Marketing is one of the popular career options for fresh graduates. There are many reasons why many people are drawn into marketing – it offers good career opportunities, job stability and status. And of course, marketing jobs are challenging. Marketing jobs are not monotonous; market trends keep on changing, there is always one or the other technique to learn, case to study, strategy to research and so on, that make people in this field feel satisfied with their job.
But, not everybody can get into marketing jobs. In order to have a career in marketing, along with a passion to pursue marketing, one should have three key talents. To check whether or not you have the three talents required to get into this field, answer the following questions.
- Can you think creatively or ‘out-of-the box’? or Are you a creative person?
- Can you gather, organise, understand and draw conclusions from complex data?
- Can you plan, organize, direct and control team members to get things done properly?
If your answer is ‘Yes’ to at least one – you will probably do well in a marketing career. How? Let us explain. If you answered ‘Yes’ to the first question, you are creative; analytical for second and coordinative for the third – three talents required to get into a marketing job. Though possessing all the three is not mandatory, having at least one of them is critical to do a marketing job.
Let us see why these talents are required in marketing jobs.
- Talent for Creativity
The Chartered Institute of Marketing defines marketing as “a management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably”. To make it simple, marketing is about identifying consumer demand for a product/service and developing ways to encourage people to purchase more of them to make the company profitable.
So, any marketing specialist should have the ability to think out-of-the box and do things in a fresh, unique, and innovative way and satisfy customer requirements. The candidate should be able to think beyond the traditional modes, not just going with assumptions, to solve unpredictable problems associated with consumerism.
The candidate should understand the commercial realities affecting the organisation and come up with ideas that should respond to the environment in order to make them viable. Creativity is required especially in two areas – graphics and copy writing. Both are critical to send an advertising or promotional message clearly and effectively, whether it is using printed documents or electronic media.
For people with creative talent, marketing offers various career options like illustrators/visualizers, creative directors, web/graphic designers, copy writers, etc. So, if you think you have the talent for creativity, there are always opportunities in marketing waiting for you.
- Analytical Talent
The next talent that opens doors to marketing career is the ability to think analytically. The candidate should have the ability to look beyond the numbers or data to find out the underlying patterns, trends, and connections. Armed with the data s/he should effectively evaluate a problem by paying attention to detail with perseverance. This needs logic and analysis. The ability to see the big-picture along with logic and analysis is valued highly in marketing.
Analytical ability is critical in marketing jobs as there will be a continuous need to track and analyse changing consumer behaviour, buying patterns, emerging trends, etc., which help in determining what exactly consumers are looking for. The candidate should analyse the information to establish facts and principles to develop new products or modify existing product, design the packaging and develop advertising strategies to make the product stand out among its competitors and to attract and engage the customers.
You can find various job roles like marketing analyst, market research specialist, SEO analyst, etc. So, if you believe that you have analytical talent, you can opt for marketing and make the best use of your talent.
- Talent for Coordination
People who have talent for coordination are the people who can proactively coordinate the execution of a plan, i.e., to organize, direct and control resources to accomplish desired goals in a timely manner. They possess the ability to work with a number of people performing different operations and to make sure that all are working with a same objective to reach the organisational goal. In addition, they will have effective spoken and written communication skills to express their ideas and views clearly.
Marketing is not a single operation. People in marketing department need to work with various teams of the company to get their work done. In such a scenario, the art of co-ordination is critical at every step. Right from the product designing department, product development, packaging, pricing, distribution, to the sales department, they need to collaborate with all the departments in the organisation.
This clearly shows that an effective working relationship between the marketing and the other functional departments is essential for a company’s success and for this talent to coordinate is essential especially for marketing coordinators.
Career Day – Marketing Degree Job Shadow
The field of marketing can be a broad one. From marketing coordinators to brand managers, the many facets of business make this career division a dynamic one. College graduates with marketing degrees, related experience, a high level of creativity, and strong communication skills will have their pick of the litter when it comes to corresponding marketing careers. Employers typically seek those who have marketing degrees, as well as computer skills in order to conduct advertising, promotions, and sales activities on a daily basis.
If a marketing career is your calling, continue on this path by earning your marketing degree. The marketing education you receive will take you to your first entry-level opportunity post graduation. Don’t worry — you’re making the right decision with employment in advertising, marketing, promotions, and public relations increasing faster than the average for all occupations through 2014, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Because of global competition of products and services, marketing and related occupations will always be thriving; marketing degrees will propel you forward.
A Day in the Life of a Marketing Coordinator
Marketing coordinators, without question, need to have marketing degrees or one in a related field. Once an aspiring coordinator receives the proper marketing education, he or she can get a job assisting all aspects of marketing planning, promotion, public relations, even marketing research to support his or her organization’s staff. Upholding the marketing goals of his or her company, it’s also important for the marketing coordinator to have strong organizational skills, time management, and project management. The other skills necessary for this position, and taught to those who earn marketing degrees, include communication skills, writing and editing skills, and familiarity with computer programs such as Microsoft Office, Web site building, and Internet research.
What a Marketing Manager’s All About
On a higher level in the marketing career totem pole is a position as a marketing manager. Marketing managers, who also require marketing degrees or related marketing training, launch products and/or services, develop and maintain a brand’s image, and prepare marketing and communication plans to maintain the company image, as well as generate more business for said company. Since marketing managers have to develop and maintain multiple projects at once, multi-tasking and organizational skills are a must in this position. In addition, a marketing manager must also be analytical as he or she will have to identify and forecast customer demands in order to plan their team’s next strategies. Marketing managers also have to outline budgets and timeframes, as well as deal with pricing, sales, and distribution of products and services, so strong math skills learned via marketing degrees are a plus in this expertise.
A View From the Top with a Chief Marketing Executive
Another type of marketing career to research is chief marketing executive. These marketing career pros typically require a marketing degree or related marketing training on top of 15 years of relevant experience in the field. He or she must plan and direct all aspects of an organization’s marketing policies. That company’s objectives and initiatives must also be perpetuated but the chief marketing executive as he or she identifies how to make changes to foster better returns for that company in a very competitive marketplace. Of course, analytical skills will play a large role in the job as a chief marketing executive must report to top management on how to change the organization’s marketing strategy in order to yield better returns and drive in company profit. While the chief marketing executive leads and directs the work of a marketing team, he or she must also remain creative as thinking outside of the box in this given field can make a difference in a competitive business environment.
