Mid-Level

Sales and Marketing Manager

Managing both sales and marketing functions in a smaller company — lead gen, sales coaching, campaign execution, brand work. The job is wide rather than deep, with the trade-off of touching everything but rarely going as deep as a specialist would.

Career Level
Junior
Mid
Senior
Director
VP
Executive
Work Personality
E
C
S
I
A
R
Enterprisingleading, persuading
Conventionalorganizing, detail-oriented
Based on Holland Code framework
Industries that often hire Sales and Marketing Managers
Agriculture & ForestryProfessional Services · 25%Wholesale & Distribution · 10%Technology & Information · 10%Financial Services · 10%Manufacturing · 8%
Job markets for Sales and Marketing Managers
Employment concentration · ~400 areas
Based on employment in related occupations
Mapped SOC categories:
Marketing
BLS Occupational Employment Statistics
Jump to:What it's likeCareer pathsBy the numbers
What it's like

What it's like to be a Sales and Marketing Manager

Wearing both hats is the defining challenge of the role. You're building lead generation campaigns, managing a small sales team, and making brand decisions — sometimes in the same day. The breadth is real, but so is the constraint: neither function gets the dedicated depth a specialist would bring, and resource allocation between sales support and marketing execution is a constant tension.

In smaller companies, the sales coaching piece is often more informal than structured — pipeline reviews, ride-alongs, deal coaching. Marketing execution is similarly pragmatic: email campaigns, social, trade shows, a website refresh, whatever is driving leads this quarter. The calendar rotates between the two functions based on what's most urgent, not always what's most important.

Measuring both functions honestly is harder than it looks. Attribution — which pipeline came from marketing, which from sales effort — gets murky fast. Building a shared view of the funnel and keeping both teams aligned on what the metrics mean is an ongoing management task. Leaders who build that infrastructure early spend less time adjudicating disputes later.

What people in this role value
Working ConditionsAbove avg
AchievementAbove avg
IndependenceAbove avg
SupportAbove avg
RecognitionAbove avg
RelationshipsModerate
O*NET Work Values survey
Role Profile
StrategyExecution
StructuredAdaptable
ManagingContributing
CollaborativeIndependent
Things that vary from job to job as a Sales and Marketing Manager
Company sizeSales team depthInbound vs. outbound splitBrand vs. demand weight
**Small businesses** often mean one or two salespeople plus a scrappy marketing operation — the manager is doing as much as delegating. Slightly larger companies may have dedicated marketing coordinators and a proper sales team, shifting the role toward leadership and strategy. **B2B vs. B2C** changes the marketing toolkit significantly — B2B leans on content and events, B2C on digital and brand. The balance between demand generation (filling the pipeline) and brand marketing (building awareness) shifts by industry and company stage.

Is Sales and Marketing Manager right for you?

An honest look at who tends to thrive in this role — and who might find it challenging.

This role tends to work well for...
People who enjoy wearing multiple hats
The role spans two functions by design — people who thrive on variety and find switching contexts energizing are well suited.
Those who are comfortable building in scrappy environments
Small companies often mean limited resources, improvised tooling, and learning as you go — which suits people who like building over maintaining.
People who enjoy both people management and execution
The role involves coaching a sales team and doing real marketing work — it suits people who don't want to be fully managerial or fully individual contributor.
Those who want broad commercial visibility early in their career
Running both functions gives exposure to the full revenue engine in a way that a siloed specialist role doesn't.
This role tends to create friction for...
People who want deep specialization in one function
The role is explicitly wide rather than deep — neither function gets the focus a specialist position would.
Those who find ambiguity and fuzzy ownership stressful
When sales and marketing overlap — which they always do — ownership isn't always clear, and that requires comfort managing in the grey.
People who need significant resources to feel effective
Small-company Sales and Marketing Manager roles usually run lean — budget, staff, and tooling are often more constrained than the scope suggests.
Those who want the work to slow down and get predictable
Two fast-moving functions in a smaller company means the job rarely has a steady state.
✦ Editorial — written by Truest from industry research and career patterns
Career Paths

Where this role sits in the broader career landscape — and where it can take you.

Earning potential across this track
$239K$179K$119K$60K$0KLower paying387 metro areas, sorted by salary level
All experience levels1
This level's estimated range
INDUSTRIES PAYING ABOVE AVERAGE
Technology & Information$93K+13%
Professional Services$89K+8%
Energy & Utilities$86K+4%
Financial Services$80K-3%
Wholesale & Distribution$76K-8%
Compared to Marketing average across all industries
1 BLS OEWS May 2024 covers all Sales and Marketing Managers (SOC 11-2021.00, 11-2022.00), not just this title · BEA RPP 2023
* Top salaries exceed this figure. BLS caps reported wages at ~$240K to protect individual privacy in high-earning roles.
Career Growth OptionsMarketing track →
Sales and Marketing ManagerAthlete Marketing AgentPromotional Marketing AgentRetail Brand AmbassadorSales Brand AmbassadorBrand AmbassadorMarketing Brand AmbassadorEvent Brand AmbassadorMarketing ProcessorTelemarketing Representative (Telemarketing Rep)Telemarketing Sales Representative (Telemarketing Sales Rep)Advertising Associate+105 more
Exploring the Sales and Marketing Manager career path? Truest helps you figure out if it's the right fit — and plan your path forward.
Explore career tools
What it takes to advance
1
Revenue attribution and funnel analytics
Knowing what drives pipeline and what doesn't is the analytical foundation of leading both functions credibly
2
Sales coaching and performance management
The quality of the sales team is the most direct lever on revenue — managers who develop reps create more durable results than those who just monitor numbers
3
Marketing automation and CRM integration
Getting sales and marketing systems to talk to each other is often the biggest operational unlock in a growing SMB
4
Brand positioning and messaging
Clear positioning simplifies both sales conversations and marketing content — developing this is high-leverage
5
Budget allocation and ROI measurement
Justifying spend across two functions to leadership requires being able to connect inputs to outcomes
Lateral Moves
Sales and Marketing Director →
If the combined scope is the right one but you want director-level organizational authority and a larger team to lead, this is the natural progression.
Marketing Manager →
If you want to go deeper on marketing — brand, digital, demand gen — without the sales management overhead, moving to a dedicated marketing manager role allows that specialization.
Sales Manager →
If the team development and pipeline accountability side is what you find most rewarding, moving to dedicated sales management focuses that work.
Questions you might ask when interviewing
How is the current team structured — how many people are on each side, and what roles exist?
What does the lead generation engine look like today — inbound, outbound, events, referrals, or some combination?
What's the current relationship between sales and marketing — aligned and collaborative, or is there tension?
What are the primary marketing and sales tools in use, and how integrated are they?
What are the two or three things you'd most want the person in this role to improve or build in the first year?
✦ Editorial — career progression and interview guidance based on industry patterns
The Broader Landscape

Roles like this one sit within a broader occupational category. The numbers below reflect that full landscape — helpful for context, but your specific experience will depend on level, specialty, and where you work.

$67K–$208K
Salary Range
10th – 90th percentile
989K
U.S. Employment
+5.65%
10yr Growth
83K
Annual Openings

How this category is changing

$76K$72K$68K$65K$61K201920202021202220232024$61K$76K
BLS OEWS May 2024 · BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034

Skills & Requirements

Critical ThinkingActive LearningReading ComprehensionSpeakingActive ListeningSocial PerceptivenessJudgment and Decision MakingPersuasionMonitoringNegotiation
O*NET OnLine · Bureau of Labor Statistics
Mapped SOC Codes
11-2021.0011-2022.00

Explore related roles

Other roles in the Marketing career track

directorFundraising and Marketing Director$123KjuniorJunior Promotional Marketing Agent$96KmidAthlete Marketing Agent$96KmidPromotional Marketing Agent$96KjuniorJunior Athlete Marketing Agent$96KmidRetail Brand Ambassador$38K
View all Marketing roles →

Navigate your career with clarity

Truest gives you tools to understand your strengths, explore roles that fit, and plan your next move.

Explore Truest career tools
Federal data: BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics (May 2024) · BLS Employment Projections · O*NET OnLine
Truest editorial: Fit check, role profile, things that vary, advancement analysis, lateral moves, interview questions.