The marketing world can be fast-paced, but it takes someone with a hustle mindset to move ahead of the pack. Have you worked at your company for over a year and seen others moving up the ladder? Do you think you have what it takes to lead a team of marketers? Then it is time to level up your marketing career and move to the next level.
Now, advancing your marketing career is no easy feat. You will be expected to maintain the job that you currently have and take classes, network, and meet other people in the field and find a mentor. Let’s dig in!
The Marketing Field
Working in corporate America, the goal is to move up, but that can be a challenging objective in a competitive field such as marketing. To move up in such a competitive field, you will have to improve your skills, sharpen your mindset, and be ready to hustle harder than you ever have. We always say that you cannot take the elevator to success, so strap on those tennis shoes because we are about to start in the stairwell.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, from 2021 to 2031, it is anticipated that overall employment for advertising, promotions, and marketing managers will increase by 10%, faster than the average for all occupations. Over the next ten years, there are expected to be, on average, 35,300 opportunities for managers of marketing, advertising, and promotions. According to the statistics, you are in the right place and time to start elevating your marketing career.
Marketing Careers
What specifically makes you the right person to elevate in the marketing world? To be a successful marketing manager takes innovation, creativity, quick thinking, and chutzpah. Have you looked through your tool kit as a marketing professional to determine your specialization as you elevate in the marketing area?
A marketing team has various positions, each contributing to creating a good or service. You can pursue several occupations and career paths in marketing, ranging from an entry-level marketing assistant to the vice president of marketing. Top marketing positions include:
- Account Manager
- Brand Manager
- Copywriter
- Creative Director
- Digital Content Writer
- Digital Marketing Manager
- Graphic Designer
- Marketing Coordinator
- Marketing Director
- Marketing Manager
- Marketing Research Analyst
- Product Marketing Manager
- Search Engine Management Strategies
- Search Engine Optimization Specialist
- Social Media Manager
Choosing where you will land within the marketing microcosm is genuinely up to you and your willpower. You must be willing to change your regular routine if you want to move up in your marketing career. If you want something you have never had, you need to try doing something you have never done before. Understanding the characteristics of the top and most effective marketers is crucial. Shall we make a list?
Be Creative
Thinking outside the box always moves you to the head of the class. You will stand out from others who would continue with the same day-to-day business thinking if you can discover something from a marketing standpoint that has never been discovered before. Find a way to triple social media interaction, identify a poorly performing landing page and figure out what might work better, or identify a new profitable target segment.
Time to Show Results
An updated and diversified portfolio is always needed in a highly competitive profession. With your creative mind, you can take on outside projects that can help bring attention to your talent. Many small businesses need marketing plans, which could be your chance to show your potential bosses what you can do.
The most significant part is ensuring you are gathering data and documenting this for your resume/ portfolio. Taking a client’s social media profile from a few hundred followers to thousands shows that you are getting customers engaged in the product and the brand. These are the things that marketing leaders want to see in their potential staff members.
Think Like a Boss
The instance you walk into the room, you are being watched by your bosses. They watch how you interact with your co-workers and function in a group project. Now we must consider that it is better to be confident than to be cocky. Be a boss the moment you step off the elevator. You will gain the trust of company/department leaders when you can enter meetings and speak intelligently about the company—especially if you are consistent. People at a lesser level frequently freeze up out of nervousness or arrive unprepared.
Education
Having a bachelor’s degree can get you in the door, but it will take more than that to rise to the top of the marketing profession. Remember that marketing is an art form that brings in other talents and fields of study. You must be proficient in management, business, psychology, communications, economics, public relations, or journalism. Marketing teams are responsible for writing press releases and creating a narrative around their product/ brand. You must have a strong writing background.
The great thing about our world is that you can take classes from many of the top universities even while working full-time. You can develop your marketing career by pursuing an online MBA in marketing. These programs help professionals learn how to leverage their skills into leadership positions.
Step up to the Mic
Like many, we want to do the work and duck off into our offices, but this is a mindset you have to abandon. In most jobs—not just marketing—the capacity to sell yourself is essential. However, every marketer knows that giving presentations—whether to clients, vendors, or corporate leadership—represents a significant portion of daily life in the business. The folks who appear to be the most competent and prepared and frequently are the ones who get promoted are the kinds of people who can easily transmit information in a meeting. People with qualities like confidence, charisma, the capacity to inspire others, and general preparation are what future leaders are looking for.
If this becomes an issue for you, consider joining a public speaking class or a local Toastmasters. Through a global network of clubs, Toastmasters International, a nonprofit educational organization, imparts leadership and public speaking skills. The organization has its headquarters in Englewood, Colorado, with more than 280,000 members spread throughout more than 14,700 groups in 144 countries. Since 1924, Toastmasters International has aided individuals from many backgrounds develop their public speaking, communication, and leadership skills.
What is Next?
You need to spend some time evaluating your strengths and weaknesses within the marketing arena. What are you passionate about? Do you love social media marketing or have a heart for advertising? If you are interested in pursuing an online marketing MBA, you should learn about program deadlines and entrance requirements. Do not let the cost hinder you from taking the first step. There are many options, such as Federal Financial Aid and employee tuition assistance programs. You need to take the first step and level up! Good luck on your journey!
Related Resources:
Guide to a Marketing Online MBA
Best Marketing Jobs
Top Online MBA Marketing Specializations
