Jobs Roles in Marketing Sector

This informative essay will outline five varied job roles in the marketing sector, covering a range of job roles with a focus on entry to mid-level positions. This essay will discuss each job role in detail and outline the description of the job, the average salary and finally an in-depth analysis of the skills and qualities needed to hold the position successfully. The prevalence of e-marketing has grown massively in recent years with more and more jobs in this sector emerging, this growth has changed the fundamentals of marketing and now businesses must take a global approach. Howard found that on average “a typical employee will change careers from 3 to 7 times during their lifetime” (2000 in McCorkle et al., 2003). The length of time an employee will stay in their position has shrunk and a culture of job-hopping has emerged, this is great for the employee as they can learn new skills whilst not so great for the employer as it leads to more frequent recruitment and training, this is why employers value the skill of commitment so highly. This essay will discuss some e-marketing roles at a graduate level and the opportunities these roles offer. The range of job types in the marketing industry is huge and ever-expanding, fresh ideas are always sought, and marketing attempts must be suited to the modern and everchanging consumer.

Marketing Coordinator

The role of a marketing coordinator is a common position in the marketing industry, it is an entry-level position usually used by graduates to gain experience in a range of areas as this job role is highly varied day to day, this experience may help a graduates decide on a specialist route to take further in their career. The average salary for a marketing coordinator is around £22,000 per year (Payscale, 2021).

The role of a marketing coordinator is varied, it can include responsibilities such as: carrying out market research, creating marketing strategies, preparing reports, coordinating different departments and planning events and marketing conferences. There are also opportunities to create content for the company this could be in print, social media or direct mail, this is a chance for a graduate to show their worth and be considered for promotion as they take on more responsibility. A huge part of this job is to arrange discussions and meeting between a company and its clients as well as organize communication inside of the company. Further to the above, a marketing director will evaluate current trends, providing reports on this information to be given to their superior, as well as this a marketing director will analyze target audiences to offer suggestions on tailored experiences and marketing campaigns.

The requirements for this job role typically include a degree in a business-related subject, as well as experience in the digital marketing industry, skills in report writing, are expected as well as experience in market segmentation and market research. This role is an entry-level position and a good starting point for a business graduate, it will improve many skills that students typically lack, there is a focus on problem-solving. Korn suggested the demand for skills such as problem-solving, decision making and operationalization has increased dramatically (2014 in Nonis et al., 2018). Many students cannot critically think, this issue can be overcome by expanding a student's knowledge and gaining further qualifications and work experience, this also improves a graduate's chances when applying for a role (Chonko and Roberts, 1996). A level of knowledge of search engine optimization is expected, this is the ability to increase traffic to a webpage by increasing the ranking of the website using keywords. This job role offers many opportunities for personal growth as it can be challenging, the skill set of a person entering this job role is guaranteed to be expanded throughout the tenure

Partnership Marketing Manager

A partnership marketing manager is another common job role in the marketing sector, with a focus on collaboration between companies to form successful business ventures. The average salary for a partnership marketing manager is around £50,000 per year (glassdoor.co.uk, 2021).

The job role can involve talking directly to influencers to create a marketing campaign on social media. This job role can also include business to business transactions, historically brand partnerships have been very successful. Another element of this role involves recruiting companies to sell their products for them, the two or more companies will align their goals to create a profitable campaign. A recent example of a brand partnership is the Walkers and KFC campaign in which Walkers have released KFC flavored crisps with voucher codes to use in the chicken restaurant. This job focuses on increasing consumer traffic both in person and to their social media pages, with a focus on expanding the reach of the businesses. A partnership marketing manager will research possible companies that could be worked with as well as being the person who communicates with the chosen business to work on a partnership proposal. Often research into consumer behavior is shared between the businesses and deadlines are arranged to fulfil the proposal. During the campaign, a partnership marketing manager may be involved in the social media campaign as well as a range of promotional activities such as creating joint websites.

The requirements for this job role involve communication skills, team working, problem-solving skills, as this is a mid-level position many years of experience are expected as well as a degree. Candidates with degrees in non-business related subjects can also turn to marketing, it has been suggested that there is a crossover in the skills learnt in non-business related degrees that can be applied to a career in marketing, for example, a language student will have skills in communication, presenting and researching, all of which can be applied to a marketing career (Conick, 2019) Therefore a person with a non-business degree could still apply as long as they have experience in management as well as a general understanding of marketing concepts. Candidates will be expected to provide examples of previously successful business to business transactions they have been a part of as well as times they have managed projects successfully. Many of these skills are only learnt through experience, many graduates lack critical thinking skills, global and cultural awareness and team-based decision making (Chonko and Roberts, 1996).

Brand Manager

A brand manager is a mid-level position common in the marketing industry, the focus of a brand manager will be the maintenance of the brand of the company they are employed by, ensuring all marketing approaches are consistent with the message of the company. The average salary for a brand manager is around £45,000 per year (reed.co.uk, 2021).

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A brand manager has the responsibility of ensuring a company’s brand is consistent across all platforms of communication to increase the strength overall of the brand, consistency is important in appealing to the consumer. they can work for both consultancies as well as in-house depending on the size of the company. The job role involves carrying out research into current trends in society and overseeing marketing campaigns to ensure they are in the best interest of the brand. This job role involves liaising with the entire marketing department to ensure a consistent approach, this job often involves overseeing projects. This job role can involve travelling globally to meet with branches of the company as well as to attend product launches and conferences. When it comes to advertising typically a brand manager will oversee the production of the television campaigns etc. to ensure the brand message is being followed. To become a brand manager a certain level of education and experience in the marketing industry is expected. Typically, a degree in a marketing business related subject is preferred and several years of experience in related job roles are expected with management experience, for more senior roles a postgraduate degree is useful. It is suggested that to increase a candidate’s marketability they should accumulate additional credentials, this could be a leadership course for example or a new certification (Conick, 2019). Personal qualities include leadership abilities as well as a great understanding of the marketing mix and other key elements involved in marketing, they must be committed and focused on getting results from those they are overseeing. Attention to detail and multitasking skills are required, critical thinking and time management are also important. A key understanding of branding is expected as well as leadership ability. Bloom found that the number one skill sought by business executives when hiring is the ability to think of new strategies, this is particularly important for a brand manager after this skill was the skill to find new ways of carrying out old strategies, it is important to maintain successful campaigns but rehash them for a modern audience who have a preference for e-marketing campaigns (1987 in Chonko and Roberts, 1996).

Social Media Marketer

A social media marketer is a new and growing job role in the marketing sector, businesses of all sizes are now searching for social media marketers. This job role has emerged in recent years as social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter have gained popularity. The average salary for a social media marketer is around £24,000 (payscale.com, 2021).

Social media campaigns have proven to be highly fruitful in recent years, Apple's Shot on iPhone campaign implored users of Instagram to post their photos taken on their iPhone to the social media platform, this user-generated content worked as free advertising for the company as it showcased the quality of the phone’s camera.

The main job role of a social media marketeer is to establish a strong presence for the company they are representing on several social media platforms, to increase customer engagement and attract new customers. Businesses of varying sizes will employ a social media marketeer to grow the reach of the company, this work can also be used to improve the reputation of a company or challenge presumptions of the consumer. The type of social media used depends on the company, for example, a flower company may utilize Instagram to post photos of their arrangements whilst a life insurance company may use Facebook in which a link can be embedded to the website, most of the time a company will use a combination of social networks to maximize their exposure. The job role could include publishing posts on social media websites representing the company, it could also involve contacting influencers with the opportunity for collaboration or analyzing interaction with posts and providing reports to help guide future marketing efforts.

This job is an entry-level position open to graduates with business-related degrees, in lieu of a degree typically one to three years of relevant experience in this industry can be accepted, potential candidates should have experience using editing software as well as experience with multitasking as they may be asked to manage multiple campaigns at once, communication skills are also highly sought after. Arora and Stoner suggest a hierarchy in the relative importance of skills taken from a sample of 50 mid-level marketing managers when looking at potential hires, at the top of the list was the ability to communicate (1992 in McCorkle et al., 2003). In this job role communication is particularly important as the day-to-day responsibilities could involve responding to customers queries as well as handling complaints, often these responses will be visible to the general public.

Public Relations Officer

The role of a public relations officer is essential in the marketing sector, companies are desperate to control how their business is seen by consumers so jobs in this industry are commonplace with endless possibilities for promotion. The average salary for a public relations officer is around £18,000 to £25,000 (prospects.ac.uk, 2021).

The main responsibility of a PR officer is to maintain or change the reputation of a company using a range of strategies, typically as part of a team. This role is to change perceptions and defend the company in times of crisis. PR is often called earned media rather than paid media as the practice of PR is typically free as it is about building relationships for example through direct mail, print or social media. A PR officer can work in-house, as part of the company’s marketing department, or independently brought into a company at a time of need from a PR consultancy. This job role involves creating a strategy to change the perspective of potential consumers, negative PR can destroy a company if the right approach isn't taken, this strategizing is a key role of a PR officer. A PR officer can be responsible for drafting and publishing press releases, these are used to promote new product releases or discuss the expansion of the company, this could involve discussing opening new stores or breaking into new markets. A PR officer can also be responsible for drafting media lists which are a list of contacts related to the industry the company is in, these are often categorized further into contacts by region or by the industry they are a part of, this is so press releases and other mass communicative methods can be tailored to the correct audience.

A skill required for a potential candidate is to be computer savvy, often the most effective PR is circulated on the internet. It has been suggested that those who get marketing jobs are ‘highly digital’ with their strongest skill in analytics and social media (Conick, 2019). A PR officer must be quick thinking as often they are responsible for drafting responses to comments and bad press regarding the company, they should also be highly skilled in critical thinking and problem-solving. It is suggested that a key way to teach critical thinking skills in graduates is through the experience of experiential learning such as problem-solving (2007 in Nonis et al., 2019).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the marketing industry is highly varied when it comes to job roles and the responsibilities involved. In recent years a new type of marketing has arisen: e-marketing. This new way of marketing has expanded the job pool for graduates specifically, with the opportunity to put skills learnt organically to use such as social media prowess. This rise of e-marketing has marked a decline in traditional marketing such as print media, however, this type of marketing still has a substantial effect on consumers, just less than it had before the rise of e-marketing. This essay has explored a range of job roles and analyzed the qualities and skills needed to complete the job successfully and hopefully offered an insight to graduates on how varied their marketing career could be. There are certain skills that graduates can lack when entering the job market. One very important skill that applies to all marketing graduates looking for employment is the art of handling rejection. Half suggests that “students must be taught that even rejection may contain opportunities” and encourages the practice of asking for feedback from unsuccessful applications to discover areas for improvement for future reference (1996 in McCorkle et al., 2003). This is a skill graduates can sometimes lack and can take time to learn as rejection is often demoralizing. Once a graduate has developed a range of skills including commitment, time-keeping, teamwork and multitasking they are ready to enter the marketing industry and begin their career in this highly varied and evolving sector.