Marketing Manager
Career information and advice on being a Marketing Manager

As the Marketing Manager of a company you would report directly to the Marketing Director and be responsible for managing the operations of the Marketing Department.

You would be called upon to organise and direct business activities involved in matching a product or service to consumer demand. This includes:

• Evaluating customer insight
• Reviewing product demand/ development
• Ensuring the right distribution channels are utilised
• Executing effective and consistent marketing communications

Your work would be directed by the marketing plan that you would have helped put together with the Marketing Director. This plan would outline a timeline for marketing communications and any new product developments. It would also define your budget in addition to articulating the measure of success. You will be expected to deliver the plan within budget, on time and achieve the expected return on investment.

Your Functions May include

As the Marketing Manager you will ultimately take responsibility for the full spectrum of the marketing mix.

Your main responsibility will be managing the marketing team to achieve your business targets.  This means that it will be your responsibility to take the lead in marketing activities by motivating and allocating tasks to your Marketing Executives. You will also be expected to evaluate your team’s performance and reward or discipline them accordingly.

The marketing director will expect you to assist in the development of marketing plans and budgets. To do this you and your team would be expected to summarise detailed market intelligence and reporting to inform any plans you might make.

The marketing plans will provide you and your team with the opportunity to develop a variety of marketing campaigns. This will often involve briefing a number of agencies, these include:

• Creative Agencies – A creative agency will come up with ideas for your marketing communications
• Media Agencies – A media agency will advise on relevant channels of communication
• PR Agencies – Will help raise awareness of your company or product

You will ensure that all marketing communications convey the right message at the right place at the right time. You will also ensure that all marketing communications adhere to the brand guidelines. Lastly, all communications must be legally compliant with relevant codes of practice.

The Marketing Director must be kept informed of your various campaign’s development so that once you’re happy for your marketing campaign to go live the marketing director’s approval will be a formality.
 
You may also be required to organise the production of posters, brochures and websites and attending trade shows, conferences and sales meetings.