Digital marketing team structure

Recommended options for structuring a digital team and integrating with marketing teams with examples for different types of business

How will this team structure template help me?

We’re often asked what the ideal digital marketing team looks like and how it integrates with the broader marketing organisation. This will naturally depend on the type of business and its size, but there are some common activities that need to be managed. The aim of this template is for you can compare these structures to your current situation to help plan future changes.

How is the guide structured?

The guide is structured in these 4 sections:

1. Integration - embedding ‘digital marketing activities’ within marketing and the business.
2. Activities and roles - key strategic and tactical digital marketing activities and roles.
3. Digital Marketing Centre of Excellence (DCoE) - Activities and tools which should be managed centrally in larger organizations.
4. Team structures - alternative options for digital team structure in the marketing organisation for different types and sizes of business

Our guide shows you:

Options for structuring a digital team in companies of different sizes
25 digital marketing activities or key roles (job titles) needed to manage digital marketing including a digital marketing centre of excellence
Separate medium and large-size Ecommerce team structures
Structures for large international marketing and multi-brand teams
Marketing team structures for different types of business including SMB, Global B2B Brands, E-commerce and Retail
Allocation of resources between central and local Ecommerce country teams
Broad competences for digital marketing team members
Salary ranges for different levels (Agency and client-side for UK, United States and worldwide)

What are the structures based on?

The recommended structures are based on real team structures from companies our analysts have worked with when consulting or producing our Digital Transformation research reports. These projects include companies in a range of sectors including travel, retail, financial services and business-to-business. We also review how digital teams need to be integrated with traditional brand, product and marketing communications teams.

The examples vary from the skills required from a ‘one person team’ to medium and large international companies. Typical job titles are also based on a review of roles from recruitment agencies and job sites aggregating jobs from different recruitment agencies.

Resource Details

Author: Dave Chaffey
Format: 30+ page Powerpoint with examples of alternative team structures
Related resource: Job and Role Descriptions for Online Marketing
Related resource: Marketing Centre of Excellence Best practices

About the author

Dr. Dave Chaffey

Dave Chaffey Dave is co-founder and content director of Smart Insights. He is editor of the 100 templates, ebooks and courses in the digital marketing resource library created by our team of 25+ Digital Marketing experts. Our resources used by our Business members in more than 100 countries to Plan, Manage and Optimize their digital marketing.

For his full profile, or to connect on LinkedIn or other social networks, see the About Dave Chaffey profile page on Smart Insights. Dave is author of 5 bestselling books on digital marketing including Digital Marketing Excellence and Digital Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and Practice. In 2004 he was recognised by the Chartered Institute of Marketing as one of 50 marketing ‘gurus’ worldwide who have helped shape the future of marketing.