If you are creative and outgoing and like a variety in your day-to-day job, then you may want to consider a career in marketing. As a marketing professional, there are many career options available and many different required skill sets. Salary is dependent on many factors, including your experience. Professional training is usually required but is not limited to a marketing degree.
Career Choices
When looking at marketing as a career choice, it is important to look at all aspects of marketing. There is advertising, public relations, non-profit marketing, branding management, promotions, market research and product management.
Creative Marketing Careers
In advertising, you would be responsible for all aspects of the advertising campaign for a product or service. You would prepare print, television and web ads, as well as work with the media to put your ads through their venues. A job in advertising takes a lot of creativity and sales skills.
Closely related to advertising is the public relations aspect of marketing. Here you would manage how the public perceives the product or service you are marketing. You would work very closely with the media to promote your product or service in the correct light. This type of position requires a high level of communication, creativity and people skills.
In the non-profit world, marketing people cover all aspects of marketing. This is truly a job for someone who likes a variety in her day-to-day life. One day you may be meeting with media to coordinate advertising and communication with the public; the next day you might be organizing an awareness event or fundraiser, and on other days you may be creating brochures or newsletters. This type of position requires someone who can think on his feet, multitask and be excellent with people. Marketing work in this arena requires someone who is passionate about the organization he represents.
In brand management, you would be responsible for making sure the messages being sent out about your product or service are all consistent, similar and generate an overall level of recognition. This type of work entails excellent communication skills and attention to detail.
As promotions professional, you can expect to be out in the public quite often. You will be involved in all aspects of planning promotional events, tracking promotions and generating new promotional ideas. A position such as this requires you to be highly comfortable in social situations and have exceptional communication skills.
Analytical Marketing Careers
If you like analyzing things and surveying people, market research or product management may be the niche for you. Market research involves analyzing the product and the markets where the product should be placed. It also involves surveys, new product tests and focus sessions with consumers to see how consumers will respond to a product and what will help the product sell. This type of position requires a high level of analytical skills.
To go be a product manager, you must create a strategy to promote a product, and you must also work hard to sell the product and track sales, campaigns and their effectiveness. For a position like this, you must have a combined analytical and communication skill set.
Training
Most marketing positions require some type of formal education above the high school level. Of course, a degree in marketing may give you an edge; however, marketing professionals often come from all types of backgrounds.
Salary
Marketing can be a very lucrative career. While there are so many areas of marketing to go into, it's impossible to give a general salary range for a marketing professional. Salary will depend on your location, your level of experience and the type of marketing you specialize in. Starting out, you won't be making big bucks, because this is a career that values experience and professional contacts; however, given enough time in the field, you should be making excellent money.
Tags: product service, This type, position requires, This type position, type position