Industry Insight...


So you want to work in Marketing?

Long lunches, glamorous events, corporate hospitality... not quite! Many graduates leaving university take an interest in Marketing as a career as it seems to promise excitement and a fast-paced environment where every day is different from the next. This is true, but there is more to marketing than popping champagne and congratulating yourself on award-winning campaigns.

The assumption is that there are no particular skills required apart from a great smile and to be “personable”. The reality is that a CIM qualification takes a huge amount of work and dedication; and that’s just for the first certificate.  In reality marketeers are responsible for effectively implementing campaigns that will propel their company ahead of the competition, often working long hours to tight deadlines, with only a gut feeling as to whether the campaign will be a success or not.  Marketeers are often in the line of fire when interest in a company or product wanes, and when budgets are cut – the first thing to go is the entertaining! 

Having said that, it is enormously satisfying to watch an idea become a reality, and the evaluation of a campaign can teach you a lot about how to organise your next.  When a campaign does well, it’s a fantastic feeling to know that you were a part of it, and the learning curve on campaigns that don’t do so well is definitely steep!

The channels of marketing are also extremely diverse.  Don’t assume you will be working in only one area. A marketer may specialise in any area: online, offline, events or print, to name a few, but may also be called upon to organise an event one day and provide content for a newsletter the next. Do you know the difference between Natural Search and Search Engine Optimisation? Do you know your SME’s from your FMCG’s? Marketing requires you to be on-the-ball and know your industry inside-out. There are many aspects to learn and researching which areas you would like to specialise in before applying could help you enormously in understanding what your role could involve. There are most definitely highs and lows which contribute to the fast-paced environment.  It is great fun, but not a career for the faint hearted!