Marketing department org chart example
A marketing department of about twenty in a B2B software company, drawn around the four jobs a modern marketing team actually has: create demand, explain the product, keep the brand and the content honest, and run the systems that measure whether any of it worked. The people who sell are next door, and the chart shows exactly where the wall is.
How a marketing department is usually structured
Marketing reports to the chief executive through a chief marketing officer, or in smaller companies through the chief revenue officer, and which of the two says a great deal: under a CRO, marketing is a pipeline function and is measured in meetings booked; under the CEO it is also the brand and the category. Draw the executive above the department either way, and draw the head of sales beside it, because half the arguments a marketing chart has to settle are about the border between the two.
Under the CMO the work divides four ways. Demand generation runs the campaigns, the paid media, the events and the website that produce the pipeline, and is measured in it. Product marketing sits between the product team and the market: positioning, launches, pricing, the material sales actually uses. Brand and content is the writers, designers and the agencies who make everything the other two send. Marketing operations owns the systems — the automation platform, the CRM handoff, attribution, the data — and reports the numbers everyone else is measured on, which is why it needs its own manager rather than a seat inside demand generation.
Two borders matter more than any box. Sales development representatives, who book the meetings, sit in sales in most companies and in marketing in some; wherever they are, draw the dotted line to the other side, because both departments manage their day. And product marketing reports to marketing but works for product: a solid line to the CMO and a dotted line to the head of product is the honest drawing, and the one that keeps launches from being a surprise to either.
Typical titles by level
The vocabulary these charts use, from the top down. Titles vary by country and by company; the levels don't.
| Level | Titles you'll see |
|---|---|
| Leadership | Chief Marketing Officer, VP of Marketing, Head of Marketing; Chief Revenue Officer (when marketing reports into revenue) |
| Directors and managers | Director of Demand Generation, Director of Product Marketing, Brand or Creative Director, Marketing Operations Manager, Content Manager, Events or Field Marketing Manager, Digital Marketing Manager, Communications or PR Manager |
| Specialists | Paid Media Specialist, SEO Specialist, Marketing Automation Specialist, Marketing Analyst, Product Marketing Manager, Content Writer, Copywriter, Graphic Designer, Web Developer, Social Media Manager, Events Coordinator |
| Extended team | Marketing Coordinator, Marketing Intern; paid media agency, PR agency, freelance designers and writers (as contractors); sales development representatives (in sales, dotted-lined to marketing) |
Where these charts go wrong
Marketing charts fail by putting operations inside demand generation, so the attribution is written by the team being measured; by drawing the SDR team without the dotted line to whichever department does not own it; by leaving the agencies off, so a team of eight appears to run a global campaign calendar alone; by making every specialty a peer of the CMO, so a director has eleven reports; and by charting product marketing as if product had no say in it.
Questions people ask
- How is a marketing department structured?
- Four lines under the CMO: demand generation, product marketing, brand and content, and marketing operations. Communications or PR is a fifth in companies where the brand is the business. Below about six people the four collapse into two — a demand lead and a content lead — with the CMO doing product marketing and operations personally, which is the usual reason the CMO is tired.
- Do SDRs report to marketing or sales?
- Sales, in most companies, because the SDR job is a pipeline into account executive roles and the sales manager owns that career. Marketing in some, because marketing feeds them the leads and measures conversion. Either works with a dotted line to the other; neither works without one, because both departments manage the SDR's day and only one writes the review.
- Where does marketing operations sit?
- Beside demand generation, not inside it, under the CMO. Operations owns the systems and reports the numbers every other marketing team is judged on; placed under the demand generation director it grades its own manager. In a small team it is one person, and that person still reports to the CMO.
- Who does product marketing report to?
- The CMO, with a dotted line to the head of product. Product marketing translates the roadmap into positioning, launches and sales material, so it works for product every day and belongs to marketing for standards, careers and the calendar. Companies that put it entirely in product get launches nobody in marketing knew about; companies that draw no line to product get positioning the engineers do not recognize.
Other industries
- ManufacturingTwo shifts, and quality kept out of production's line.
- LogisticsDispatch runs the day; supervisors run the people.
- ConstructionOffice and field, meeting on every project.
- Software startupSquads under a CTO; product managers on a dotted line.
- NonprofitThe board on top, programs beside the money.
- Medical practiceA clinical line and a business line, crossing at nursing.
- SchoolDepartments led by teachers who also manage.
- HotelSix divisions around one general manager.
- Marketing agencyDisciplines own people; pods own the work.
- Security & facilities servicesSites stacked under supervisors; a 24-hour control room.
- Sales teamRegions for closers, a team for openers, RevOps beside them.
- Accounting firmA partner pyramid, three service lines.
- Law firmPractice groups, and the business side that runs the firm.
- ChurchA board that governs, a pastor who leads, ministries below.
- RestaurantFront of house and back of house, meeting at the pass.
- IT departmentRun, build and secure, under one director.
- HR departmentPartners, specialists and operations: the three legs.
- Local governmentElected above appointed, and two officers who answer to the council.
- Utility companyField crews, a 24-hour control center, and a regulator in the room.
- BankThree lines of defense, drawn as lines.
- Staffing agencySales desks, recruiting desks, and a back office that pays two thousand people.
- HospitalTwo hierarchies that meet at the bedside.
- Retail chainHead office, the field, and a store drawn once.
- Small businessOne owner, two managers, and the jobs the owner still does.
- Finance departmentAccounting closes the books; FP&A says what they mean.
- Customer service departmentTeams on the floor; quality, training and scheduling beside them.
- Engineering departmentProduct teams under a VP of engineering; platform, data and security under the CTO.
- Operations departmentSupply chain, fulfillment and the functions that keep both honest.
- Product departmentProduct, design, research and the operations that measure them.
- Consulting firmThree practices, one firm behind them, and no engagement on the chart.
- Real estate brokerageAgents who are not employees, on the chart anyway.
- Insurance agencySales on one side, service on the other, and the lines where they meet.
Or start from a structure — functional, divisional, matrix or flat — or from your own spreadsheet. The guides cover a reorg, a merger, an assistant's chart and a consultant's deliverable.
Make it yours
Download the spreadsheet, replace the names, import it — the chart redraws itself. Or start empty and drag people until it's true. Building is free at any size.