Who is a marketer and why this profession is so in demand

At the time of writing this article, almost 8 thousand vacancies for marketers in our country are open on HeadHunter. We understand what marketers are, how much they earn and how to become one of them

Who is a marketer

A marketer is a specialist who creates a strategy for promoting products and services in order to increase sales and overall company revenue. To do this, he explores the consumer market, follows trends, participates in the creation of advertising campaigns and much more.

A marketer is sometimes confused with a sales employee. But, unlike the latter, the marketer does not interact directly with customers. His work is top-level: for example, the marketer creates a portrait of the target audience, analyzes the strategies of competitors and thinks over a strategy for communicating with customers – which ultimately leads to sales.

Marketers are needed everywhere: in small and medium-sized businesses, and international corporations. There is a special demand for them in advertising and marketing agencies that work with a large number of clients. At the start of their careers, junior marketers on average earn from ₽50, specialists – from ₽000, and department heads – from ₽80.

Key Responsibilities of a Marketer

• Market and competitive environment research

A marketer studies how much a company’s product or service is in demand among consumers. Assesses the dynamics of demand and potential in the market, conducts a comparative analysis with competitors and looks for profitable platforms for promotion.

• Drawing up a portrait of the target audience

It includes gender, age, marital status, place of residence, field of activity, salary level, needs, desires and fears – all factors that will help you understand who and how to sell a product.

• Pricing Management

The cost of goods and services is influenced by such factors as demand, market type, production costs, the level of competition and income of consumers, government price regulation measures and the current economic situation in the country.

• Development and launch of promotion strategies.

The marketer is involved in defining the main tasks of the company and formulating their performance indicators (KPIs). Develops a long-term action plan that will increase the value of the product and its sales. The strategy includes market analysis, a portrait of the target audience and its segmentation, and positioning of the company.

• The development of communications.

Sets the “brand voice” (Tone of Voice) – the style of communication of the company with its audience. Based on it, it generates advertising messages for each promotion channel.

• Analysis of data on the effectiveness of implemented strategies.

Monitors the set KPIs: at what stage are the tasks, how the consumer demand changes, how many sales are received from each promotion channel and what position the company has taken in the market.

What are marketers

Within the direction of “marketing” there are several main professions. Their tasks are very different from each other.

Analyst Marketer

Analyzes and adjusts the marketing strategy based on new data. Advises the sales and project management department, develops recommendations and forecasts for promotion and monitors the success of the marketing strategy.

Internet marketer

Develops strategies and tactics for promoting goods and services in the online environment. He coordinates the work of the company’s websiteengaged in search engine optimization (THIS), increases website traffic, launches contextual advertising campaigns and increases brand awareness on the Internet.

Digital Marketer

Does the same as an Internet marketer, but in addition promotes the company on all digital media outside the network. Uses channels such as TV, SMS and MMS, instant messengers, applications and online games.

Email Marketer

Increases customer base by sending mailing lists. It sets up and segments the client base according to the interests of users, selects attractive content for them, typesets letters and monitors their indicators – deliverability, opens and the number of clicks on links.

Brand Marketer

It increases the recognition of products in the market and the level of consumer confidence. Works in conjunction with the brand manager: the manager forms the emotional values ​​of the company, and the brand marketer promotes them. Also, the brand marketer closely interacts with the company’s partners, advertising agencies and the media and controls the loyalty of the audience.

Product marketer

Engaged in a full cycle of promotion of a particular product. Formulates its values ​​and positioning in the market. The product marketer communicates the benefits of the product to the target audience, and the product manager develops the product itself.

Content marketer

Develops a content plan for materials to promote the brand. Selects newsbreaks and platforms for publications. It can be confused with a content manager who is responsible for preparing materials and controlling their release, but the marketer’s responsibility is the idea and strategy.

SMM marketer

Promotes the company in social networks (VKontakte, Telegram, Odnoklassniki and others). Analyzes user activity, increases the coverage of published materials, the number of subscribers and brand awareness. Most often, an SMM marketer is called an SMM manager.

Trade Marketer

Increases the competitiveness of the company and strengthens its position in the market. Improves communication policy, increases the level of awareness about goods and services. Interacts with investors and partners and speeds up purchasing decisions.

What a marketer should know and be able to do

The required skills depend on the specific profession, but there are several basic ones.

Marketing Basics

How to conduct research, identify the target audience and manage its demand; what is market positioning, what channels to use for promotion, how to segment users and form a marketing strategy.

Analytics fundamentals

A marketer should be able to draw conclusions from statistics, put forward hypotheses and test them, integrate data from analytics systems – Yandex.Metrics and Google Analytics. Study customers and collect information in CRM systems.

Advertising Basics

In particular – contextual (in search engines and websites) and targeted (in social networks). The marketer must have Yandex.Direct and Google Ads: set up advertising campaigns in them and evaluate their effectiveness.

Layout basics

Websites, landing pages or mailing lists – depending on the responsibilities. For example, most often emails are typeset by a marketer. Therefore, it is important for him to be able to use Tilda, MailChimp, UniSender or other services for mailing at least at a basic level. A marketer may not be engaged in layout, but he must be able to assign this task to other specialists.

Basics of Psychology

A marketer must understand the motives of the target audience, how they think, what drives them and how they act in various situations. This knowledge will help make the product or service more attractive to buyers.

Fundamentals of Management

The marketer interacts with the departments of sales, finance, advertising, analytics and projects – almost all departments of the company. He must be able to manage a team, set tasks (for example, в Trello) and monitor their implementation.

Where to study marketing

There is no consensus on whether a marketer needs a higher education. Some say that studying at the university will help to master systemic and integrated approaches, without which further work in the profession is impossible. Others reject this idea and advise to study in intensive online courses, as it is fast and modern.

Successful marketers often “grow” from former techies, mathematicians, sociologists, marketing and PR specialists, and journalists. Now these professions provide quality education at Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Russian University of Economics. G.V. Plekhanov, PFUR, MGIMO, RANEPA and MSTU. N.E. Bauman. After studying at the university, it will take time to learn how to apply the knowledge gained in practice and master the new methods of work that modern companies use.

Also popular are online marketing courses at modern online universities such as Skillbox, Netology, GeekBrains, SkillFactory, QMARKETING and IMBA. Their passage takes no more than six months: during this time, students receive both theory and the necessary skills; they are helped to put together a portfolio and often even find their first job. They also provide a certificate that can be attached to the resume. The disadvantage of online courses is that some companies and employers still require a university degree.