Interview with a Marketing Manager

Considered working as a Marketing Manager? This interview will take you through the ups and downs you can expect in the position, what it takes to land the job, what you can expect to earn and more. This is a true career story as told to MarketingJobs.org and is one of many interviews with marketing professionals which among others include Internet Marketer and Marketing Communications Executive.

Marketing Is Not Sales, and Sales Is Not Marketing

I was the marketing manager for an international computer sales organization for three years. After three years as the marketing manager, I moved into the sales and marketing manager position where I stayed for another two years. The company I was working for felt that the marketing manager should also direct the sales effort. The company was small enough where I could do that.

Every day I would edit marketing text for pamphlets and other print advertising, read marketing reports from the various demographics we were trying to reach and composing press releases for magazine, print and radio outlets. The one misconception I want to clear up is that marketing is not sales, and sales is not marketing.

They are two very different animals. But it does help to have an understanding of how sales works to be a successful marketing representative.

It Is An Attempt To Sell The Product

If I had to rate my job enthusiasm on a scale of one to 10 I would say it was always at a seven. What would make the job of a marketing professional easier is if engineers and product development people were a bit more cooperative in creating advertising text.

Engineers always take offense when a marketing person asks to describe the product in a way that a non-technical person would understand. That is not an insult aimed at the engineer. It is an attempt to sell the product.

I Was Doing Almost Everything Myself

I found that marketing is the behind-the-scenes mechanism of sales, and that sales is what my real calling was. But if I did not have those years as a marketing manager, I would have never been as successful as I was in sales.

The unique thing about my situation was that I was doing almost everything myself. I did not have much of a staff, so all of the data collection and creation of marketing materials was all my responsibility.

I actually started out to be an advertising executive. I wanted to get involved in the world of slick ad campaigns and catchy product slogans. But once I started to get into the advertising side, I found that I much preferred the creative aspect of marketing. Marketing encompasses so much more than just advertising, and I really enjoyed developing entire marketing programs. If I had it to do over again, I would follow my career exactly the same way.

I learned the hard way that deadlines are critical in marketing. I was working on advertising for a magazine, a radio ad and a catalog all at the same time. The deadlines were fairly close together, so I figured I would just submit the group as a completed package.

The problem was that the radio deadline was three days before the magazine deadline, and I missed the radio deadline. All of the radio work had to be re-done and the campaign was two weeks late in getting out. I almost lost my job over that.

When I got into the working world I learned, very quickly, that the only person you can really count on is yourself.

The Strangest Thing That Ever Happened

The strangest thing that ever happened to me as a marketing manager was when I was doing market research for a new line of computers were just about to release. I was in the very preliminary stages of research and I was calling current customers to get their opinions on the ideas we had for our new line.

One customer I called didn’t even say hello when he answered the phone. All he said was “Never call here again,” and hung up. So, I never called him again.

On a good day, I feel satisfied with the job when I see some finished collateral in my hands. A well-designed pamphlet or a nice looking magazine ad just seemed to make it all worth it.

The Most Rewarding Part

The most rewarding part of my job as a marketing manager was when I was promoted to sales and marketing manager. The company made it very clear that it was in response to my efforts in marketing, and it still ranks as one of the proudest moments of my professional career.

In the world of marketing, you learn pretty quickly that printing companies make mistakes. The problem is that they always seem to make those mistakes when you have a staff of people waiting to board the plane on the way to a trade show and they need marketing materials for the show booth. Printing errors happened a lot, and they just make you want to pull your hair out.

The Most Challenging Moment

The most challenging moment I have ever experienced was arriving at a trade show and realizing that I had not packed all of the display models for the booth. We had these great sales slicks for our new products, but only a couple of the display models were in the booth on the first day. I never want to go through a feeling like that ever again.

For me, the job was only stressful because I was doing most of the work. Marketing in general is only stressful as deadlines approach. Other than that, I had no problem maintaining my home life with my career.

The Bigger The Company, The More Money You Make

In the small business arena, marketing professionals can expect to make anywhere from $35,000 to $43,000 per year on average. It seems that the bigger the company, the more money you make. But you also have to take on more responsibility. I never complained about what I made, but sometimes it seemed as if I was really underpaid for everything that I had to take care of.

In marketing, vacations are referred to as trade shows. I would take a week with the family every year, but I would have at least a month out of the year where I was doing trade shows in Las Vegas or Fort Lauderdale. I found it a lot of fun.

People Forget Product Knowledge

Marketing requires a pretty broad background. I have a degree in English with a minor in Communication, and I used my educational experience a lot in my job. One of the things that marketing people forget is product knowledge. Knowing how to write press releases and laying out catalogs is important, but understanding the product you are writing about is equally as important.

Anyone considering this line of work should prepare for long hours, long periods of time when it seems like nothing is happening followed by a flurry of activity to meet deadlines and traveling. There is a lot of reading and research involved. But if you love being behind the scenes on how a product is brought to market, then this is the only career for you.

When my stint in marketing was over, I was glad to move on to sales. I did not see myself staying in marketing as a full-time career. For many years after my marketing days were over, I moved on to become a successful sales professional.

External Resources:

1. Internet marketing