What Does a Growth Marketing Manager Do?

Written by Coursera Staff • Updated on

Learn more about what a growth marketing manager is and the skills needed to become one.

[Featured image] A growth marketing manager meets with their team in a conference room to discuss a new project to acquire new customers.

Key takeaways

Growth marketing involves collaborating with a team to analyze data from marketing campaigns, optimizing company-wide growth, and tailoring content.

  • As of January 2026, growth marketing managers earn a median yearly total salary of $128,000 [1].

  • Growth marketing managers implement testing strategies, analyze data, create content, optimize growth, and lead a team of marketing employees.

  • You can use leadership, problem-solving, and creativity skills to excel in the role of a growth marketing manager.

Discover more about this exciting field, including the salary and job outlook, the skills you need to excel, and the education requirements. Afterward, consider enrolling in the Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate. In as little as six months, you’ll have the opportunity to gain an immersive understanding of the practices and processes used by a junior or associate data analyst in their day-to-day job, which is a necessary skill set for a growth manager. Upon completion, add this shareable credential to your resume or LinkedIn profile.

What is a growth marketing manager?

Growth marketing managers are data analysts and leaders who oversee strategy to engage with customers and prospects throughout the customer journey, from individuals discovering the brand, making a purchase, returning for another, and recommending the business to others. As a growth marketing manager, your goals and responsibilities may be similar to those of a standard marketing manager, with a focus on driving revenue growth for your company or business by optimizing the customer experience.

You can expect to work directly with feedback from customers and shape customer loyalty by responding to user wants and needs, thus encouraging customers to stick with your brand and spread awareness. Traditional marketing managers may specialize and focus more on specific points of the customer journey. As a growth marketing manager, you must remain flexible, versatile, and focused on the high-level “bigger picture,” using data-driven insights to continually adapt and create effective strategies. 

Growth marketing manager job description

Growth marketing managers focus on ensuring a positive customer experience and strategizing how to optimize reach to the maximum number of users through marketing campaigns. You'll often collaborate with a mix of internal and external teams, driving strategies and making the necessary improvements to increase engagement and retention.

As a growth marketing manager, you drive revenue growth through successful marketing strategies, such as email and search engine optimization (SEO)-driven marketing and social media campaigns. You also work to effectively manage marketing budget costs with the ultimate goal of reducing them.

What does a growth marketing manager do?

In this job, you will perform varied duties, including working with technology to test and capture relevant data for analysis and optimization of ongoing efforts. You’ll develop personalized campaigns and support the creation of an audience with high engagement rates.

As a growth marketing manager, you may encounter the following everyday tasks and responsibilities:

  • Analyze data: Part of your work as a growth marketing manager requires you to research trends and analyze data to inquire how your content is performing online and how much traffic it drives to your website. You may also connect directly with customers to receive their feedback on user experience, which helps influence new marketing strategies going forward. You will also need to work with various data analysis tools and be able to explain your findings to stakeholders without a technical background.

  • Lead employees: In a management position, you must lead employees to a common goal. As a growth marketing manager, the common goal is to increase sales revenue, boost brand awareness, and ensure customer satisfaction and loyalty. You communicate these goals and ways to implement new marketing strategies to increase growth to employees.

  • A/B testing: A popular marketing strategy for growth marketing managers is implementing A/B testing. This process involves creating two different versions of a similar medium, such as an email, text message, or social media advertisement, and testing them out on two audiences. You then collect and analyze the data from those audiences, such as whether they were more likely to click on one version or purchase items from the contents of another. You will use that information to guide ongoing strategies.

  • Create content: Growth marketing managers produce new, innovative content for customers to engage with. Whether that be a new email campaign or social media posts, you then track the results of these campaigns to determine if your strategy was successful or needs improvement.

  • Optimize growth: Your ultimate goal as a growth marketing manager is to optimize growth within the company. You want to improve customer experiences by producing engaging content that your customers will respond to and share to build awareness of your company. Developing new marketing strategies and learning from previous campaigns will help you succeed in growth optimization.

Growth marketing vs. digital marketing: What’s the difference?

Growth marketing refers to a specific kind of marketing that aims to attract consumers through popular formats such as social media and performs data analysis to determine how to improve performance. Digital marketing is any type of marketing done in the digital space, such as emails, social media, and advertisements on websites. The two types of marketing are very similar, though growth marketing focuses on strategizing ways to bring in more customers, while digital marketing aims to reach consumers strictly through online channels.

Growth marketing manager skills

To succeed in this job, you need to have a robust skill set and inherent versatility, which will help you adapt to changing conditions based on the continual cycle of testing, data analysis, and strategy execution. You’ll need a skill set that includes familiarity with marketing principles, product and project management, new product development, and Agile methodologies, which can help drive profitable, rapid growth.

As a growth marketing manager, you should also demonstrate the following skills to excel at your job:

  • Robust critical thinking: In this role, you will need to track and analyze data, including performance metrics, and you'll also need to be able to use insights to optimize campaigns. You must choose appropriate marketing channels and understand how varied marketing efforts work together to drive objectives forward.

  • Communication: To effectively lead a team of employees, you need to be an excellent communicator. You need the ability to convey potentially complex information to team members and leaders who don’t have a strong technological background. You must also be able to convey your expectations to your team to ensure growth within your business and customer satisfaction.

  • Creativity: You must have strong creativity skills and adaptability to craft innovative marketing strategies that captivate audiences and cultivate marketing growth. Creating new content is part of your role as a growth marketing manager, so it’s essential that the content you produce is creative and makes an impact on audiences.

  • Strong leadership: Growth marketing managers must have strong leadership skills and be comfortable managing a team of individuals. When you display strong leadership skills, you encourage employees to perform well.

  • Problem-solving: When problems arise from a user or customer standpoint, you should prepare to solve them. Your strong communication skills with your team will prove helpful as you collaborate to find solutions to any and all problems.

Read more: Important Communication Skills and How to Improve Them

Growth marketing manager salary and job outlook

According to Glassdoor, growth marketing managers in the US earn a median total salary of $128,000 [1]. This figure includes base salary and additional pay, which may represent profit-sharing, commissions, bonuses, or other compensation. In addition to solid earning potential, the outlook for these types of jobs is also positive. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) predicts a 6 percent growth rate for advertising, promotions, and marketing managers from 2024 through 2034 [2].

Marketing is a growing industry with room to advance within your career. The rise of technology and digital marketing has led to increased opportunities for marketers, who can continue learning new skills and expanding their depth of knowledge in the field.

Growth marketing manager career path

To begin your career as a growth marketing manager, meet the recommended education requirements to pursue the role. Employers typically prefer that you have a background in marketing and business with some years of relevant leadership experience.

Education and training

To become a growth marketing manager, you'll typically need a bachelor’s degree in subjects like communications or business. While planning your coursework, gaining broad exposure to data analytics is helpful to ensure that you're prepared for this role. Some employers may also want you to have an advanced degree, like a master’s degree in marketing. Keep in mind that earning a master's may also increase your earning potential and set you apart from other job candidates.

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Professional experience

Before applying for a growth marketing manager position, you may want to gain more experience through entry-level positions. This can boost your resume and allow you to develop your skills and knowledge. You may pursue a marketing coordinator or communications specialist role before advancing into a growth marketing manager role.

Certification

Earning certifications or certificates is a great way to show employers your dedication to your career and may help boost your resume and showcase your industry knowledge. Although it’s voluntary, certification may help you better meet potential employers’ expectations. For example, you could pursue credentials like the Certified Digital Marketing Professional, offered by the Digital Marketing Institute and the American Marketing Association, or HubSpot’s Digital Marketing Certification.

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Article sources

1

Glassdoor. “Growth Marketing Manager Salaries, https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/growth-marketing-manager-salary-SRCH_KO0,24.htm.” Accessed January 6, 2026.

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