Companies seeking employees in their marketing departments commonly look for marketing qualifications that include research, design and implementation, and evaluation of marketing campaigns. Marketing qualifications that also might be deemed important include experience with digital marketing and social media. If companies operate in a specific field, such as the fashion industry or residential construction, marketing qualifications might be tailored to that particular industry.
One marketing qualification generally desired is the ability to conduct surveys and use focus groups to gather information. A marketing specialist or marketing manager looks for trends in the industry and examines what the competition is doing to capture customers. From the information gathered during the research phase, a marketing program can be designed and put into action. These plans typically use data on customer behavior and include ways to reach new clients.
Measuring the effectiveness of a campaign represents another valuable marketing qualification sought by employers. People with this skill are able to determine the short-term and long-term financial impacts of a marketing campaign and weigh the cost versus the benefit. Some companies focus on relationship marketing qualifications in efforts to retain current customers. Strategies to reach these goals might constitute important qualifications in a marketing professional.
Minimum educational qualifications typically include an associate’s degree in advertising, communications, or business administration. Some companies require certification from organizations devoted to the public relations, marketing, or advertising professions. A combination of experience and education might be acceptable in some firms, but higher education is generally required in large companies or in management positions. Small organizations typically promote from within, and may hire entry-level marketing assistants with little experience and put them through an in-house training program.
A growing area of marketing makes use of the Internet to mass market products or services. Digital marketing qualifications usually include familiarity with social media sites as a form of interactive marketing. Some companies also require desktop publishing experience to enable design of marketing materials. Understanding the basic principles of marketing and how they evolved via technology represents an asset in this line of work.
Marketing professionals use information about the region where they work and the economic climate to forecast future sales goals. They might keep abreast of marketing law that covers truth-in-advertising and corporate responsibility trends. They aim to protect the company’s reputation by assessing social change and environmental impacts of products the company sells. Ethics in dealing with customers is generally an area of study for marketing employees.
