Jobs in marketing

If you've got digital skills, an innovative mind and the drive to keep up with the latest industry developments then there are plenty of marketing jobs you could do

Advertising account executive

You'll need to be a skilled communicator, as you'll be the point of contact between the advertising agency and its clients. This means being familiar with what the customer wants in terms of the campaign and budget.

You don't need a degree to become an advertising account executive, but a relevant degree or work experience could be pivotal in getting a role in a very competitive sector.

Starting salaries range from £19,000 to £24,000, but you could be on £40,000 with experience.

Learn more about the role of an advertising account executive.

Advertising account planner

Planning and creating  advertising campaigns will take creativity, communication skills and the ability to analyse and act upon data. A large part of your job will be liaising with clients as well as working on campaigns.

Open to all graduates, but candidates holding degrees that require applied research skills and a wide knowledge, such as psychology and economics, may be looked upon favourably.

Salaries start between £18,000 and £22,000, rising to between £30,000 and £45,000 with a few years' experience.

Gain an insight into the role of an advertising account planner.

Advertising art director

This role involves working out the visual elements of an advertising campaign, working alongside other teams to craft the finished product. This may involve pitching storyboards or rough drafts to clients and then working in an editing room.

This is a role open to all graduates but degrees in advertising or art-related roles could be especially useful.

A typical starting salary is between £20,000 and £25,000, but some experience and proof of successful campaigns could take you up to £45,000.

Take a look at the advertising art director job profile.

Advertising copywriter

A copywriter writes the text for advertising campaigns, so for this role you'll be working with other teams to build and release a campaign that the client is happy with. Your job may involve thinking of catchphrases and scripts for TV or radio adverts.

A degree that showcases your writing ability, such as journalism, would help your chances when applying, but it's your abilities that matter more to employers. You could strengthen your application by gaining work experience or ensuring your degree has a vocational element to it.

Starting salaries for junior copywriters are around £20,000 to £25,000, with the potential of reaching up to £50,000 with a few years' experience.

To find out more about salary expectations, see advertising copywriter.

Creative director

You will lead advertising campaigns with the bigger picture in mind. Rather than focus on a single campaign at a time, you'll oversee multiple and provide guidance to the marketing department.

Usually candidates who get these roles have several years' experience and a humanities degree.

Salaries for advertising creatives start at £20,000 to £28,000, with the potential to reach £40,000 to £60,000 with experience.

See more about being a creative director.

Digital copywriter

Responsible for writing content on a webpage that often persuades someone to buy a product or service. You might be employed by the company or work freelance.

This isn't something you need a specific degree for but having a portfolio that demonstrates your writing skills will help your application.

Starting salaries for junior copywriters range between £22,000 and £30,000 a year. However, in three of four years you could be earning up to £40,000.

Take a look at skills you'll need to become a digital copywriter.

Digital marketer

This role involves pushing your products and content by various means, including search engine optimisation (SEO) and pay-per-click campaigns. You'll also be interpreting and acting on user data to learn what works and what doesn't with techniques like A/B testing.

A graduate marketing scheme will usually require a 2:1 degree along with an online profile or your own website to demonstrate your interest for the sector and make you a standout candidate.

Entry-level salaries for digital marketing positions are around £22,000 to £25,000, but you could be pushing £28,000 with a few years' experience.

Find out more about being a digital marketer.

Market researcher

You'll become a specialist in doing both quantitative and qualitative research that accurately represents a target audience.

Effective communication skills and the ability to analyse will prove advantageous in your application. A relevant degree in maths or statistics is also expected.

Market researchers usually earn between £20,000 and £25,000 per year, and around £35,000 with some experience.

Learn more about being a market researcher.

Marketing executive

This job involves working as part of large team to bring attention to products and services through projects and campaigns. You'll liaise with many departments on a daily basis so communication skills are a must.

The role is open to all graduates, but a degree and relevant experience will strengthen your application. If you don't have much experience, entry through an apprenticeship and or as a marketing assistant is an option.

If you start as a marketing assistant, you'll be looking at a salary of £18,000 to £22,000, but marketing executives can earn between £20,000 and £30,000 with the potential to reach up to £45,000 after five years.

Discover more about the role of a marketing executive.

Media buyer

You'll usually be working for an agency and with more than one client at a time to ensure promotional campaigns reach the highest number of people.

Working with multiple clients demands organisational skills, as well as a talent for presenting - for which you'll need to be aware of industry terms. A relevant degree is useful but not essential.

You will start on a salary of between £18,000 and £25,000 with the potential to reach £26,000 to £35,000 in a few years.

See what skills it takes to be a media buyer.

Media planner

Within the marketing team your job is to identify the best platforms for advertising and maximise the effectiveness of each one.

You'll most likely need a relevant degree in an area such as advertising, business or statistics. You'll also need a good grasp of spreadsheets and data analysis.

The staring salary of a media planner is anywhere between £15,000 and £22,000, but this can get as high as £40,000 with experience.

Check out the media planner job profile.

PPC specialist

'Pay-per-click' adverts appear at the top of search engines if the 'bid' is higher than the one below it. That bid is only paid on each occasion the advert is clicked, so learning how to convert clicks to sales is the skillset you'll master.

A degree is usually expected for this role but researching and practising with PPC will impress recruiters and could sway an application.

PPC specialists earn salaries of £18,000 to £25,000 upon entry into the profession. This could increase to £45,000 after five years' experience.

Discover what it takes to be a PPC specialist.

Product manager

You're responsible for analysing the success of a product as well as identifying the direction it should go in moving forward. You'll need the attentiveness to listen to your peers and audience, but you'll also need to be creative.

A business-related degree along with experience and a good network of contacts will help you to be successful in this job.

The starting salary for a product manager varies, at entry level you can earn between £25,000 and £40,000. At a senior level, this figure is closer to £60,000.

Read more about being a product manager.

Public affairs consultant

A role advising clients on their company policy will be good for those with a solid understanding of politics and current affairs. You'll need excellent research skills and equally good communication.

A degree in politics, public relations or journalism will certainly help your application, but knowledge and personal qualities won't be ignored and may even be valued more.

You'll be earning a salary between £18,000 and £25,000 upon graduating, but once you're established you can expect something closer to £25,000 to £45,000.

Learn about the role of a public affairs consultant.

Public relations officer

Public relations (PR) is about having a good sense of how a company appears to their target audience, so you'll need interpersonal skills and a grasp on business.

It would therefore be helpful to have a qualification related to business, especially as PR is a competitive field. A postgraduate qualification may be worth exploring to increase your chances of entry.

PR officers usually have a starting salary of £18,000 to £24,000, rising to £40,000 for those in senior roles.

To find out more see the public relations officer job profile.

Sales promotion account executive

This is a creative role that requires you to think of marketing strategies to gain your audience's attention. This could involve samples, coupons and competitions, but often companies like to think outside the box.

You may not need a degree, but it would be advisable to pick up some industry knowledge. Recruiters will be looking for enthusiasm and initiative, as well as relevant qualifications.

To start with you'd be on a salary of £18,000 to £24,000. Depending on your experience this could rise to £38,000.

Check out the sales promotion account executive profile.

SEO specialist

You'll work on drawing website visitors organically by learning the search engine algorithms, and by optimising content so it ranks highly. A good way to build your knowledge and experience of this is through your own blog or website.

Many universities have SEO postgraduate courses. Alternatively, you could do an online course or enter through a graduate scheme.

At entry level you can earn around £18,000, which increases to £28,000 at an agency. With experience you can expect up to £36,000.

Discover more about what being an SEO specialist involves.

Social media manager

This role will require a broad knowledge of social media and a grasp on trends. You'll maintain your company’s social accounts with regular content and analyse data/impressions.

Employers place a lot of emphasis on experience and what you can personally bring to the role.. There isn't often a qualification requirement for a role such as this, but there are courses and apprenticeships you can do if you'd like to beat the competition.

In assistant/junior roles you can expect a salary between £19,000 and £25,000, rising to £30,000 to £40,000 with experience. Freelance rates range from £15 to £25 per hour.

Learn more about the social media manager role.

Web content manager

In this job you'll be responsible for maintaining an organisation’s website, in terms of structure, usability and updating the content. Strong IT skills will help you excel, but you'll also need an eye for detail and excellent grammar.

English-related degree subjects will put you in good stead for roles that involve writing copy. It could be worth picking up some practical experience beforehand, as it's generally held to a higher regard than qualifications.

Web content coordinator salaries start between £20,000 and £25,000, but once you're in a management role you could earn up to £40,000.

Learn more about how you can become a web content manager.

Find out more

• See what the marketing, advertising and PR sector has to offer.
• Discover more about marketing graduate schemes.
• Learn about available marketing apprenticeships.