Marketing Managers

Become A Marketing Manager

Is your brain a cauldron of both creative ideas and analytical thinking? Are you a natural leader with excellent communication skills, surpassed only by your ability to motivate and delegate tasks? If you work well under the pressure of strict deadlines and intense scrutiny, you might consider a career as a marketing manager.

Marketing Management in a Nutshell

Marketing managers guide teams of market researchers and product developers to generate a detailed marketing strategy for their company. Their goal is to determine the potential demand for products and services being offered by their firm.

Marketing managers analyze the products of their competitors, monitor market trends and oversee new product development. Just as importantly, they work with their marketing team to identify potential new markets for the company's products and services, and they help the company establish price points on new product lines to ensure both customer satisfaction and maximum profits.

Education Requirements for Marketing Managers

It is important to note that many marketing management positions are filled from within through company promotions. Specifically, most marketing managers rise through the company ranks as sales representatives or market researchers. Therefore, the first step to becoming a marketing manager is to get your foot in the door.

Employers generally look for candidates with a liberal arts education and pertinent work experience, although requirements vary widely from position to position. For instance, some employers might prefer a bachelor's degree in business administration, while others might require a master's in marketing.

In high-tech fields, such as computer manufacturing, a bachelor's degree in engineering combined with a master's degree in business administration is attractive to employers. According to the US Department of Labor, in 2004 the professional, scientific and technical services industries employed almost one-third of all marketing managers.

Once hired, you can accelerate your job promotion opportunities by taking management-training programs, attending seminars and conferences, or taking college or professional development classes.

Day in the Life of a Marketing Manager

Marketing managers work closely with other managers, as well as their marketing team, to develop the company's marketing strategy. As a result, most of their 40-hour work week is spent in meetings. Marketing managers also travel regularly to confer with clients or attend conferences. As deadlines approach, they often work overtime to meet projected goals.

Job Growth for marketing managers

Although specific job growth estimates vary by industry, employment for marketing managers is projected to increase faster than the national average through 2014. This is due to the fierce domestic and global competition for the ever-growing consumer buying power.

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