Tasks that marketers perform in a company
Marketers take several forms – they can be entrepreneurial and own their own business, or they can act as consultants or advisers or work in agencies to help existing companies, or they can work in a marketing role inside a company. In this article I will discuss various tasks and roles that marketers do working for a larger organization.
In most large organizations, there is an array of marketing personnel that undertake different tasks. At a top level, marketing is responsible for enhancing the long-term profitability of an organization. This is typically achieved through the development and implementation of an appropriate marketing strategy. This leads to the identification of marketing being delivered at two levels – strategic and tactical.
Two levels of marketing
Senior marketers – that is marketing personnel that have typically 10+ years’ experience – are more likely to operate at a strategic level of marketing. What they typically do is think about HOW a firm can increase its level of profitability.
They are thinking about how to build the firm’s brand, what range of new products should they consider bringing the market, what is the best way to compete against aggressive competitors, how can they build stronger relationships with customers and other partners, how can they expanded to new markets, and so on.
These types of decisions and strategic approaches differ significantly by companies. For example, Coca-Cola has essentially remained a beverage only company, whereas Pepsi-Cola has diversified somewhat into snack foods and, in the past, fast food restaurants. Therefore, this demonstrates that two relatively similar organizations can pursue very different strategies.
Tactical level
In the first 10 years or so of your marketing career, you will be primarily involved in the implementation of marketing tactics. These tactics will flow from the strategic marketing plan that has been developed a more senior level (see above).
There are a variety of marketing program activities that will need execution – depending on where you work and the scope of your role, as well as the industry you work in, you will be involved in some of these day-to-day activities;
- Advertising and promotional materials
- Direct and digital marketing campaigns
- Marketing research
- Analysis of consumer database information
- Execution of corporate events
- Sponsorships programs
- Generation of publicity and the issue of media releases
- Products development tasks
- Training of sales people
- Internal marketing
- Merchandising
- Packaging decisions and implementation
- Confirming compliance with legislation – for promotion and packaging
- Analysis of competitors
- Pricing recommendations
- Development of sales and trade promotions
- Signage
- Social media – response and content creation
- General marketing support
As you can see, the scope of the role is enormous – depending on your role in marketing and your industry. As highlighted in the section on “is a marketing career for me?”, some people thrive on the variety and challenge of marketing, whereas others are more suited to a stable and consistent work environment.
Plus you can take the marketing career quiz that is available on this site.
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