Marketing Executive

The Job and What's Involved

As a marketing executive, you would promote your employer's products or services, or raise people's awareness of a message.

It would be your job to come up with creative ways of communicating with customers, using methods including TV, radio and press advertising, direct mail, and corporate sponsorship of events.

Your work would involve:

• Researching the market, consumer attitudes and competitors.
• Coming up with ideas for marketing campaigns.
• Arranging for advertisements to go into newspapers, magazines, the trade press, TV or radio.
• Organising the production of posters, flyers and brochures
  writing and distributing press releases and mailshots.
• Maintaining a database of customers.
• Arranging sponsorship.
• Organising and attending events and exhibitions.
• Making sure that all parts of a campaign run smoothly.
• Reporting on the campaign's progress to managers.
• Networking with clients, suppliers and the media.

In some jobs you may be known as a marketing officer, brand executive or account executive.

You would typically work standard office hours, Monday to Friday, with occasional extra hours at busy times such as the run-up to a campaign launch. You may also need to attend networking events in the evenings.

The work is mainly office-based, but you may also travel to meet clients and attend conferences, exhibitions and product launches.

Starting salaries can be between £18,000 and £22,000 a year. With experience, this can rise to between £25,000 and £40,000.

Marketing directors can earn £50,000 a year or more.

Getting Started with this Career Choice

You might be employed by a marketing agency or consultancy, or you could work directly for an organisation's in-house marketing department. Larger companies in all kinds of industries can spend a considerable amount of money on marketing.

You could get into marketing with various levels of experience, but generally the more experience and skills you have, the higher up the career ladder you can start.

Jobs may be advertised in the local, national and industry press, on graduate recruitment websites, and by specialist recruitment agencies.

Education and Training

Many marketing executives have a degree or BTEC HNC/HND in marketing or another business-related subject. With a degree, you could join one of the graduate training schemes that larger employers often run for new recruits. Most degree subjects are acceptable, but you may have an advantage with one of the following:

- Marketing
- Communications
- Advertising
- Business and management
- Psychology

A degree is not always essential if you have business and marketing skills gained from previous jobs such as sales, customer service or public relations work. You could also join a company's marketing department as an administrator or assistant (perhaps as a temp), and work your way up to marketing executive with experience.

Taking a professional qualification from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) could help your promotion prospects or increase your chances of finding your first marketing job. Some CIM qualifications are suitable if you don't already have a marketing-related degree or relevant work experience:

Introductory Certificate in Marketing – an entry-level qualification open to anybody.

Professional Certificate in Marketing – for anyone educated to A level standard, or with a little marketing experience.

CIM qualifications are available full- or part-time at many colleges, and by distance learning – see the Training and Qualifications section of the CIM website for more information.

A Few More Exams You Might Need

You will usually be trained on the job, possibly through a company's structured graduate training scheme.

You could also study for recognised qualifications from professional bodies such as the CIM or the Communication, Advertising and Marketing (CAM) Education Foundation.

These include:

CAM Diploma in Marketing Communications – includes marketing and consumer behavior, public relations, direct marketing and advertising.

CIM Professional Diploma in Marketing.

CIM Professional Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing.

CIM Chartered Diploma in Marketing.

The CIM and CAM courses are available full- or part-time at colleges and training centres, or by distance learning. Visit the CIM and CAM websites for details of entry requirements and where to study.

If your job involved direct marketing, you could study for qualifications from the Institute of Direct Marketing (IDM), including the Certificate and Diploma in Direct and Interactive Marketing.

You should also keep your skills and knowledge up to date throughout your career. CIM and IDM offer a range of short courses and networking opportunities to help your professional development at all stages in your career. See their websites for more information.