Pursuing a career in marketing

[YS2003]

I would like to hear your comments on how a sales person can prepare himself for a marketing position at the management level. I noticed there are many professionals on this forum who are in design industries which often overlap with some of marketing duties.

I am a very productive sales person for my current employer, which is in service industry (no hardware to sell; but, "intangible" services to businesses). I do prospecting to find new clients, establish new contacts, conduct daily sales activities (quotes, answering inquires, trouble shooting, being a bridge between clients and my company's ops people, creating some marketing materials using CS2 and others). So, in a way, I generate my own sales leads and pursue them to make them the customers.

Since I don't want to be on outside sales all my life (I don't want to hit the pavement everyday after I get over 40 years old), I have been preparing myself for a marketing position (which is more general than a sales position, as a sales position is more like a person-to-person while a marketing position is the overall marketing and sales strategies--that is my understanding).

I have a minor degree in marketing from an undergraduate university (the major was in communication), as far as the educational background is concerned, with some internship experience at the local newspaper during my college years. Since I have years of work experience already, I think the college degree is not going to be a big deal for me now.

I like working on those marketing materials which are one of the main vehicles to communicate your messages to your audience (customers). So, I bought CS2, MX2004 Pro, Painter IX, and others at my own expenses to get myself accustomed to pro-grade software to produce good and effective marketing communications.

The questions are:
1. What would you think a marketing manager/director/VP position requires in general? I would like to hear the comments based on the actual experience.
2. Do I need to expand my technical skill to Final Cut Pro and other video production software? I don't want to spread thin too much as I am still studying CS2 and MX2004/Flash Pro. I am interested in hearing if you (as a marketing manager, directory or other similar position) feel it is essential to learn them all. Or, are those skills are primarily needed for assistants to that marketing position?

 

[decksnap]

Most of the marketing directors I know aren't involved in design at the software level. They are the liason between the company and their advertising agency. I mean, I guess it depends where you work. I work at an ad agency, and our contact at any given client is typically the marketing director. So, they are the ones who make marketing decisions on the company's behalf, but aren't really involved in design or concepting on that level. That's what they pay us for.

So really- budgeting, research, market knowledge, people skills, decision making. - not CS2, pantone swatches and funky glasses.

 

[Demon Hunter]

I don't know much about marketing, but if it's like being an Art Director, you do very little art and lots of business.

 

[irmongoose]

As decksnap has mentioned, the marketing sections in most firms are simply an in-between between the firm and the ad agency. My sister is in marketing at Citi and their entire marketing group, including the so-called "Creative Team" does not even touch any design software. However, they do come up with the initial ideas for the different marketing techniques, and check/re-hash any materials submitted to them by the ad agency. Think of it in terms of software development: Product Marketing comes up with the ideas, tells the engineers to make it, and they decide on the final product.

Therefore, if you are really looking into marketing, you need not worry about learning how to work the software. A general marketing person needs to have good ideas and good social skills. If you want to work in the Creative team, brush up on your sense of design, make sure you know enough about the apps so you can effectively communicate with the ad agency, but again, no need for you to dwell any deeper. If what interests you is actually making ads, join an ad agency.




irmongoose