How to Become a Marketing Manager

HBAG02When a business needs to price a product, understand the market, decide what direction to take their advertising, or something similar, a marketing manager is put in charge. Marketing managers work with a business, its potential customers, and the competition to discover the demand of a specific market or product. Reading current market trends to predict future action is a huge part of a marketing manager’s job.

 

 

The exact roles and duties of a marketing manager vary, depending on the size of the business. Some companies have whole marketing teams, while others just have a marketing manager.

$108,260
Bachelor's Degree
1 to 5 years
None
216,800
14%
29,400
Find Related CareersSOURCE: US Bureau of Labor Statistics

Education and Requirements

In order to have the proper background in business, communication and economics, a marketing manager is required to have a bachelor’s degree or higher in a related field. Majors to consider include:

  • Business Administration
  • Communications,
  • Advertising
  • Finance
  • Sales

Important coursework for a marketing career includes: business law, management, economics, public relations, marketing research, advertising, accounting, finance, mathematics, and statistics. Courses that focus on consumer behavior will be particularly helpful in this industry. Experience will be required in areas relating to writing, public speaking and management.

Salary and Job Outlook

Marketing managers made an average of $129,870 in 2012, according to the US Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). This is a huge industry with 171,430 reported (not including self-employed). The highest paid field was Other Financial Investment Activities with 1,820 marketing manager employees making an average of $171,500 a year. Job rates in this industry are expected to grow at 12 percent, average for the speed of growth in all industries. The need for advertising, promotions, and marketing will continue to expand with the growth of other companies and industries.

5 Tips for Becoming a Network Manager

1. Find an internship with a marketing team while in school

Even though your tasks might be mundane and elementary—like getting everyone coffee or making copies—you will gain a better understanding of the field, gain valuable work experience for your resume, and possibly have a foot in the door for when you graduate (if they like you enough they may try to hire you). Volunteer for larger projects and show that you are eager to learn new things.

2. Network

Develop your contacts by being involved in professional organizations like American Marketing Association (AMA). Work on your networking skills; the ability to connect with a lot of people with different skills and professions is a major asset to a marketing manager. You need to be connected in the business world.

3. Learn the trends

You can start watching the local marketing trends by signing up to receive newsletters and following financial and marketing news. Find successful marketing managers on social media sites and follow their posts to see what they are currently doing in their industry.

4. Develop web skills

With so many markets moving in an online direction, a major part of your job will most likely demand you are good at working on the web and creating sales strategies. Being able to accurately write SEO text for product descriptions is just one part of the online tools helpful to a marketing manager; creating an online audience with social media sites and blogs will be a huge resource to your company and the research you will need to do for products.

5. Train yourself to communicate

Marketing manager positions require communication skills—it’s on just about every job posting. Learning how to become a team player is part of your ability to communicate. Volunteer, join projects—do what it takes to become great at communicating. You need to be easy to understand and easy to get along with in this career choice.

Sources: www.marketingpower.com/Pages/default.aspx, www.bls.gov/ooh/management/advertising-promotions-and-marketing-managers.htm, money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/marketing-manager, www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics4_523900.htm, www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes112021.htm

Recent Articles

View all articles

How to Become a Desktop PublisherDesktop publishing is an office job that requires the employee to create visual displays for ...
How to Become a Graphic DesignerGraphic designers are responsible for creating printed materials, advertisements, website designs ...
How to Become a Web DeveloperIf you are interested in websites and creatively producing online content, then a web developer ...