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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Digital Media Manager

💰 $ - $

MarketingDigital MediaContentSocial MediaAdvertising

🎯 Role Definition

The Digital Media Manager leads end-to-end digital media planning, execution, optimization and reporting across paid, owned and earned channels to drive brand awareness, audience growth, lead generation and revenue. This role blends strategic campaign design, hands-on media buying, content optimization, analytics, cross‑functional stakeholder management and budget accountability. The ideal candidate is data-driven, creative, experienced with programmatic and social ad platforms, and comfortable translating business goals into measurable digital media programs.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Digital Marketing Specialist / Paid Social Specialist
  • Social Media Manager / Content Marketing Coordinator
  • Media Buyer / Performance Marketing Analyst

Advancement To:

  • Director of Digital Media / Head of Digital Marketing
  • VP of Growth / VP of Performance Marketing
  • Head of Paid Media / Global Media Lead

Lateral Moves:

  • Marketing Strategy Manager
  • Content Strategy Lead
  • Analytics / Growth Product Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Develop, own and execute holistic digital media strategies across paid search (Google Ads), paid social (Meta, X/Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok), programmatic display and video (DV360, The Trade Desk), CTV/OTT, and performance partnerships to meet quarterly acquisition, engagement and revenue KPIs.
  • Create integrated media plans that map campaign objectives to channel mix, targeting, creative formats, frequency caps, and budget allocation while forecasting outcomes (CTR, CVR, CPC, CPM, CPA, ROAS) to senior stakeholders.
  • Manage the day-to-day setup, launch, optimization and scaling of multi-channel campaigns in ad platforms including Meta Ads Manager, Google Ads, YouTube, LinkedIn Campaign Manager and DSPs; configure tracking, UTM tagging and conversion events.
  • Design and execute A/B and multivariate tests for ad creative, copy, landing pages and audience segments; analyze test results and implement winning variants to improve conversion rates and lower acquisition costs.
  • Lead creative brief development and collaborate with internal creative, editorial and external agencies to produce on‑brand display, video, social and native assets optimized for each platform's specs and audience behaviors.
  • Build and maintain detailed reporting dashboards (GA4, Looker Studio/Google Data Studio, Tableau, Power BI) to deliver weekly performance summaries, deep-dive analyses and executive-level scorecards for paid and organic media.
  • Implement and maintain tag management and measurement frameworks (Google Tag Manager, Server-Side Tagging) and ensure integrity of tracking for attribution, multi-touch funnels and incrementality analysis.
  • Optimize landing page experience with CRO best practices, collaborate with product and web teams to improve page speed, mobile UX, form flows and SEO alignment to maximize campaign conversion efficiency.
  • Oversee media budget planning, pacing and reconciliations across channels; ensure efficient spend, recommend budget shifts based on performance and produce monthly forecasts and variance reports.
  • Develop audience strategies including first‑party data activation, CRM segmentation, lookalike modeling, retargeting strategies and privacy-compliant approaches for cookieless environments.
  • Negotiate rates, IO terms, targeting and creative placements with publishers, ad networks, DSP partners and influencers to secure premium placements, sponsorships and partnerships that align with campaign objectives.
  • Conduct regular media audits, competitive benchmarking and market research to identify emerging channels, ad formats and vendor solutions that can drive incremental performance gains.
  • Drive cross-functional programs with product, sales, CRM, SEO and analytics teams to align media campaigns with go-to-market initiatives, product launches and seasonal promotions.
  • Own paid social and programmatic audience quality controls including brand safety, fraud prevention, viewability thresholds, frequency management and third‑party verification integrations (e.g., DoubleVerify, IAS).
  • Lead monthly performance reviews with business stakeholders, present insights, growth opportunities, lessons learned and actionable recommendations to optimize funnel efficiency and lifetime value.
  • Manage and mentor junior media buyers and coordinators, providing coaching on campaign setup, optimization tactics, reporting best practices and professional development goals.
  • Create and maintain SOPs for campaign setup, tagging, budget management, creative production workflows and escalation processes to ensure operational consistency and scale.
  • Partner with analytics and data science teams to develop attribution models, incrementality tests and predictive models that inform media investment decisions and improve ROAS measurement.
  • Maintain knowledge of advertising policy, platform changes, algorithm updates and regulatory/privacy considerations (GDPR, CCPA, iOS ATT) and update targeting and measurement practices accordingly.
  • Coordinate influencer and creator marketing programs including brief creation, performance tracking, disclosure compliance and measurement of branded content impact on awareness and conversions.
  • Oversee programmatic direct and private marketplace deals, manage PMP trafficking, set deal parameters and ensure values-based optimizations to maximize yield and reach.
  • Manage crisis or reactive communications when campaigns underperform or face public scrutiny, adapting media strategy and creative quickly to limit brand impact and restore performance.

Secondary Functions

  • Provide ad-hoc competitive intelligence reports and scenario modeling to support strategic planning and executive decision-making.
  • Assist CRM and email marketing teams with audience activation, suppression lists and lead nurturing flows to improve campaign lift and retention.
  • Support creative testing roadmaps by contributing audience insights, performance learnings and recommended messaging hierarchies.
  • Contribute to vendor selection and RFP processes by defining requirements, evaluating proposals and benchmarking vendor performance.
  • Facilitate knowledge transfer sessions and training for marketing teams on platform best practices, analytics tools and new ad formats.
  • Participate in quarterly planning cycles to align media tactics with new product launches, promotions and business objectives.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Paid Social Advertising: Meta Ads Manager, TikTok For Business, LinkedIn Campaign Manager — campaign setup, audiences, bidding and creative optimization.
  • Paid Search & SEM: Google Ads (Search, Display, Video), keyword strategy, bidding strategies, and search funnel optimization.
  • Programmatic & DSPs: Experience with DV360, The Trade Desk or equivalent for programmatic display and video buying, PMP management and deal negotiation.
  • Analytics & Reporting: Google Analytics 4 (GA4), Looker Studio/Google Data Studio and experience building automated performance dashboards and executive reports.
  • Measurement & Attribution: Multi-touch attribution, incrementality testing, experiment design, and familiarity with attribution platforms and methodologies.
  • Tagging & Tracking: Google Tag Manager, server-side tagging, pixel management and troubleshooting cross-domain tracking and conversion events.
  • Creative Production: Briefing, QA and optimization experience for display, native, social and video creative; familiarity with Adobe Premiere/Photoshop/After Effects helpful.
  • SEO & Landing Page Optimization: Basic SEO knowledge, CRO techniques, A/B testing platforms (Optimizely, VWO) and experience improving landing page conversion rates.
  • Data & Querying: Advanced Excel/Google Sheets, familiarity with SQL for performance queries or ability to work closely with analysts for custom pulls.
  • Ad Tech & Measurement Tools: Knowledge of ad verification tools (DoubleVerify, Integral Ad Science), tag managers, SSPs, and familiarity with privacy-first measurement solutions.
  • CRM & DMP Experience: Experience activating audiences from CRM or DMP for targeted campaigns and lifecycle marketing integration.
  • Budget & Pacing Management: Experience managing multi-channel media budgets, pacing, forecasting and financial reconciliation.

Soft Skills

  • Strategic thinking with the ability to translate business goals into measurable media tactics and growth plans.
  • Strong stakeholder management and communication skills; able to present complex analyses to non-technical executives.
  • Analytical curiosity and problem-solving mindset; comfortable with data, experimentation and deriving actionable insights.
  • Project management and organizational skills; able to manage multiple campaigns, deadlines and cross-functional dependencies.
  • Creative collaboration and influence; work effectively with creative teams, agencies and external partners.
  • Adaptability and resilience in fast-changing ad tech and regulatory environments.
  • Leadership and mentorship mindset to develop junior team members and scale processes.
  • Detail-oriented with a bias for quality in campaign setup, QA and reporting accuracy.
  • Commercial acumen: a focus on ROAS, LTV, CAC and business impact rather than vanity metrics alone.
  • Ethical judgment and brand safety awareness when placing media and working with partner content.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Communications, Business, Media Studies, Advertising, or related field.

Preferred Education:

  • Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Marketing, Digital Media, Analytics, or MBA with concentration in Marketing.
  • Certifications in Google Ads, Google Analytics, Meta Blueprint, or programmatic trading.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Marketing
  • Communications
  • Advertising
  • Media Studies
  • Data Analytics / Business Intelligence

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 3–7 years in digital marketing, with at least 2–3 years managing paid media campaigns and budget responsibility.

Preferred:

  • 5+ years managing multi-channel paid and programmatic campaigns, experience in agency or in-house media teams, and demonstrated success scaling acquisition funnels and improving ROAS.
  • Proven track record with cross-functional leadership, vendor negotiations, and hands-on experience with major ad platforms and analytics tools.
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