The Marketing Career

Marketing Managers: Responsibilities and Skills

Marketing managers have one of the most critical jobs in any company. The marketing manager’s job is varied in the sense that the manager performs a number of responsibilities that should benefit the company’s sales prospects. As a result, the marketing manager will be involved in pricing tactics, promotional methods, identifying and focusing on the most feasible market, and acquiring the attention of its audience (Brown, 41).

Packaging Design and Product Development

The marketing manager’s duty may also include packaging design and product development to guarantee that the organization’s offerings are compatible and what the company is working on (Brown, 51). However, when I got into my first marketing class, I could not help being surprised at the large numbers of fellow students who for whom we were to compete not only for academic recognition but also for job positions in the outside world. The high salary of marketing managers requires an individual to work towards ensuring that they develop their careers to the fullest extent.

High Salaries and Job Competitiveness

Marketing managers are indeed one of the highest paid positions in organizations, and it is understandable why marketing is a career equally envied by aspiring students. According to US News, the median salary for the marketing manager in 2015 was $128,750 which means that the highest paid marketing managers will be approaching $200,000. The marketing managers’ wages are enviable also because they are higher when compared to other managerial positions in the company. For instance, the art director would not get much more than $170,000 in an organization where the marketing manager earns a generous $200,000 (Perrault et al. 35).

Expansive Role and Increasing Competitiveness

The implications are that the job positions are getting more and more competitive and the role of the marketing manager is becoming more engaging and expansive such that the manager may be required to have far more skills than other average applicants for them to land a job or to maintain their positions. It is apparent that companies are continuously focused on improving their sales prospects and desperately require the marketing manager to work the magic that will keep the products, promotions, and price strategically fits for such an objective (Bollendorf et al. 275).

Importance of the Marketing Manager

Pefanis and Katrin (348) assert that Marketing is one of the most critical aspects of an organization, and the role of the marketing manager is, therefore, an important one for the organization. It is thus not surprising that the prospects for the job growth show an incremental trend and that the salaries for the position are equally high. The average salary of the marketing manager is well above $100,000, and the implication is that the role of the marketing manager is also expanding in the business industry.

Growth and Future of the Marketing Management Career

In conclusion, considering the need for product and price development strategies, the marketing manager has to be involved in different activities requiring communication skills, creativity, and professional input. The marketing management career is one that is bound to grow as new businesses continue to emerge and the current ones work towards their growth. However the growth of companies will never surpass the number of graduates coming out of institutions, and the individual should equip themselves with knowledge of trends and a creative mind to improve in their managerial roles (Kelley & Claudia, 214).

Works Cited

Bollendorf, Marsha, Mary Howrey, and Geneva Stephenson. “Project career REACH: Marketing strategies for effective guidance programs.” The School Counselor 37.4 (1990): 273-280.

Brown, Duane. Career information, career counseling and career development. Pearson, 2015: 40–61

Kelley, Craig A., and Claudia Bridges. “Introducing professional and career development skills in the marketing curriculum.” Journal of Marketing Education 27.3 (2005): 212-218.

Pefanis Schlee, Regina, and Katrin R. Harich. “Knowledge and skill requirements for marketing jobs in the 21st century.” Journal of Marketing Education 32.3 (2010): 341-352.

Perreault Jr, William, Joseph Cannon, and E. Jerome McCarthy. Basic marketing. McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2013: 20–75.