How to Become Marketing Manager

Learn About Being a Marketing Manager

If you’ve ever been interested in working in the marketing industry, it’s important to know what you’re getting into. Marketing managers have the challenging job of promoting their brand through various channels and metrics.

When you are a marketing manager, you are responsible for managing sales, marketing, and customer experience teams. You are also expected to keep up with trends, offer valuable insights about the industry, and often work long hours. To help you get a better understanding of what it takes to be a marketing manager, here is an introduction on becoming one.

What does a marketing manager do?

Marketing is a key part of the business world. Without it, no one would know about your products or services, and you wouldn’t have any customers. Marketing managers are responsible for coming up with campaigns to promote their company’s offerings and reaching out to potential customers. They also get involved in advertising and branding, as well as public relations. In this blog post, we’re going to explore the different aspects of marketing and how to become a marketing manager.

Marketing managers establish and direct marketing policies for their organizations, which may include identifying the target market, creating demand for their company’s product or service, developing pricing strategies and monitoring market trends to maximize their company’s profit or market share. Examples of market manager duties and responsibilities include:

• Developing marketing plans or strategies based on market characteristics and organizational goals

• Collaborating with advertising or promotional managers to coordinate and direct marketing activities to promote products or services

• Analyzing data to make informed decisions about marketing campaigns and activities

• Estimating costs and potential sales to project marketing needs

• Evaluating financial aspects of products or services including budgets, expenditures, return-on-investment and profit-loss projections

• Evaluating the effectiveness of marketing campaigns and adjusting strategies as necessary to achieve target goals

• Developing pricing strategies to meet market demand and organizational objectives

Marketing Manager Salary

As a marketing manager, your salary will depend on whether you are an entry-level marketing manager or a veteran. Entry-level salaries start at around $48,000 and can go up to over $150,000. A more experienced marketer with senior marketing management experience can expect to earn a salary of about $110,000.

This article will help you understand what the average salary for new and experienced marketing managers is, as well as the factors that may contribute to your salary.

Average salary

Salaries for marketing managers can vary based on the industries they work in and the average salary for the state or region.

• Common salary in the U.S.: $59,585 per year

• Some salaries range from $15,080 to $139,000 per year.

Marketing manager requirements

Obtaining a position as a marketing manager may require extensive education, training and skills to demonstrate your ability to successfully manage marketing campaigns, including:

Education

Graduation from a four-year college or university with a degree in marketing or a related discipline is a requirement for marketing managers. Graduate or postgraduate education in marketing will deepen your knowledge of the field and may contribute to further success as a marketing manager.

Training

Marketing managers should have extensive training in measuring market conditions, analyzing financial aspects to predict outcomes, using applicable software for developing marketing campaigns and managing marketing campaigns in various outlets, including social media.

They may require ongoing training to stay current on marketing strategies and trends. Additionally, on-the-job training is required to familiarize marketing managers with the company’s products or services, organizational objectives, desired marketing goals and outcomes of previous marketing campaigns.

Certifications

Professional certifications demonstrate education and experience in the marketing profession. Here are some example certifications for marketing managers:

Certified Marketing Management Professional

The International Institute of Marketing Professionals offers four levels of this credential: Associate, Manager, Executive and Chartered. This globally recognized certification validates professional and academic excellence in marketing. It is a mark of distinction for industry professionals committed to the marketing profession and its ethical practice. Prospective applicants can earn this certification by completing coursework and passing an exam offered by the IIMP.

Professional Certified Marketer

The American Marketing Association offers four tracks of this credential: Digital, Sales, Content Marketing and Marketing Management. This credential is designed to advance the careers of marketers in their chosen track and demonstrate they are capable of responding to modern marketing challenges.

Eligibility for this certification requires a combination of education and experience as a professional marketer. Prospective applicants can earn this certification by following an approved learning path to prepare for and pass the exam offered by the AMA.

Skills

Marketing managers require several skills to succeed in their careers, including:

Analytical skills

This skill involves the ability to extract and interpret meaningful information from raw data. Marketing managers use this skill to evaluate market conditions, identify target demographics, project marketing outcomes, support informed decisions about marketing campaigns and quantify outcomes to evaluate success.

Financial skills

This skill involves analyzing financial data to calculate return-on-investment and profit-loss projections. Marketing managers use this skill to evaluate budgets and estimated expenditures compared to pricing and potential sales to predict and measure the success of their marketing campaigns.

Logic and reasoning skills

This skill includes the abilities needed to use information to draw meaningful conclusions and apply existing knowledge to evaluate new information in a different context. Marketing managers use these skills to adjust marketing campaigns based on past success and design effective campaigns based on new information about target markets and demographics.

Strong written, verbal and presentation skills

This skill is important to ensure marketing managers effectively communicate ideas and objectives. It includes clear, concise writing and the ability to express ideas verbally to individuals and groups. This may include presenting a high-level overview of marketing campaigns to organizational leadership or communicating specific details to direct marketing activities.

Leadership skills

This skill includes the ability to motivate and direct the work of others. Marketing managers use this skill to successfully guide the work of their teams to complete tasks that support marketing activities and achieve marketing objectives.

Social perceptiveness skills

This skill involves the awareness of the reactions of others and the ability to understand why others react the way they do. This skill is important for marketing managers to accurately understand market conditions, identify target markets and adjust marketing campaigns to achieve desired outcomes.

Technical skills

This skill includes the ability to use word processing, data analytic and presentation software such as Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint as well as an applicable marketing software. It also includes the ability to learn and understand various social media outlets. Marketing managers use these skills to communicate marketing strategies, analyze marketing or financial data, develop marketing campaigns and monitor marketing conditions.

Marketing manager work environment

Marketing managers primarily work in an office environment, which requires the ability to sit for extended periods of time, operate office equipment such as phones and computers and communicate regularly with executive leadership and marketing staff. The skills, experience and value of marketing managers is transferable among a variety of industries such as hospitality, healthcare, manufacturing and technology.

How to become a marketing manager

Here are the most common steps to follow to pursue a career as a marketing manager:

1. Pursue an education

Graduate from a four-year college or university with a degree in marketing or a related discipline. Research education requirements for your preferred industry or companies to determine if graduate or postgraduate education is necessary to pursue a career in that industry or company.

2. Gain relevant work experience

Marketing managers require several years of experience in the marketing profession. Consider applying for junior positions such as marketing intern, marketing assistant or marketing specialist. Working in junior marketing positions builds your professional experience and demonstrates the appropriate career path toward a marketing manager. Relevant work experience will also help you decide if pursuing a career as a marketing manager is the right fit for you.

3. Earn professional certifications

Work toward the education and experience eligibility requirements to earn professional certifications. Professional certifications serve as verification of your education and experience and distinguish you as a committed marketing professional.

4. Lead or manage marketing campaigns

While in junior positions, seek opportunities to present and lead your own marketing campaigns for your organization. Design small campaigns or manage projects and tasks within a campaign to grow as a marketing professional and demonstrate your abilities to senior managers in your organization.

5. Prepare your resume

You can include your highest level of education, technical or other relevant certifications, and your relevant work history on a resume. Your work experience section should include company names, the dates you worked there and a summary of your responsibilities, contributions and achievements. An effective resume can help you obtain the marketing manager job you want.

6. Apply to manage marketing teams

After earning education, certifications and experience, review the current job market for your intended industry and geographical location. Select positions that you are qualified for based on required years of experience as well as level and type of education.

This step can ensure you optimize your job search and increase the likelihood that employers contact you for an interview. Use the resume you crafted as well as a cover letter that summarizes your suitability for that specific role and company.

Marketing manager job description example

Are you a determined and friendly professional with an advanced understanding of human behavior and a desire to help consumers find exactly the right product or service to suit their needs? If so, you might be a great fit for our company.

We’re a successful startup with room to grow and we’re looking for a self-starting marketing manager to oversee promotional events and improve client retention. The ideal candidate for this position has a positive attitude, a tireless work ethic and an insatiable appetite for growth.