How to Prepare for a Career in Marketing

Every business needs a dynamic marketing team to get the word out and build brand recognition and equity. This has a direct impact on a business’s top line; studies indicate that a consistent brand can boost revenue by 23%.

Marketing is an essential function that is both demanding and fulfilling. To scale today’s business environment, marketers must be creative, adaptive, persistent, and versatile. They also need to be excellent problem solvers who can respond quickly to seize opportunities.

If you are considering a career in marketing, this article is for you. We explore the essential steps for you to prepare for a successful future in a marketing role.

1. Ensure It Is the Right Fit

Marketing involves a diverse set of activities that can vary between industries and companies. These professionals can assume different roles in organizations and make a sizeable impact on a company’s success.

However, unlike a typical nine-to-five job, ongoing campaigns and activities may demand a significant amount of a marketer’s time outside regular work hours. They must also be highly involved in the business, collaborating with other critical departments—from sales and procurement to finance and QA.

Undoubtedly, marketing is a challenging role that requires commitment and persistence to reap the rewards. So, before you jump in, understand what it entails by speaking to others already in marketing jobs and conducting sufficient research. This will help you determine whether it is a good fit for you based on your temperament and expectations.

2. Select a Niche

A marketing department includes several niche specializations that actively contribute to its overall success. Focusing on one of those niches and building your expertise around it is the best strategy for a newcomer to the field. Of course, this doesn’t mean you need to forever be in your chosen specialization. As you gain experience and scale the career ladder, you can eventually extend your focus into other areas, too.

Brand management, public relations, social media, SEO, and copywriting are some of the most common marketing specializations to consider. They each involve different responsibilities and require unique competencies and skills.

When selecting a niche to focus on, assess your strengths, skills, preferences, and motivations first. Future demand is another factor to take note of. Digital marketing, for instance, is expected to cross $1.5 trillion by 2030, making it a lucrative space to be in for budding marketers.

3. Develop Skills

Some skills will be essential regardless of your specialization. Communication is one of them; after all, whether you are a brand marketer or a social media expert, you need to present ideas and concepts to the management and convey brand messages to your customers.

Budgeting, researching, and analytical skills are other critical areas to develop before taking up a marketing role.

Each marketing specialization will also require specific skills and knowledge. Based on them, you may need to obtain certain qualifications and certifications or earn a degree. Scanning job descriptions in recruitment ads is the best way to determine such niche-specific requirements.

In addition, identify the essential tech tools for your chosen field of work and familiarize yourself with them. These can include Mailchimp for email marketing, PhoneHistory for building contact databases, Canva for designing social media posts, and Yoast SEO for optimizing content.

Another important aspect is the on-the-job knowledge and experience you can gain. To acquire these, consider internships and volunteering opportunities. Even helping a friend or family member with a project in your marketing niche would be ideal.

4. Build Your Network

Nurturing relationships is important for marketers. It is even more so when you are preparing for a marketing career. Networking allows you to meet others in your field, learn from their experiences and knowledge, and collaborate with them to build your skills further. And if you are lucky enough, you may even find a mentor to inspire and guide you.

But remember, you don’t always need to limit your network to marketers. Even professionals from other fields could help you learn and find new opportunities.

Social media platforms, including LinkedIn and Twitter, blogging sites, forums, and communities are excellent places to network. Also, consider attending industry events, workshops, and conferences. Volunteering opportunities can also connect you with others with shared interests.

5. Demonstrate Your Knowledge

Unlike in the old days, you can now demonstrate your skills and expertise before you even go for an interview. For example, if you want to showcase your writing and SEO skills, you can start your own blog, publish search-optimized articles, and improve their ranking. Or, to flaunt your social media expertise, you could build a large follower base and become an influencer.

There are many other ways to grab potential employers’ attention. Setting up a website to feature your work portfolio, collaborating with others on online projects, and amplifying your online visibility and reputation are some of the options to gain guaranteed results.

You can even earn social proof in the form of reviews and testimonials by taking up freelancing work.

6. Develop Your Resume

Finally, combine all the knowledge, skills, and expertise you have acquired into a winning resume. Be creative to make it stand out. Consider an attractive layout, use links and QR codes, and even video formats.

Here are some of the essential steps to provide an extra edge to your resume:

• Emphasize your achievements instead of listing tasks and activities you have carried out.
• Quantify results wherever possible and provide evidence to support your claims.
• Replace an overly formal and passive tone with active language and action verbs.
• Customize your resume for each job you apply for by highlighting key strengths, achievements, skills, and attributes relevant to the provided job description.
• Optimize the resume for automated applicant tracking systems (ATS) by, for example, incorporating keywords, avoiding tables and graphs, and saving in Word format.

To Wrap Up

A career in marketing could be extremely fulfilling and rewarding. But it is also a competitive profession to be in. So, preparing yourself for it is essential to secure a job and successfully scale your career.

Begin by researching various marketing roles to clearly understand what they entail. Then select your niche, develop relevant skills, build your network, and find ways to demonstrate your knowledge and expertise. Finally, create a winning resume and start applying.

Finding a job in a company that fits you well would take some time and several interviews. So, remember to be persistent without giving up hope.