Marketing Careers: 6 Areas to Explore

A marketing career typically involves generating interest in a company’s brand and products, but marketers go about that work in various ways. If you choose to pursue this in-demand work, there’s more than one career path to explore—and lots of growth opportunities.

Learn about the different types of marketing and how your interests may align with each one.

Types of marketing careers 

• Brand managers oversee a brand’s persona, driving interest and appreciation for it.

• Communications and public relations teams promote a brand through a variety of external communications efforts. They often work closely with other units, such as social media and content, to foster conversation about a company.

• Content marketers create informative and valuable content for customers, like blog posts, podcasts, and videos.

• Digital marketers reach out to customers to promote products through various digital channels, including social media and email.

• Event marketers plan events and experiences that support a brand’s persona.

• Product marketers use data-backed strategies to launch new products—or product lines—in the marketplace.

• Search engine marketers (SEM) use search engine optimisation (SEO) strategies to increase a company’s visibility on search engine results pages (SERP) so customers can discover a brand more organically.

Marketing careers: 6 areas of interest

Within these different types of marketing, you can explore a number of career options depending on your interests. Here are six areas to start:

1. Research 

Marketing teams rely on data-driven research to tailor and target everything from campaign messaging to product launches. As you conduct research, you’ll use a variety of tools to help you figure out what customers need and want and then translate your findings so your team can develop more impactful marketing strategies, campaigns, and more.

Key skills: Data analysis, critical thinking, communication

Could be a fit if you like: Finding and parsing information and using those conclusions to make strategic recommendations that improve a marketing team’s efforts 

• Entry-level roles: Marketing assistant, market research associate, business analyst

• Mid-level roles: Market research analyst, global marketing analyst, social media analyst

2. Strategy

No matter which type of marketing you work in—product, brand, content, or otherwise—developing a well-researched and brand-specific strategy is instrumental to success. When you work in strategy, you’ll be responsible for identifying new ways to reach customers and developing plans that ensure each campaign is a success.

Key skills: Planning, communication, creative thinking, analytical thinking

Could be a fit if you like: Thinking strategically about a company’s marketing needs and then developing and executing campaigns that generate greater awareness and sales

• Entry-level roles: Digital marketing strategist, product marketing strategist, SEO specialist

• Mid-level roles: Brand content manager, product marketing manager, senior SEO manager

If you’d like to learn more about strategy but aren’t sure where to start, check out UC Davis’s course The Strategy of Content Marketing.

3. Design

From distinctive logos to eye-catching packaging, designers create visual assets that set a company apart from its competitors and feed into larger campaign narratives. When working in design, you’ll be responsible for a number of creative tasks that may include producing original art and infographics, editing and retouching photos, designing web pages for ultimate user satisfaction, or using research to inform your creative choices.

Skills: Creativity, attention to detail, project management, knowledge of design tools such as Adobe Creative Suite

Could be a fit if you like: Telling stories through visual mediums and creating assets that support a marketing team’s various visual needs

• Entry-level roles: Graphic design specialist, visual information specialist, web design specialist

• Mid-level roles: Creative project manager, design researcher, graphic designer

Read more: What Is a Graphic Designer? And How Can You Start?

4. Writing

Much as the way companies rely on visuals to help create a unified brand image and tell a story, they need writers to do that very thing with language. When you work in some aspect of marketing that involves writing, you may be responsible for producing writing that exemplifies a brand’s voice, developing content for different digital channels, or even managing internal or external communications.

Skills: Writing, communication, audience and engagement strategy, project management

Could be a fit if you like: Reaching audiences—whether they are internal employees or external customers—through the written word

• Entry-level roles: Junior copywriter, communications specialist, content writer

• Mid-level roles: Brand copywriter, marketing content writer, communications manager

5. Events

Companies hold events and experiences to increase the visibility of their brand and products. When you work in events marketing, you’ll be responsible for devising and executing in-person or virtual events that support larger campaigns and strategies.

Skills: Planning, organisation, vendor management, budgets, multitasking, communication

Could be a fit if you like: Putting together experiences, either in-person or virtual, that result in greater brand visibility, media attention, and customer engagement

• Entry-level roles: Experiential marketing coordinator, events marketing specialist, field marketing coordinator

• Mid-level roles: Experiential marketing manager, events marketing manager, field marketing manager

6. Social

It’s imperative that companies communicate about their brand and products across a number of digital channels. Social forms of marketing foster a different level of interaction thanks to their direct engagement with customers. When you work in social media marketing, you’ll be responsible for generating and publishing content—written posts, videos, graphics, and more—that get attention and inspire conversation.

Skills: Writing, communication, creativity, planning, social media strategy

Could be a fit if you like: Being both creative and strategic about how to reach and engage customers, and producing multimedia content that supports larger brand and product strategies

• Entry-level roles: Marketing associate, social media marketing assistant, social media marketer

• Mid-level roles: Social media editor, social media manager, community manager

As of 2021, skills related to social media were in high demand. Needs for people with paid social media skills increased by 116 per cent while social media advertising increased by 46 per cent [1].

Marketing careers: Flexibility

A career in marketing offers a good degree of flexibility. You can apply your skill set to different types of marketing, moving where opportunities best suit your interests and needs. For example, if you start off writing blog posts for a content marketing team, you may be able to apply that experience to email marketing or search engine marketing.

You can also get started in one type of marketing and eventually move to another. For example, if you begin as a social media marketing assistant and learn you’re more interested in brand strategy, you may be able to move into that type of marketing. Having worked in social media, you have done brand management to some extent.

Beginning in one area doesn’t mean you can’t jump to another, though it may take some additional experience—or time—to make that move.

How much can you make? Marketing salaries

Marketing jobs are in high demand. A search for marketing jobs in August 2023 in Indeed resulted in over 11,000 marketing jobs in the UK [2]. Digital marketing will continue to be a high-growth area in the future.

While starting salaries for an entry-level marketing career can be lower, you have the potential to earn more over time and with more advanced roles. Consider average salaries for the following roles:

*All salary data is taken from Glassdoor as of August 2023 and reflects a base salary. Benefits and bonuses may be added to some roles.

Getting an entry-level marketing job

You can explore many entry-level roles in marketing as you’re considering your career options, including event marketing assistant, brand assistant, social media marketing assistant, and assistant media planner.

If you’re not sure where to start, consider earning a Professional Certificate, such as the Google Digital Marketing and E-Commerce Professional Certificate. Develop the skills companies are hiring for while exploring new marketing career possibilities, all at your own pace.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)