A dealership marketing manager spends the store's advertising money, keeps the website and listings accurate, watches the store's reputation and has to show which spend produced appointments and sales. Hire for vendor judgment, co-op fluency and honest attribution. Search for automotive marketing history and ask for one campaign they can trace from ad to sold vehicle.
Data as of October 20, 2026.
Marketing Managers on AutoHire
How to hire a Marketing Manager on AutoHire
- 01
Decide the Scope Before You Post
Settle whether this is one store or a group, whether an agency does the execution, which channels are in, and who approves creative. Put that in the post, along with the brand in the Brand Experience field if co-op familiarity matters. A post that says everything marketing attracts everyone.
- 02
Search on Skills as Well as Titles
On /find-talent, use marketing manager, digital marketing manager and marketing director, then try paid search, co-op, reputation and CRM as keywords. Set a radius in miles, or turn on willing to relocate if you are looking beyond your area. Filter by years of experience, since a manager who has not lived through a model-year changeover has not seen the calendar.
- 03
Read Profiles for Spend and Reports
In the work history, look for duties that name the budget managed, vendors handled, lead reports built and co-op claims filed. Check education and certifications for platform training. Download the resume if you are signed in. A profile that lists tools but no outcomes is thin.
- 04
Message with a Case, Then Spark
Spark invites a candidate to an active job without a full conversation, and works for clear matches. When you message instead, ask for one campaign and the report that proved it. A candidate who can send that in a reply has probably done the work. Messaging allowance depends on your plan.
Resources to help you hire
What a Marketing Manager does
The marketing manager decides where the store's advertising money goes and checks whether it worked. That covers paid search and social ads, listings on third-party sites, email and text campaigns, the website and its vehicle detail pages, print or radio where a store still buys them, and the store's reviews. At a dealer group the same person may direct several stores or coordinate with an agency.
Dealer marketing differs from marketing a consumer product in two ways. First, the manufacturer: many OEMs offer co-op advertising funds that reimburse part of qualifying ad spend when the ad follows their rules and the dealer files the claim with proof. A manager who does not track co-op leaves money unclaimed or has claims rejected. Creative also has to follow the manufacturer's advertising rules and your state's, so check OEM advertising rules before a campaign runs. Second, inventory moves daily, so an ad can promote a vehicle that sold yesterday.
Vendors do much of the execution: the website provider, the digital agency, the listing sites, the reputation tool and the CRM. Managing them is a large share of the job. The manager reads the contract, asks for reports that tie spend to appointments and sold vehicles, and drops what does not produce. Attribution is the hard question, because a shopper may see an ad, open a listing, call, fill out a form and visit weeks later. The manager works with the internet sales manager and BDC manager to trace those paths in the CRM.
A Typical Week
Monday starts with the weekend's leads and calls by source and the ad dashboards. Midweek goes to vendor calls, creative approvals, new inventory photos, website changes and review responses. Month-end is a deadline for co-op claims, spend reconciliation and the report to the general manager. Model-year changeovers, sales events and manufacturer incentive periods raise the pace. The manager also sits with the sales manager to learn which vehicles the lot needs to move.
What to look for in a Marketing Manager
Skills
- Reads an ad platform report and a CRM report side by side and explains where they disagree.
- Writes ad and listing copy that states the offer plainly and follows the manufacturer's rules.
- Negotiates with vendors using contract terms, not just price.
- Answers reviews in a way that would satisfy both the customer and the general manager.
Experience and Tools
- Has filed co-op claims, kept the proof and chased a rejected claim.
- Has managed a website and vehicle detail pages with inventory feeds, including fixing mismatched prices.
- Has used call tracking and form tracking to tie leads to sources.
- Has worked with a sales manager or internet sales manager on which vehicles to promote.
Profile Signals
- Duties that name budgets, vendors and results, not just social media posting.
- Tenure through at least one full model-year cycle at a dealership or group.
- Brand experience with years, if your manufacturer has detailed advertising programs.
- Experience on the agency side, which can be an asset for vendor management if they also understand the store.
Interview questions for a Marketing Manager
- Q1
How have you handled co-op advertising funds?
A strong answerThey describe the manufacturer's process in their own words: which ads qualify, the proof needed, the deadlines and what happened when a claim was rejected. They also explain how they tracked what was owed.
- Q2
Which report tells you a campaign worked, and which tells you it did not?
A strong answerThey name the CRM or call tracking report that links the source to appointments and sold vehicles. They also say platform clicks alone prove very little.
- Q3
A vendor sends a report full of impressions and clicks. What do you ask next?
A strong answerHow many of those became leads, calls, appointments and sold vehicles, what the cost per sold vehicle looks like and what the contract says about changing the plan. They push for the numbers the vendor left out.
- Q4
A competing store is advertising a lower price on the same model. What do you do?
A strong answerThey check whether the claim is accurate and whether the fees are disclosed, talk to the sales manager about price and avoid matching blindly. They also confirm any new ad meets the manufacturer's and the state's advertising rules.
- Q5
How do you respond to a harsh review?
A strong answerA prompt, polite reply that does not argue in public, an offer to continue offline, and a call to the right department head. They look at patterns across reviews as well.
- Q6
An ad ran for a vehicle that had already sold. How do you stop that from repeating?
A strong answerThey connect the ad feed to inventory status, set a daily check and assign an owner. They treat it as a process error and do not blame a vendor alone.
- Q7
How do you decide to cut a channel?
A strong answerCompare cost against appointments and sold vehicles over a full period, check for overlap with other sources and test before cutting the whole budget. They watch for the effect on other channels.
Red flags and hiring mistakes
Red Flags
- Reports success in followers, impressions or clicks and never in appointments or sales.
- Cannot describe how a co-op claim works or says the vendor handles it all.
- Treats advertising rules as a legal department matter and does not read them.
- Blames the sales floor for every poor lead and never reviews follow-up with the managers.
- Cannot say which of their previous vendors they dropped and why.
Common Mistakes
- Hiring a social media specialist for a role that is responsible for budget, vendors and reporting.
- Giving the manager the budget but no access to CRM data, then asking for attribution.
- Letting the vendor define success. The report that favors the vendor is the one the vendor sends.
- Skipping a review of advertising rules at onboarding and finding out when a claim is denied.
Pay and cost to hire
| Measure | United States | Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ |
|---|---|---|
| Median | $166,790 | $132,580 |
| Middle half earns | $123,020 to $216,410 | $122,660 to $172,000 |
| Lowest-paid tenth | $90,260 or less | $87,510 or less |
| Highest-paid tenth | $293,610 or more | $224,700 or more |
BLS occupation: "Marketing Managers" (11-2021), all industries. BLS reports this occupation as "Marketing Managers" across every industry. Automotive marketing managers at dealership groups and manufacturers are included, along with marketing managers in many other fields.
Marketing manager pay is usually a salary, sometimes with a bonus tied to lead volume, sold units or budget goals. At a group or a manufacturer region, the scope and team size raise the salary range, and agency-side candidates may expect a different structure than a single-store hire. Match the bonus to something the manager controls, and avoid tying it to units that depend on the floor.
This role has a BLS match, and the page shows official BLS wages for marketing managers. The BLS category covers marketing managers in every industry, so treat it as a general reference and compare with the written offer. Spell out the budget the manager controls, who approves spend and how co-op reimbursements are credited.
The first 90 days
Audit every vendor contract, ad account, report and the co-op file. Learn the manufacturer's advertising rules. Meet the sales, service and internet managers to learn what each wants promoted.
Fix the basics: price mismatches between ads and the website, inventory feeds, call tracking and the review response routine. Set up a monthly report that ties spend to appointments and sold vehicles.
Recommend what to keep, cut and test, and back it with the report. Submit the first clean co-op claims. Present a calendar built around model-year, incentive and sales events to the general manager.
Keeping a Marketing Manager
- Give the manager access to CRM and DMS reporting. Attribution without data is guesswork.
- Decide who approves creative and respect the answer, so the manager is not overruled after launch.
- Pay on a bonus the manager can influence.
- Include the manager in inventory and pricing conversations so the marketing matches the lot.
Terms Marketing Manager candidates use
- Co-op Advertising
- Manufacturer funds that reimburse part of qualifying dealer ad spend when claims are filed with proof.
- VDP
- Vehicle detail page, the web page for one vehicle in inventory.
- Attribution
- Tracing a lead or sale back to the ad or source that produced it.
- Lead Source
- The channel a lead came from, such as the website, a listing site or a call.
- Call Tracking
- Phone numbers tied to a source so calls can be credited to the right ad.
- Reputation Management
- Monitoring and answering reviews and ratings across review sites.
- Creative
- The ads themselves, including images, copy and offers.
Marketing Manager: common questions
How much should a dealership expect to pay a marketing manager?
It depends on scope: one store or a group, how much spend the person controls and whether there is a team. The page shows official BLS wages for marketing managers across industries, which is a general reference, and the written offer is the real number.
Do I need an in-house marketing manager or can an agency handle it?
An agency can execute campaigns, but someone in the store still has to approve spend, check the reports and know the inventory. A smaller store may use a hybrid, with one internal owner and an agency doing the work.
Does a dealership marketing manager need automotive experience?
Marketing skills transfer. Automotive experience shortens the climb on co-op rules, inventory pace and lead handling, so decide whether you can train those or need someone who already knows.
How can I tell whether my ad spend is being wasted?
Compare spend by source to appointments and sold vehicles in the CRM. Sources that produce volume but no buyers are the first candidates to change. A manager who cannot produce that comparison is the problem to fix first.
What is co-op advertising and why does it matter for this hire?
It is manufacturer money that can reimburse part of qualifying ad spend when the ad follows the rules and a claim is filed. A manager who tracks it keeps that money, and one who does not may not.
Who should the marketing manager report to?
Usually the general manager or dealer principal, with working ties to the sales and service managers. Reporting to the sales director alone can narrow the work to promoting units.
How should I set a marketing manager's bonus?
Tie it to measures the manager influences, such as qualified leads, appointments and cost per sold vehicle, and write down how each is counted. Avoid a bonus that depends only on the floor's close rate.
Sources
- BLS OEWS, Marketing Managers (11-2021) (data as of May 2025)
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (data as of October 20, 2026)
Data as of October 20, 2026.
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