Education & Career Trends: October 25
Curated by the Knowledge Team of ICS Career GPS
- Excerpts are taken from an article published on coursera.org.
A marketing career typically involves generating interest in a company’s brand and products, but marketers go about that work in various ways. If you choose to pursue this in-demand work, there’s more than one career path to explore—and lots of growth opportunities.
Marketing is the practice of promoting brands, products or services. It can include many specialised areas of expertise, such as brand or communications management. The specific tasks you engage in may depend on your role
Learn about the different types of marketing and how your interests may align with each one.
Types of marketing careers:
Brand managers oversee a brand’s persona, driving interest and appreciation for it.
Communications and public relations teams promote a brand through a variety of external communications efforts. They often work closely with other units (social media, content) to foster conversation about a company.
Content marketers create informative and valuable content for customers, like blog posts, podcasts, and videos.
Digital marketers reach out to customers to promote products through various digital channels, including social media and email.
Event marketers plan events and experiences that support a brand’s persona.
Product marketers use data-backed strategies to launch new products—or product lines—in the marketplace.
Search engine marketers (SEM) use search engine optimisation (SEO) strategies to increase a company’s visibility on search engine results pages (SERP) so customers can discover a brand more organically.
Marketing Careers: 6 Areas of Interest
Within these different types of marketing, there are several career options to explore depending on your interests. Here are six areas to start
1. Research
Marketing teams rely on data-driven research to tailor and target everything from campaign messaging to product launches. If you conduct research, you’ll use a variety of tools to help you figure out what customers need and want, and then translate your findings so your team can develop more impactful marketing strategies, campaigns, and more.
Key skills: Data analysis, critical thinking, communication
Could be a fit if you like: Finding and parsing information and using those conclusions to make strategic recommendations that improve a marketing team’s efforts
- Entry-level roles: Marketing assistant, market research associate, business analyst
- Mid-level roles: Market research analyst, global marketing analyst, social media analyst
2. Strategy
No matter which type of marketing you work in—product, brand, content, or otherwise—developing a well-researched and brand-specific strategy is instrumental to success. If you work in strategy, you’ll be responsible for identifying new ways to reach customers and developing plans that ensure each campaign is a success.
Key skills: Planning, communication, creative thinking, analytical thinking
Could be a fit if you like: Thinking strategically about a company’s marketing needs, and then developing and executing campaigns that generate greater awareness and sales
- Entry-level roles: Digital marketing strategist, product marketing strategist, SEO specialist
- Mid-level roles: Brand content manager, product marketing manager, senior SEO manager
3. Design
From distinctive logos to eye-catching packaging, designers create visual assets that set a company apart from its competitors and feed into larger campaign narratives. If you work in design, you’ll be responsible for several creative tasks that may include producing original art and infographics, editing and retouching photos, designing web pages for ultimate user satisfaction, or using research to inform your creative choices.
Skills: Creativity, attention to detail, project management, knowledge of design tools such as Adobe Creative Suite
Could be a fit if you like: Telling stories through visual mediums and creating assets that support a marketing team’s various visual needs
- Entry-level roles: Graphic design specialist, visual information specialist, web design specialist
- Mid-level roles: Creative project manager, design researcher, graphic designer
4. Writing
Much in the way that companies rely on visuals to help create a unified brand image and tell a story, they need writers to do that very thing with language. If you work in some aspect of writing, you may be responsible for producing writing that exemplifies a brand’s voice, developing content for different digital channels, or even managing internal or external communications.
Skills: Writing, communication, audience and engagement strategy, project management
Could be a fit if you like: Reaching audiences—be they internal employees or external customers—through the written word
- Entry-level roles: Junior copywriter, communications specialist, content writer
- Mid-level roles: Brand copywriter, marketing content writer, communications manager
5. Events
Companies hold events and experiences to increase the visibility of their brand and products. If you work in events marketing, you’ll be responsible for ideating and executing in-person or virtual events that support larger campaigns and strategies.
Skills: Planning, organisation, vendor management, budgets, multitasking, communication
Could be a fit if you like: Putting together experiences, either in-person or virtual, that result in greater brand visibility, media attention, and customer engagement
- Entry-level roles: Experiential marketing coordinator, events marketing specialist, field marketing coordinator
- Mid-level roles: Experiential marketing manager, events marketing manager, field marketing manager
6. Social
Companies must communicate about their brand and products across several digital channels. Social fosters a different level of interaction thanks to its direct engagement with customers. If you work in social media marketing, you’ll be responsible for generating and publishing content—written posts, videos, graphics, and more—that garner attention and propel conversation.
Skills: Writing, communication, creativity, planning, social media strategy
Could be a fit if you like: Being both creative and strategic about how to reach and engage customers, and producing multimedia content that supports larger brand and product strategies
- Entry-level roles: Marketing associate, social media marketing assistant, social media marketer
- Mid-level roles: Social media editor, social media manager, community manager
A career in marketing offers a good degree of flexibility. You can apply your skill set to different types of marketing, moving where opportunities best suit your interests and needs. For example, if you start off writing blog posts for a content marketing team, you may be able to apply that experience to email marketing or search engine marketing.
You can also get started in one type of marketing and eventually move to another. For example, if you begin as a social media marketing assistant, and learn you’re more interested in brand strategy, you may be able to move into that type of marketing. Having worked in social media, you have done brand management to some extent.
Beginning in one area doesn’t mean you can’t jump to another, though it may take some additional experience—or time—to make that move.
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(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article mentioned above are those of the author(s). They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of ICS Career GPS or its staff.)
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