Marketing as a Career

Perhaps we've piqued your interest in a career in marketing. It’s a fabulous area and certainly a strong field. The U.S. Bureau of Labor notes that the 2021 annual median salary of advertising, promotions, and marketing managers was $133,380, with a 10% growth rate for the next 10 years (2021–2031), faster than the 5% average across all industries. Let's spend some time sketching a picture of what marketing as a profession and career looks like.

Regardless of role, effective marketers have several key skills:

• a passion for communicating: At its heart, marketing is a communication effort (specifically, persuasive communication). Marketers need to have an understanding of the communication process and enjoy engaging in that process on behalf of an organization. Likewise, marketers need to connect with various business units, so the ability to listen, analyze, and translate is essential for successful collaboration. 
• curiosity: Curiosity mitigates complacency. In today’s customer-driven markets, organizations cannot rest on their laurels. Effective marketers constantly seek out new ways to achieve market success. 
• an understanding of consumer behavior: Whether the organization is selling to end consumers (B2C) or businesses (B2B), successful marketers understand the fundamentals of how and why consumers select and use products, goods, and services.
• business acumen: It’s probably clear by now that marketing doesn’t work in a vacuum. The integration of marketing within the organization requires marketers to have a strong understanding of their role in organizational success. They need to understand the markets they serve, how the business serves them, and what the success factors will be. Likewise, to effectively connect with other business units, marketers need to understand their functions and know-how marketing supports their success.
• data skills: The digital age has brought with it unprecedented amounts of data on customers and markets. Increasingly, marketers are being required to use data in their decision-making (often referred to as data-driven marketing, which we’ll talk more about in Lesson 1.3). As such, basic data skills, such as knowing how to interpret data charts and decipher forecasts, are now a requirement for anyone in this industry.

Marketing Roles

In an organization, individuals are assigned to specific marketing functions and, therefore, have formal marketing titles: marketing manager, marketing director, sales and marketing specialist, account executive, and so on. And then there are those who have marketing responsibilities assigned as part of their job, like communications directors, event managers, community relations managers, development directors, sales managers, program or product managers, and the like. Regardless, to fully leverage the benefits of marketing, you must understand the marketing management process, not necessarily just the tactics and components of marketing.

Here are some of the many roles within the marketing function:

• chief marketing officer: Chief marketing officers (CMOs) are responsible for setting the overall marketing strategy and ensuring its relevance and adoption within the context of other business units and the CEO's agendas. CMOs should have a deep understanding of the markets they serve, the ability to lead (often in large organizations), and strong business acumen. Because of the digital nature of marketing and the proliferation of data available today, CMOs are increasingly expected to work closely with IT and the CTO. Take a look at how one marketer transformed her role.
• marketing executive/manager: Marketing executives are responsible for ensuring that the CMO’s strategy is executed on a day-to-day basis. They manage workflow, hiring, vendors, agencies, budgets, media relationships and campaigns, promotion strategy, and marketing mix allocation. Most marketing executives have about five to eight years of experience.
• marketing associate/analyst: Associates and analysts execute the tactical duties required to achieve the marketing strategy. These roles engage in developing messaging, managing content and media, analyzing data, and reporting insights. They may specialize in one area or cover a gamut of services, largely dependent on company size and investment into the marketing function. Specific areas an associate or analyst may focus on include
  • content marketing,
  • digital marketing,
  • product marketing,
  • data analytics,
  • market research, and
  • media/PR.
• market researcher: While market research may be a function under a marketing analyst role, it can also be a standalone position in larger organizations. The market researcher is responsible for gathering and analyzing market and customer data. This role requires a background in research methodology and data analysis.
• statistician: With the proliferation of big data, many firms are adding a role within marketing that can support the sophisticated analytics required to mine these data. This role requires significant data analysis experience and often a background in mathematics or machine learning. 

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