What is a Marketing Manager?
Marketing plays a very important part in how a company communicates and is perceived by its target audience and Marketing Managers have a crucial role in that process. Their responsibilities span across the entire business from the promotion of the company’s products or services to analysing data and setting a strategy for company growth.
Typically Marketing Managers are responsible for attracting more customers to the business to increase revenue and create brand awareness to position the company in their market as a recognisable brand. A successful Marketing Manager will have both a creative mind and a head for business. Strong communication skills are essential for this role as Marketing Managers are expected to lead and motivate a team and be comfortable and confident when making a decision when it comes to the creative direction for the organisation.
Responsibilities
The position of a Marketing Manager is extremely diverse and responsibilities can vary, below are some of the duties that you will be involved with:
- Working with the rest of the marketing team, including the managing director or marketing director, to set the marketing strategy for the company
- Managing the performance of a junior marketing team
- Analysing market trends and competitors
- Overseeing marketing campaigns, including tracking the effectiveness of the campaign and reporting the results to the rest of the team
- Negotiating and liaising with clients and third-party agencies
- Producing content and social media plans
- Establishing and tracking the budget
Salary
Your salary will depend on a variety of factors including location, experience, skills, education and qualifications.
According to Glassdoor, the national average salary for a Marketing Manager in the UK is £45,133. As mentioned, this will depend on the specific role and seniority.
Working hours and work location
Working hours are usually Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm. Marketing Managers can work up to 40 hours per week on average, especially when new products are about to launch or problems arise. You may also be required to travel.
What to expect
As a Marketing Manager, you should expect to be working in a fast-paced environment. You may either be an individual contributor or a team leader who manages other marketers. You might be directly responsible for creating marketing copy such as website content, company emails, social media etc., or you may be responsible for delegating and explaining this work to your team. Therefore, it is important to be organised and comfortable with directing more junior members of staff.
You will be looked to for creative direction when it comes to marketing campaigns and will be responsible for leading brainstorms and ideas creation sessions. You will be expected to bring fresh ideas to the table and inspire those around you.
Qualifications
There are three ways to qualify to become a Marketing Manager, explore your options below:
- A university course
- An apprenticeship
- Working towards this role
- Applying directly
University
Marketing roles are available to graduates of a range of subjects. Some degree subjects may be particularly relevant, such as:
- Marketing
- Business management
- Digital marketing
- Advertising
- Psychology
Once you graduate with a degree, it’s a great idea to join a company graduate marketing scheme. Depending on your chosen degree, it may be possible for you to fast-track. You can find out more from the Chartered Institute of Marketing.
Entry requirements
- 1 or 2 A levels, or equivalent, for a higher national diploma
- 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree
Apprenticeship
A great way to start off your career is to go into marketing through a marketing assistant or marketing executive advanced apprenticeship. For a more advanced level (if you already have experience or level 3 qualifications) you could do a marketing manager higher or degree apprenticeship.
Entry requirements
- 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship
- 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) and A levels, or equivalent, for a higher or degree apprenticeship
Work experience
A great way to become a marketing manager is to start out as a marketing executive and work your way up or complete a qualification while you’re working. Another path way to come to this role. is to work as a digital marketing manager or communcations manager. With this experience, you could then take certain qualifications to help you move into management. For example:
- The Chartered Institute of Marketing
- The Chartered Institute of Public Relations
- The Institute of Data and Marketing
Direct Application
You could also apply directly for marketing manager roles, if you’ve got experience in:
- Sales management
- Advertising
- Communications
- Public relations
Skills
Being a Marketing Manager can be a very demanding role, depending on the size of the business and whether you are managing a team. While you will need specific skills for specific companies and industries, there are some top-line skills that you will need to have to break into the field. Below are a few of the must-have skills you will need to develop before applying to a Marketing Manager role.
Marketing managers often have to interact with different departments, coordinate meetings, present the plans to the higher management and get the strategies ratified before they could be implemented. All this requires effective leadership qualities.
- Ability to set strategic goals for the team
- Delegating tasks to the right people
- Ability to inspire their teams to accomplish the desired goals under stressful conditions
- Training young colleagues so that they can contribute significantly towards achieving the goals
With fast-evolving technologies and the ever-increasing use of social media and content as a marketing tool, a Marketing Manager is required to know the technical skills thoroughly:
- Creating content that ranks high in search results
- Effective use of email marketing
- Working through collaboration tools
- Website audits, curating social media handles
- Experience with SEO optimisation
Organisational skills help a marketing manager create and execute achievable timelines, meet complicated schedules, and keep track of important information.
- Effectively managing various events
- Ensuring realistic timelines for campaigns
- Guide team for timely execution
Marketing managers communicate with a wide range of people, they also need to communicate ideas, expectations and demands clearly and effectively.
- Collaborate with the team to make decisions
- Handle client relationships
- Taking criticism positively
- Writing press releases
To be successful in the industry, marketers must capture and hold the attention of their audience.
- Brainstorming ideas with graphic designers and artists
- Evaluate the aesthetic appeal of marketing materials
- Design creative methods of promoting and distributing products
- Planning and execution of events and promotional activities
Career prospects
Marketing managers can work in a wide range of companies that have services or products to sell. Because marketing is so broad, there is often demand for a marketing manager in most companies. For example, this includes, hotels, retailers, charities etc. As well as this, there is a significant demand for marketing managers to work in marketing agencies.
Employers
You could end up working with some of the biggest companies in the UK:
- Amazon
- Unilever
- Microsoft
- L’Oréal
- Sky
- Barclays
- HSBC
Related Courses
Marketing roles are available to all graduates, no matter what subject you have chosen to study. However, some degree subjects may be specifically relevant. Below are some of the courses on offer at that will help you get your foot in the door to the world of Marketing.
Studying towards a BA (Hons) in International Business sets students up with the necessary skills to work in a range of professions. The course involves working closely with academic theory and practical case studies, allowing students to grasp how the theory can be applied in real business scenarios.
Within this programme, students will cover modules such as business studies, finance, human resource management, marketing, and economics. BA International Business takes a very hands-on approach to learning by incorporating workshops, guest lectures and field trips into the programme.
Other related courses
- BA (Hons) Marketing Management
- BA (Hons) Communication and Media Studies
- BA (Hons) Marketing with Advertising and Public Relations
- BA (Hons) Communications and Public Relations
FAQ Summary
Marketing plays a very important part in how a company communicates and is perceived by its target audience and Marketing Managers have a crucial role in that process. Their responsibilities span across the entire business from the promotion of the company’s products or services to analysing data and setting a strategy for company growth.
Your salary will depend on a variety of factors including location, experience, skills, education and qualifications.
Rewards can be excellent for experienced Marketing Managers, with salaries starting at around £23,000 a year and rising to more than six figures for some roles
There are four ways to qualify to become a Marketing Manager, these are: a university course, an apprenticeship, Working towards this role or Applying directly
