Careers in marketing

Emma-Louise You might have heard of marketing before. Jobs in this sector involve promoting and selling products or services. That includes market research to help understand the customers better, advertising to encourage them to buy, and analysis to see which ways of reaching customers are working best. You'll see marketing all around you every day on TV, on posters and billboards and of course, online and social media.

Frankie It sounds like there are loads of opportunities and different types of roles, but that might feel a bit overwhelming, so let's break it down. No matter what product or service you're marketing, and no matter what the platform is, your job is all about connecting with an audience and getting them interested in what you have to offer. But first, let's take a quick look at the sector as a whole.

Emma-Louise Now you might wonder, how big is the marketing sector? Well, as of 2020, the total number of jobs was just over 251,000 and the median wage within the sector was just under £37,000 per year. And, importantly, the sector is expected to grow with a projected growth of 3%, which is nearly 8,000 jobs by 2025.

Frankie So, what sort of roles are available in the marketing sector? To help explore the different options, let's look at how an advertising campaign works. Let's market an apple. How do we get the word out? To start the marketing process the client, the person or company that sells the apple, would pay a marketing agency to put together an advertising campaign.

Emma-Louise A crucial role within a marketing agency is someone who can understand the client's needs, come up with ideas, and keep clients happy. That role is called an account manager and the median yearly salary is just under £46,000 pounds. To make sure you target your advertising campaign in the right way, you would need market researchers to find about the types of people who could be persuaded to buy the apple. This role has a median salary of around £22,500 a year.

Emma-Louise For any ad campaign you would also need a great team of creative people who could make this apple seem like the only apple you'd want to buy. This team could consist of arts officers, producers and directors who would run the development and production of such an ad. These roles have a median salary of a little over £39,000. They'd be supported by other roles to make it all come together – from admin support to keep the project ticking over, to graphic designers who create the artwork or graphics for the ad, and whose median wages is just over £28,000, to writers and social media experts.

Frankie And it doesn't stop there. To make sure the apple's profile stays high, the client would need a team of people promoting it and generating interest across the media. This team would be managed by a public relations professional. Their role includes writing media releases –that's information about the apple that could be included in articles, blogs and so on – as well as planning a public relations programme. And, as of 2020, they had a median salary of just over £36,000 per year.

Emma-Louise So, let's have a look at the pathways to some of the roles. If you want to become a market research interviewer, there are a number of ways to get into the role. You can do so through a college course, an apprenticeship, a specialist course that's run by one of the professional bodies, or by applying directly to companies. There are multiple pathways for many roles within the sector. For a production role such as producing film for TV adverts, a media-related college or university course could be helpful, particularly if it involves practical experience, work placements, and the chance to make industry contacts.

Emma-Louise There are also apprenticeship routes or the option to apply for roles such as production assistant and work your way up. Broadcasters and media agencies also run training schemes and there are many private training providers and film schools that run short courses in production skills. For a PR pathway, you can do a university degree, college course, or even get a professional qualification from the Chartered Institute of Public Relations. For a creative role such as graphic design, many people go to university or college to build up their skills and experience, but there are apprenticeship pathways too.

Emma-Louise You could also teach yourself relevant design skills, for example, through online tutorials or courses. Regardless of which route you take, building a portfolio to showcase your skills is key.

Frankie It'll come as no surprise to hear that social media is a really important part of marketing. Influencers – I'm sure you've heard of social media influencers? This is a new type of role – people who build up a big following on social media who are paid by companies to help market a brand, product or service to their followers. There's no defined pathway into being an influencer though, just like making it big in any other way it's a combination of factors, with a dose of luck thrown in. And, as this is so new, no one knows what the lifespan or what kind of security comes with a career of this nature.

Emma-Louise If you want a job in this sector, the skills you will need depend on the role you're interested in. So, for example, on the creative side, a writer will need copywriting skills, or a designer will need illustration and graphic design skills. Whereas for the business role, handling the relationship with clients such as client management and production a knowledge of finance, contracts and management skills will be needed. Let's get some insight from people who know the sector well.

Frankie Kristina is a marketing manager for the NSPCC: "I lead campaigns for parents and line manage a small team of two. I love working with lots of different people and teams – both inside and out of the organisation. Building relationships is a big part of the job. I also love being able to take the lead and develop some campaigns from start to finish – so from initial briefing and research – all the way through to actually reaching the audience and evaluating the performance."

Emma-Louise Chris is the chief executive at The Chartered Institute of Marketing. He says this about the future of the sector: "Now with the rise of remote working, London is no longer the central hub for marketing. There are amazing opportunities all over the country and the world. Due to the creative nature of the sector, marketing is well known for its diversity and building teams which embrace people from all backgrounds. My advice would always be don't limit yourself, marketing is dynamic and has a wide range of roles catering for everyone."

Frankie Marketing is all around us. Can you think of a person, product or organisation that doesn't use marketing in one way or another? Probably not. So, if you're interested in campaigns, promoting products, getting the word out and being creative, marketing might be the career for you.