmartec.com.

However, that doesn’t mean that they are tied to IT. Only 6% of respondents working at brands said they primarily report to IT, with the vast majority (82%) reporting to marketing and the rest to digital or e-commerce (12%).

The distinction between marketing technologists and marketers can be seen when comparing their job roles. The respondents were asked to identify themselves as one of 4 archetypes, the most popular of which were Marketer and Maestro. As the report defines them, Marketers are “focused on building campaigns and marketing programs,” whereas Maestros are the “operators orchestrating the technology powering those campaigns.”

The most common responsibility of the Marketing archetype, then, is to design, run and optimize/test marketing campaigns, as cited by 77% of this group of respondents. By contrast, the leading responsibility for Maestros is to research and recommend new marketing technology products, as cited by 81% of respondents, closely followed by the 80% who train and support marketing staff on using marketing technology products. These are also among the primary responsibilities indicated by the Marketer archetype, though to a lesser degree (64% and 53%, respectively).

Some of the greatest gaps between Maestros and Marketers – not surprisingly – relate to work with martech. Whereas 63% of Maestros architect the overall stack of all marketing technology products used, only one-quarter (25%) of the Marketer group professes to having this responsibility. Likewise, while 60% of Maestros identify and sundown outdated or unused marketing technology products, just 23% of Marketers do so.

Separately, the report identifies Maestros as the path to a “fast-track career in marketing,” noting that respondents in these roles are promoted somewhat more frequently than Marketers and also tend to have higher earnings, with their average salaries about 25% higher than those of Marketers.

Maestros also appear to be more satisfied with their roles than Marketers, though both groups are generally happy. Some 77% of Maestros reported being “extremely” (27%) or “somewhat” (50%) satisfied, compared to 71% of Marketers (20% and 51%, respectively). While both groups said that their biggest reward was from demonstrating/proving a positive impact on the business from martech, Maestros pointed to this at a greater rate than Marketers (61%, and 53%, respectively). More Maestros than Marketers also seem to be feel rewarded by supporting other people in marketing who need to use marketing technology and by keeping up with changes in marketing and marketing technology.

At the same time, Maestros appear to be facing some challenges to a greater extent than Marketers. Both groups share the same top challenge – securing sufficient resources (time, talent and money for work to be done) – but 58% of Maestros feel this compared to 46% of Marketers. Additionally, more Maestros are finding it difficult to work across department boundaries, such as with IT or sales, and to explain martech to senior executives and stakeholders.

For more, check out the report here.

About the Data: The results are based on a December 2022-January 2023 survey of 349 marketers in North America and Western Europe.

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