Job description

The role of the Marketing Executive (sometimes referred to as Marketing Officer or Marketing Co-ordinator) is to help devise and implement a marketing campaign for a particular product or service offered by their employer.

The first step in any marketing campaign is planning and the Marketing Executive will be expected to work alongside colleagues to determine what the campaign needs to achieve and how it needs to be delivered. Once this has been established, the different elements of the campaign need to be implemented - this can include arranging advertising through a variety of different channels, organising promotional events, co-ordinating PR, co-ordinating direct mail and e-marketing and the production of marketing material to distribute to the target market. It's quite often a fun, challenging and extremely varied working environment.

Most businesses have some sort of marketing function or department and the nature of the job will vary from employer to employer. Whatever your role, some typical daily duties might include:

• Liaising with colleagues to discuss overall marketing strategy and upcoming campaigns.
• Researching new advertising/promotional opportunities.
• Preparing and proofreading marketing material.
• Regular liaison with printing and graphic design suppliers.
• Organising promotional events or photo shoots.
• The maintenance of direct mail/email databases.
• Measuring the effectiveness of individual elements of campaigns.
• Extensive competitor analysis.

Qualifications

Quite often you'll need to be degree educated and sometimes employers prefer a relevant degree subject such as marketing or business studies. There are a number of supplementary courses offered by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) and gaining any of these qualifications would enhance your career prospects, though essentially many employers look for experience over any formal qualifications.

Salary Snapshot

Recent salaries for roles advertised at time of writing (Feb 2010) include:

• £22-30,000 plus benefits for a Marketing Executive working for a pharmaceutical company based in Surrey.
• £30-35,000 plus benefits for a Digital Marketing Executive working for a ‘Big 4' accountancy firm in the City of London.
• £16-18,000 plus benefits for a Marketing Account Executive working for a PR agency in Birmingham.
• £25-32,000 plus benefits for a Senior Marketing Executive working for a tourism business based in Essex.