Marketing Manager: How to Become a Marketing Manager

A marketing manager is a position that involves planning and executing a company’s marketing efforts to promote its products and increase sales. Marketing professionals apply their impeccable research and messaging skills to plan and direct marketing campaigns.

Marketing managers typically have a few years’ worth of experience in the field and start their careers in entry-level positions as marketing coordinators. Once they reach the executive level—as a company’s chief marketing officer (CMO)—these professionals will oversee large marketing teams and lay the groundwork for engaging with its target audience.

Marketing managers are responsible for several diverse tasks on a day-to-day basis.

• Budgeting: The company’s marketing budget is key in determining how a marketing manager does their job. Before they devise a marketing strategy for a given campaign, the manager needs to figure out how much the ideas and strategies will cost to execute. Managers can track the budget for a specific campaign or monitor the cumulative cost of all marketing initiatives over a business quarter or year.
• Plan and execute strategy: Marketing managers author and implement the most effective messaging for a company’s products or services across various platforms. The ideas and copy contained in a company’s print marketing (like pamphlets), email marketing (through newsletters), and digital marketing materials (like search engine optimization, SEO, and social media marketing) all fall under a marketing manager’s purview. They work closely with advertising agencies and review advertising material before it goes live, in addition to editing it themselves.
• Managing teams: A marketing manager will typically oversee a team of less senior marketers, who will help them execute a campaign strategy and track performance in the most efficient way possible.
• Monitor performance: Before a campaign launches, a marketing manager needs to identify the initiative’s key performance indicators (KPIs), which demonstrate whether the campaign was successful. KPIs can be variables like audience engagement, click-through rate, or ad impressions (the amount of times users viewed an advertisement).
• Researching: Marketing managers base their messaging strategies on data analytics and constantly-evolving market research. These statistics are hard proof of consumer behavior, customer engagement, and industry trends. This research enables marketing managers to nimbly adapt and brainstorm new marketing strategies to most effectively promote new and existing products and services to their customer base.

If you’re thinking of going into marketing and have your eye on a high-level management position, you should have the following skillset:

• Communication skills: Soft skills, like communication or interpersonal skills, are key competencies for those embarking on a marketing career. A good marketing manager knows how to communicate their ideas to their team and audience clearly and efficiently to achieve the business’s objectives. Marketing managers must work cross-functionally with graphic design, account management, and sales teams. (Marketing and sales teams usually work most closely in lockstep because they are related to revenue acquisition.)
• Creativity: Marketing is a highly creative discipline that requires professionals to constantly churn out novel, engaging messaging that will call their audience to action.
• Leadership skills: Marketing managers must be conscientious self-starters and mentors who can lead campaigns and teams. Quick decision-making skills allow them to move fast on their feet and act decisively. A leadership mindset enables them to motivate their team toward their objective and delegate properly to ensure efficient use of time and resources. They also know how to mediate between team members and settle any conflicts.
• Math skills: Marketing managers need to crunch numbers and analyze data to determine the best advertising strategy for a product. Understanding statistics, economics, or calculus can help a marketing manager in this task.
• Organizational skills: Marketing managers are responsible for managing many campaign variables, so they need strong organizational skills. Managers must be able to see the big picture, as they are responsible for project management elements like devising campaign schedules and planning each marketing phase accordingly. Marketing managers may also coordinate meetings and events.
• Problem-solving skills: A great marketing manager possesses strong analytical skills, enabling them to cut to the root of a problem and devise a quick, actionable solution. By adapting to solve audience and performance problems that may arise during any given campaign, a marketing manager leads their team to execute the objective on time and within budget. Marketing managers typically glean these skills from years of work experience.

This career path is a broad category that can include a variety of marketing jobs, including brand or project managers, marketing directors, or marketing executives. There is no set path to becoming a marketing manager, but here are a few things you can do to put yourself in the best position to land the job:

1. 1. Obtain a degree: There are no education requirements for marketing management, though some companies may require a bachelor’s degree or a master’s degree like an MBA. Certain vocational schools may offer marketing management degree programs, but you can also major in related fields such as advertising or business administration.
2. 2. Gain experience: Many marketing managers begin their careers as marketing coordinators or work as part-time marketing assistants. Experience in marketing-related roles in fields like marketing research or content marketing can also help. Apply for roles that can help get your foot in the door, such as mentorships, internships, entry-level positions like a brand manager, or social media marketing.
3. 3. Network: Attend marketing events or reach out to marketing managers via professional websites or personal connections to help build a network of professionals. While there is no guarantee of landing a job, you may meet a mentor or find an avenue to a relevant position for your experience level.

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