What Does a Creative Manager Do? Roles And Responsibilities

Updated March 14, 2024

7 min read

A creative manager is responsible for the monitoring and approval of digital content drafts used for media advertising, social media communications, and other related marketing campaigns. Creative managers inspect the design layouts, ensuring that the team followed the requirements and high-quality standards. They coordinate with the clients for updates and inform them of modifications as needed within their budget goals and set timeframe. A creative manager must have excellent communication skills, especially on responding to the customers' inquiries and concerns and developing strategic procedures to increase brand awareness and attract potential clients.

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Creative manager responsibilities

A creative manager's responsibilities include preparing storyboards for television production, managing production schedules, and training and managing overseas teams. They also develop corporate standards for web copywriting, design user interfaces, and manage photo shoots. Additionally, they collaborate with IT departments to ensure optimal performances at Mac workstations, coordinate creative efforts, and initiate PPC and SEO programs. They use their creative vision to establish brand guidelines and line looks for packaging collections, and they supervise administrative personnel in the creative department. They also manage external creative marketing, provide art direction at photo shoots, and develop detailed creative briefs for licensed intellectual properties. They direct the full production execution plan, including coordinating and directing photo and video shoots, and convert sites from a custom-built CMS to WordPress. They also facilitate collaboration and communication with key stakeholders, including internal clients and agency partners.

Here are examples of responsibilities from real creative manager resumes:

Manage copywriting team and serve as lead copywriter on various projects from conception to execution.
Manage direct mail campaigns, RFP development, surveys, focus groups and market studies.
Deliver clear, concise copywriting and manage messaging for company as corporate direction and strategies change and grow into new markets.
Initiate RFP process for agency selection and manage all advertising agency activities.
Collaborate with CEO of RCI and other senior leaders to create powerful and innovative PowerPoint presentations and videos.
Produce visually stimulating proposals that include custom logos, floor plans, videos and PowerPoint or Prezi presentations.
Redesign restaurant menu and logo.
Generate HTML email newsletters for promotional campaigns and invitational events.
Initiate RFP process for agency selection and manage all advertising agency activities.
Create layouts and designs of logos, advertising, marketing collateral, and other publish materials in print and digital.
Pioneer social media strategy that include first major NASCAR team to embrace emerging technologies including YouTube, twitter and social communities.
Develop Pre-Paid mobile brands including brand identity, lifestyle imagery, style guide, and POS collateral.
Help design and implement workflow processes for animation and graphic deliverables.
Negotiate with media agency to maximize advertising effectiveness and ROI.

Creative manager skills and personality traits

We calculated that 7% of Creative Managers are proficient in Project Management, Digital Marketing, and Graphic Design. They’re also known for soft skills such as Organizational skills, Analytical skills, and Creativity.

We break down the percentage of Creative Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:

Project Management, 7%
Coordinated creative efforts to create departmental project management work flow and executive creative procedures.
Digital Marketing, 7%
Photographed and edited product photography to be used in printed and digital marketing material.
Graphic Design, 6%
Researched and developed marketing campaigns including creating presentations, graphic design, production and time-lines.
Adobe Creative Suite, 5%
Implemented documentation practices, as well as flowcharts and relationship mapping (executed using Adobe Creative Suite).
Creative Strategy, 5%
Developed the creative strategy for effective graphical communications and conceptualization.
Creative Concepts, 4%
Produced and presented creative concepts and current marketing analysis in monthly meetings with management while establishing alliances across corporate divisions.

Common skills that a creative manager uses to do their job include "project management," "digital marketing," and "graphic design." You can find details on the most important creative manager responsibilities below.

Organizational skills. The most essential soft skill for a creative manager to carry out their responsibilities is organizational skills. This skill is important for the role because "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must manage their time and budget efficiently while directing and motivating staff members." Additionally, a creative manager resume shows how their duties depend on organizational skills: "restored organizational consistency through implementation of style guides and services standards. "

Analytical skills. Another essential skill to perform creative manager duties is analytical skills. Creative managers responsibilities require that "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must be able to analyze industry trends to determine the most promising strategies for their organization." Creative managers also use analytical skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "created databases and spreadsheets to improve creative design requests. "

Creativity. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of creative managers is creativity. This skill is critical to many everyday creative manager duties, as "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must be able to generate new and imaginative ideas." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "lead creative/art direction of all enterprise initiative campaigns. "

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Compare different creative managers

Creative manager vs. Manager, strategy

A strategy manager is an individual who reviews a company's objectives for growth and works with executives to formulate actionable plans to achieve these objectives. To make comprehensive recommendations, strategy managers must conduct data analysis of the organization as well as the overall industry. They must provide assessments of market trends and identify business threats and opportunities. Strategy managers should also work with department heads to develop individual team goals and break them down into actionable steps for the employees to complete.

The annual salary of managers, strategy is $22,701 higher than the average salary of creative managers.Even though creative managers and managers, strategy are distinct careers, a few of the skills required for both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require project management, digital marketing, and client facing in the day-to-day roles and responsibilities.

There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, creative manager responsibilities require skills like "graphic design," "adobe creative suite," "creative strategy," and "creative concepts." Meanwhile a typical manager, strategy has skills in areas such as "portfolio," "business development," "market research," and "business strategy." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.

managers, strategy earn the highest salaries when working in the technology industry, with an average yearly salary of $116,769. On the other hand, creative managers are paid more in the media industry with an average salary of $99,424.On average, managers, strategy reach higher levels of education than creative managers. Managers, strategy are 24.0% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 1.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Creative manager vs. Marketing manager/project manager

A marketing manager/project manager oversees a company's marketing programs and projects, aiming to attract more customers and increase the brand value of a business, product, or service. They primarily perform market research and assessments to identify marketing trends and opportunities, gather and analyze data to generate business leads, study the consumer and competitors in the industry, and identify the weaknesses and strengths of existing marketing projects, utilizing information to enhance operations. Additionally, a marketing manager/project manager leads operations and empowers staff while implementing company policies and industry standards.

On average, marketing manager/project managers earn a $8,762 lower salary than creative managers a year.While the salary may differ for these jobs, they share a few skills needed to perform their duties. Based on resume data, both creative managers and marketing manager/project managers have skills such as "project management," "digital marketing," and "graphic design. "

Each career also uses different skills, according to real creative manager resumes. While creative manager responsibilities can utilize skills like "adobe creative suite," "creative strategy," "creative concepts," and "client facing," marketing manager/project managers use skills like "email marketing," "project scope," "crm," and "strong project management."

marketing manager/project managers earn a lower average salary than creative managers. But marketing manager/project managers earn the highest pay in the technology industry, with an average salary of $95,863. Additionally, creative managers earn the highest salaries in the media with average pay of $99,424 annually.In general, marketing manager/project managers achieve higher levels of education than creative managers. They're 8.9% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 1.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Creative manager vs. Associate creative director

An associate creative director helps the creative director in creating design concepts and directions for multiple design projects, marketing materials, and campaigns. Other tasks include researching marketing trends and strategies and overseeing multiple design projects. The skills that an associate creative director should possess to accomplish his/her or her responsibilities include good interpersonal skills and knowledge of social media platforms and trends. The requirements to qualify for the job including possessing a degree in advertising, fine arts, or related fields and experience in supervising staff.

An average associate creative director eans a higher salary compared to the average salary of creative managers. The difference in salaries amounts to associate creative directors earning a $53,969 higher average salary than creative managers.creative managers and associate creative directors both have job responsibilities that require similar skill sets. These similarities include skills such as "project management," "digital marketing," and "graphic design," but they differ when it comes to other required skills.

Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from creative manager resumes include skills like "photography," "creative services," "email campaigns," and "wordpress," whereas an associate creative director is more likely to list skills in "acd," "fine arts," "emerging technologies," and "strategic thinking. "

associate creative directors make a very good living in the media industry with an average annual salary of $141,342. On the other hand, creative managers are paid the highest salary in the media industry, with average annual pay of $99,424.Most associate creative directors achieve a similar degree level compared to creative managers. For example, they're 2.4% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Creative manager vs. Marketing account manager

A marketing account manager is the point of contact for both accounts and marketing companies. You are responsible for establishing contact with new accounts and maintaining strong relations with existing ones. This role typically requires you to perform a few tasks, including developing marketing plans and strategies to meet the account's needs, ensuring that the implementation of these strategies runs smoothly, and meeting with representatives to update them on the account's status. You may also be tasked to monitor budgets and revenue and explain to clients about cost factors.

Marketing account managers average a lower salary than the annual salary of creative managers. The difference is about $19,147 per year.While their salaries may vary, creative managers and marketing account managers both use similar skills to perform their duties. Resumes from both professions include skills like "project management," "digital marketing," and "client facing. "While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note. "graphic design," "adobe creative suite," "creative strategy," and "creative concepts" are skills that commonly show up on creative manager resumes. On the other hand, marketing account managers use skills like email marketing, account management, google analytics, and html css on their resumes.marketing account managers enjoy the best pay in the energy industry, with an average salary of $72,442. For comparison, creative managers earn the highest salary in the media industry.In general, marketing account managers hold similar degree levels compared to creative managers. Marketing account managers are 3.9% more likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of creative manager

4-6 yearsMarketing ManagerAverage Salary: $104,550Bachelor's DegreeAvailable Jobs: 66,835
4-6 yearsCreative DirectorAverage Salary: $137,779Bachelor's DegreeAvailable Jobs: 20,707
4-6 yearsDevelopment ManagerAverage Salary: $110,678Bachelor's DegreeAvailable Jobs: 15,684
4-6 yearsMarket ManagerAverage Salary: $88,058Bachelor's DegreeAvailable Jobs: 12,086
4-6 yearsBrand ManagerAverage Salary: $97,789Bachelor's DegreeAvailable Jobs: 11,998
4-6 yearsPlanning ManagerAverage Salary: $98,486Bachelor's DegreeAvailable Jobs: 7,877

Updated March 14, 2024

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

What Similar Roles Do

What an Associate Creative Director Does
What a Brand Manager Does
What a Category Manager Does
What a Content Manager Does
What a Creative Director Does
What a Development Manager Does
What a Manager, Strategy Does
What a Market Manager Does
What a Marketing Account Manager Does
What a Marketing Manager Does
What a Marketing Manager/Project Manager Does
What a Marketing Services Manager Does
What a Media Manager Does
What an Online Marketing Manager Does
What a Planning Manager Does

Creative Manager Related Careers

Associate Creative Director
Brand Manager
Category Manager
Content Manager
Creative Director
Development Manager
Manager, Strategy
Market Manager
Marketing Account Manager
Marketing Manager
Marketing Manager/Project Manager
Marketing Services Manager
Media Manager
Online Marketing Manager
Planning Manager

Creative Manager Related Jobs

Associate Creative Director
Brand Manager
Category Manager
Content Manager
Creative Director
Development Manager
Manager, Strategy
Market Manager
Marketing Account Manager
Marketing Manager
Marketing Manager/Project Manager
Marketing Services Manager
Media Manager
Online Marketing Manager
Planning Manager

Resume For Related Jobs

Associate Creative Director Resume
Brand Manager Resume
Category Manager Resume
Content Manager Resume
Creative Director Resume
Development Manager Resume
Manager, Strategy Resume
Market Manager Resume
Marketing Account Manager Resume
Marketing Manager Resume
Marketing Manager/Project Manager Resume
Marketing Services Manager Resume
Media Manager Resume
Online Marketing Manager Resume
Planning Manager Resume

What Does a Creative Manager Do? Roles And Responsibilities - Zippia (2024)