Marketing executive

Marketing executives promote a company's products, services or brand.

Also known as: Digital marketing executive, marketing officer, online marketing officer

• Starter salary£23,000 a year
• Experienced£50,000 a year
• Typical hours37 to 39 a week

What you'll do

As a marketing executive, you could:

• research customer and market trends to inform campaigns
• develop working relationships with clients
• write and edit content for print and online campaigns
• understand brand guidelines and check they are followed
• organise and promote events
• manage marketing budgets
• keep up to date with competitor activity
• analyse data to plan and evaluate marketing campaigns

Working environment

You could work in an office, at a client's business or remotely.

Skills and knowledge you'll need

You'll need:

• the ability to sell products and services
• excellent verbal communication skills
• the ability to use your initiative
• to be thorough and pay attention to detail
• knowledge of media production and communication
• business management skills
• persuading skills
• customer service skills
• to be able to use a computer and the main software packages confidently

How to become a marketing executive

You can get into this job through:

• a university course
• a college course
• an apprenticeship
• working towards this role
• applying directly
• specialist courses run by training organisations

University

You could study for a foundation degree, higher national diploma or degree in a subject like:

• marketing communications
• digital marketing
• advertising
• business and management

Marketing companies will also take on graduates in other subjects.

Some degree courses are accredited by the The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) .

With a degree you could apply to join a company's graduate marketing training scheme.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

• 1 or 2 A levels, or equivalent, for a foundation degree or higher national diploma
• 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree

College

You could take a college course to help you get a job as a trainee marketing executive.

Courses include:

• principles of marketing
• applied marketing
• digital marketing and analytics
• T Level in Marketing
• T Level in Digital Software Development

Entry requirements

Entry requirements for these courses vary.

• 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths for a T Level

Apprenticeship

You may be able to get into this role by applying for an apprenticeship.

Apprenticeships include:

• Multi-channel Marketer Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship
• Marketing Executive Level 4 Higher Apprenticeship
• Digital Marketer Level 6 Degree Apprenticeship

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

• 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship
• 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) and A levels, or equivalent, for a higher or degree apprenticeship

Work

You could join a company's marketing department as an administrator or assistant. You could then work your way up to become a marketing executive, digital marketer or SEO specialist through training and promotion.

Volunteering

You could get work experience and marketing skills by volunteering for a charity and helping with their social media and events communications.

Look for opportunities on sites like:

• Do IT
• NCVO

Direct application

You can apply directly to employers if you've got business and marketing skills. You may get these from working in jobs like sales, customer service or public relations. Some employers may ask for a degree qualification though it's not always essential.

Other routes

You can do professional marketing, digital marketing and communications qualifications, that may help boost your job prospects, through:

• The Chartered Institute of Marketing
• Data and Marketing Association
• Chartered Institute of Public Relations

Career path and progression

You could specialise in digital marketing.

With experience, you could become a marketing manager, online marketing manager or director of marketing.

You could also work as a freelance marketing consultant in advertising, sales, public relations and communications.

Career tips

Developing your own online presence or 'brand' can be useful to raise your profile with potential employers. You could:

• create a blog or podcast
• set up your own website
• network with marketing influencers or high profile companies through social media channels

Guides for this industry

• Marketing & Digital: pay, interviews and getting started →

Related roles

• Job roleMarketing manager
• Job roleAdvertising media planner
• Job roleMarket research data analyst
• Job roleAdvertising account executive
• Job rolePublic relations officer

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