Creating teams. Shaping futures.

Marketing jobs and careers

A career in marketing can be highly varied and exciting, but it’s a hugely competitive industry as there are so many great brands, products and services, all vying for attention! Although there are many specialisms within Marketing, most people start out in a generalist role where they work across both online and offline channels in either a B2C or B2B industry/sector. 
 
Why consider a career in Marketing?
This is a career where you can work across any number of products and services, where your customer can vary hugely, and you can shape your role and your career in any number of ways. It’s massively rewarding, whether you’re helping a start-up grow, working for an SME, or a part of a blue chip multinational. The roles can be creative, analytical, strategic, or tactical, or a combination of it all and some. What draws so many people to the industry is the variety in the day to day, the ongoing project work, the brand management and the multichannel campaigns. 
 
Without an effective marketing strategy, most businesses wouldn’t exist. Working within marketing offers you the opportunity to understand your customers and your competitors, to work on your value proposition, and to direct your message to the right people at the right time. 
 
What a career or job in Marketing may entail… 
There are great brands all around you, but without marketing you’d rarely hear of them. Multichannel campaigns ensure consistent messaging across a number of key channels that deliver a business’ products/services to current, previous and prospective customers effectively. Your role is likely to have a strong digital focus these days, and this could include any number of disciplines such as; Web Management, CMS, Email, CRM, Social, SEO, PPC, Affiliates, Display, Automation etc. 
 
You’re likely to manage the offline channels, producing marketing collateral, events management, public relations, direct mail, retail strategy, you could be involved in any number of things. One of the most valuable skills a marketer will possess, is their ability to construct strong written content/communications across both online and offline channels.
 
As your career progresses, you may choose to specialise in a particular discipline, or you could want to move in to management, taking on strategy, budget management, as well as team management. These are generally highly commercial positions, where you will be expected to show the return on investment (ROI) against any campaigns. 
 
Typical role titles include 
Marketing Coordinator
Marketing Executive
Marketing Manager
Marketing & Communications
Marketing & PR
 
Career progression example 
Marketing Assistant
Marketing Executive
Marketing Manager
Senior Marketing Manager
Head of Marketing
Marketing Director
Chief Marketing Officer
 
Salary Benchmarks 
Entry salaries can vary depending on qualifications. Marketing Assistants can start from £18k but with a relevant degree, this could be as much as £25k. An Experienced Marketing Executive can earn up to £30k at which point most people will move to managerial positions. Managers can be paid up to £50k and Directors anything up to £100k+.
 
Is it right for me? The skills it takes...
Marketers can have such varying backgrounds and skills that you could have any number of key skills that a business could benefit from. You could be creative, a whizz with the written word, know your way around Adobe Creative Cloud, or you could be highly analytical, able to understand numbers and metrics and look at ways to optimise marketing campaigns. 
 
Communication skills are always key to these roles, you’ll usually need to be a strong writer, good with managing projects, hitting deadlines, and bringing creative ideas to the table will go a long way! 
 
What qualifications does it take?
Most people will start out with a Marketing or Business degree, although qualifications around English, Journalism and Advertising are often seen. As you develop your career you may wish to gain your Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) Professional Qualifications or an Institute of Direct & Digital Marketing (IDM) Qualification.