Marketing Specialist Job - Research Paper Example

Marketing specialist job Introduction A marketing specialist or a market research analyst is involved in helping a company tofigure out what they sell. He or she is involved in analyzing market data locally, regionally and at the national level. He helps determine what companies buy, the gaps in the market, the type of people who buy the products, and those who are willing to spend money on those products. A marketing specialist should have an adequate knowledge on the related products sold in the country, help in analyzing demographic data, habits of buying and selling, evaluating competitors and their methods of pricing, creating and executing surveys and research, questionnaires and other types of information gathering devices. They assist in measuring current strategies aimed at understanding the best ways to market products and make money for the given company (Goldstein & Lee, 213). Marketing specialists is also known as research analysts. They should monitor what is sold across the country, help in analyzing demographic data, analyzing buying and shopping habits, looking at a relevant competition in the field and their pricing, creating and administering surveys, questionnaires and other information gathered, assist in measuring and evaluating current strategies and other responsibilities. All this is done all in an effort to help in understanding the best ways of marketing products and make the company a lot of money. As a marketing professional, I am tasked with the responsibility of examining and analyzing the promotional and marketing potential of an individual entity. It is also the role of a marketing specialist to design and create marketing and promotional tools. These tools enable an organization to make efforts into the target market. Marketing specialists play many roles among them overseeing and implementation of crucial areas of the marketing plan, which is always designed for a specific firm for establishment (George, Kress, Taryn &John Snyder 72). Required education and other credentials As an entry-level specialist, one must possess a bachelor’s degree in marketing, advertising or communication. In most cases, most employers look for graduates with experience in marketing or advertising firms but as a fresh graduate, I will have to expose my skills and attributes to secure an entry-level position aimed at growing my career as a professional marketer as well as serving the interests of the employer. For an entry-level position, one must demonstrate the skill and ability to market, promote and advertise efficiently and effectively the sectors given such as healthcare, finance, information technology or even sales. Very strong academic and professional backgrounds that include relevant knowledge in areas such as management, economics, and finance and business law are highly recommended. The academic background should have covered marketing, market research, sales, and consumer behaviors among other areas of study. In addition, one who wants to grow a career as a professional marketing specialist in a specific field us also required to have a minimum of bachelors degree in the respective field. For instance, working for engineering firms means that o ne must have a degree or diploma in marketing. One can also take a bachelor’s degree in business administration. A marketing specialist can opt to further his or her career in marketing and become a marketing manager in the firms in which they work. This is because most firms tend to employ people internally and that they promote their own staff to top-level positions based on performance and work experience (Goldstein & Lee, 219). Marketing specialists are also required to further their careers to become marketing managers and supervisors in the firms in which they have been working. This is because most organizations prefer promoting their own staff to the top positions depending on work experience and performance. Other requirements and skills As a graduate searching for an entry-level position as a marketing specialist, I have to possess certain skills that should be demonstrated to the employer. These skills should be included in the resume. Some of these desirable skills include: Good communication skills- A marketing specialist should possess good written and spoken communication skills. When gathering and presenting data and information to clients, a marketing specialist should be able to talk well and listen the clients well. Language barrier and poor communication may hinder one from sharing information well. Analytical skills- A marketing specialist looks at many complex streams of data to determine the demographics and the buying trends of both current and potential customers. One ought to possess strong analytical skills for them to understand and analyze such data. Critical and creative thinking- One has to analyze and understand the data and information given to come up with strong recommendations and reports for the employer. To undertake such roles and responsibilities, one should be a critical and creative thinker. Attention to detail- Analyzing and understanding marketing data and information takes a precision. Good computer and IT skills- One must be proficient in Adobe Indesign. Ability to work as team is also critical for a professional marketer One must be self driven and self motivated Must show ability to meet targets and deadlines. Must be able to handle pressure and work under stress and pressure. Fresh marketing specialists are supposed to be persons of great innovation, creativity and resourcefulness. They should have the capability to take courage and calculated initiatives to meet the client’s expectations successfully as well as serving the interests of the employer. They should have excellent communication skills since they will be involved in subordinate marketing staff or other departments responsible for creating the components of the marketing plan. A marketing specialist should therefore have the ability to communicate ideas and insights well and in an effective manner (Piotrowski 66). They should have good skills, which are very crucial when dealing with clients. They should be able to listen to clients attentively and give them useful inputs to the clients. They should possess outgoing personalities and skills as well as self-confidence. Marketing specialists ought to adept at carrying out marketing research, forward thinking as well as possess strong problem solving abilities. Day to day activities of marketing specialists Marketers are responsible for integrating advertising and promotional elements into marketing mix and maximizing communication channels so as to ensure proper delivering of the desired message to customers (Green, Tull & Albaum 107) Other primary responsibilities include: Develop and implement various marketing programs aimed at promoting the entity’s brand and reputation Carry out lead generation Attend trade shows, conferences and write reports and recommendations Create advertisement messages, websites, direct mails and webcasts Locate and identify media outlets to be used for promotions and press releases Enforce guidelines on brand marketing in trademarks, publications and logos Develop, initiate and track budgets Measure the efficiency and success of several marketing campaigns Drive profitable sales, growth of brands and loyalty for various business areas and departments Analyze and support cluster-marketing plans to ensure that they align with the strategy of the brand and help achieve annual operating plans and goals. Develop accountability structures for shareholders and other stakeholders Carry out and implement management plans for brands Create and promote partner and agency relationships Identify building areas for brands Leverage insights for customer data so as to refine brand management Ensure communication for brands in areas of responsibility to ensure consistency with the organization and brand positioning Develop and execute media planning, innovation and buying strategies Help in promoting uniformity and consistency of brands Provide direction and design for collateral, product packaging, web, as well as other visual communication media for the organization. Marketing is a very vital part of almost every business or entity from major international companies to other small individually owned shops. Getting people to buy goods and enjoy services is often as important as drawing and transporting those items hence, specialists bring their attention, skill and qualifications. Companies and entities engage in hiring people with marketing knowledge and expertise to design, launch and execute initiatives to increase customer satisfaction and help boost sales. Marketing specialists are involved in designing, creating and executing plans and programs that support growth and expansion of the entity’s products and services. They help set sales targets, come up with sales presentations as well as creating and providing reports and recommendation s based on research and information obtained from new products, competition, market trends as well as pricing. Market specialists should be familiar with various field concepts obtained from class work, as well as other procedures and practices. A fresh graduate only relies on skills and attributes since they do not have any experience or on the job, training and they must plan, execute and accomplish goals for the employer. They are supposed to report to a supervisor or a manager. Entry-level specialists rely on trends and also study customer’s demand and purchasing power to come up with policies and procedures aimed at promoting and advertising the employer’s products and services. They also depend on the skills and academic qualifications obtained during class work as well as on the job training programs offered by the employer, either during induction period or during the period of actual work (Goldstein & Lee, 222). Data and information is termed as ‘king’ these days and most organizations want to know more about their current and potential customers. They thus employ qualified market specialists or marketing trainees who are fresh graduates from college who want to grow their professional careers as marketing specialist. They help in conducting marketing research, and identifying new businesses. Research shows that research/marketing specialist jobs are expected to experience a growth of 41 percent as from the years 2010 to 2020. This will be the highest growth rate than any other job type. It will be ideal for job seekers willing to join an entry-level position, which gives desired assurance of growth that they consider becoming marketing specialists (George, Kress, Taryn &John Snyder 87). Licensing and legal requirements In America, a marketing specialist who has already entered the job market should always aspire to be certified marketing specialist after a certain period of professional work experience. With several years of professional job experience as a marketer, one can become a certified marketing professional by registering with various professional bodies, which include the American Marketing Association (AMA), another body named Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), Direct Marketing Association (DMA) among many other professional bodies. American Marketing Association (AMA) is a certified marketing organization, which had a membership of 30000 professional marketers in the year 2012. Its main aim is to try to lower the costs of marketing. The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) is a leading international body for professional marketing and business development careers. It has a membership of around 40000 people worldwide. It exists to serve the interests of marketing and sales professions to help professionals in such areas of specialization create and maintain professional standards as well as help them improve the skills and qualifications of marketing and sales practitioners. This body undertakes all this by providing membership to the members, as well as providing training and qualifications to the marketing professionals and other businesses around the world (Green, Tull & Albaum 121) The Direct Marketing association (DMA) is an international and professional marketing body that offers events, lobbying, and research and development projects for its members. It is a form of a trade organization for marketers driven by data and seeks to advance, help and protect reasonable data driven marketing and sales (Harmon 121). Data driven marketing mean that customer information and data is used for promotional and marketing purposes (Goldstein & Lee, 212). As a fresh graduate in marketing aspiring to grow my career as a marketing specialist, it is ideal to register with one of these organizations to be certified to work anywhere in the world. Marketing specialists and the society As far as marketing and the society are concerned, it has been noted that the society can exist without marketing but it is hard for marketing to exist without the society. Marketing is management process which anticipates, identifies and helps satisfy customer requirements through the various conventional advertising and marketing tools which include direct marketing, advertising, sales promotions, branding, publicity and public relations. Critics of the concept of marketing tend to acknowledge that it has legal uses if it connects goods and services to present and potential customers who desire and deserve them. Nonetheless, some aspects of marketing such as advertisements and promotions are subjected to criticisms. They claim that product promotion is an activity, which comes from goods and services’ providers to influence demand. Advertising has become such a common part of the society such that we cannot imagine living without it. Though people in the society may not notice, advertisements leave indelible marks on our minds especially those in desperation such as children, teenagers and adolescents (Green, Tull & Albaum 128) On the side of the story, a society tends to thrive on the marketing efforts of the businesses and companies, whereas other schools of thought tend to believe that marketing makes a society more materialistic. Striking a balance between the two (marketing and the society) has been a challenge faced by most of the professional marketers. Expectations in terms of ethics are very crucial part of the business fraternity. The society/environment expects the business and the organizations to remain ethical in its operations and desires corporate executives at all levels. This means that there should be guidelines as to what is wrong or right, fair and unfair, morally correct or incorrect among other factors when making decisions. Conclusion If any company, entity or organization is thinking of getting into promotional, advertising and PR campaigns, they should engage the services of fresh graduates in the field of marketing who aspire to grow their careers as professional specialist. With the current technology and internet, companies are hiring fresh graduates who are well equipped with the use of electronic systems and the internet to get their services in terms of creating awareness and brand name/ reputation of their companies. Market specialists and media professionals are one of the highest paid professionals out there. These benefits are about not only cash benefits, but also the enjoyment of industry benefits, high degrees of self-determination and the ability to rise quickly through the ranks to become specialized professionals in the field of marketing. Successful marketing, promotional, advertising and PR campaigns bring about all these advantages. Marketing jobs are one of the most common and popular career choices in the job market. It only takes one dedication, patience and perseverance to break into the profession (Goldstein & Lee, 225). Work Cited George J. Kress,Taryn Webb, and John Snyder, Forecasting and Market Analysis Techniques: A Practical Approach Westport, CT: Quorum Books, 1994. Goldstein, D.; Lee, Y. "The rise of right-time marketing". The Journal of Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management 12 (3): 212–225. 2005. Green, P.E., Tull, D.S. and Albaum, G. Research for Marketing Decisions, 5th edition, Prentice-Hall. 1993. I Know Marketing” http://www.forbes.com/enterprisetech/2007/01/25/salesforce-marketing-benioff-tech-enter-cz_vmb_0125salesforce.html Kotler, Philip; Kevin Lane Keller "1". A Framework for Marketing Management (4th ed.). Pearson Prentice Hall. 2009. The Definition of Marketing. American Marketing Association. http://www.marketingpower.com/AboutAMA/Pages/DefinitionofMarketing.aspx. Retrieved 2011-12-02. The Role of Marketing (2015). From What is Marketing? Tutorial. KnowThis.com. Retrieved February 07, 2015 from http://www.knowthis.com/what-is-marketing/role-of-marketing Harmon, Daniel E. Careers As a Marketing and Public Relations Specialist. , 2014. Internet resource. Piotrowski, Christine M. Professional Practice for Interior Designers. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, 2002. Internet resource. Read More