Marketing Manager

What is a Marketing Manager?

These days, companies often employ Marketing Managers regardless of the sector they operate in. The role of a Marketing Manager is not always easy to define, especially as it is often multi-faceted. However, its guiding principle tends to be marketing, which is not only a form of communication, but also a means of listening, building relationships and creating value.

In essence, marketing managers coordinate all activities that precede the sale of a product (or a product line). Their job therefore consists of studying the market and then developing and testing a product in order to ensure perfect feedback. They are also responsible for periodically updating products in order to keep them relevant and competitive.

Specific duties obviously vary from company to company. In general, however, it’s often possible to distinguish between sales managers for large companies and those for medium-sized ones. In the first instance, employees tend to manage individual products, lines and entire company branches, while in the second instance, they tend to research and introduce various success strategies, while ensuring that they remain functional.

 

What does a Marketing Manager do?

A sales manager’s job description is actually fairly complex. This is because the role of a Marketing Manager often evolves in conjunction with extreme and sudden market changes. However, they are often considered to have a pivotal role in most companies. So what do they actually do? They coordinate activities regarding the launch and sale of a product or service.

A Sales Manager’s duties can vary according to the company. In small businesses, Marketing Managers tend to have a more operational and concrete role. This means that they often oversee a range of aspects, from promotion to sales strategies, to branding and business. In medium-to-large companies, Sales & Marketing Managers tend to oversee specific products, before eventually managing entire brands or product lines after years of experience, assuming more and more responsibility over time. Sales Director must converse with a number of different business areas. In fact, they often have contact with the design, production, property and creative departments, as well as the finance management area.

More specifically, sales managers often start off by studying the market and defining the audience they want to target. Marketing Directors also deal with analysing the competition, as well as developing and testing products. Individuals in this role often evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the product they are hoping to sell, before periodically updating it in order to guarantee that it meets user needs.

Marketing Managers are also required to organise press conferences and interviews, manage the press office, create events, demonstrations and sponsorships, and manage relations with stakeholders. Those who join this profession must possess good analytical skills, know how to structure market research and define budgets and have a good handle on statistics. Knowledge of sales distribution channels, communication principles and sales techniques is also often required. And finally, foreign language skills and an ability to relate to very different people is vital.

How do you become a Marketing Manager?

What skills does a sales manager need to possess? In order to become a Marketing Manager, you often need to have a degree in economics coupled with a post-graduate qualification, such as a Master’s degree. Alternatively, you could study for a degree in communication sciences, before completing a Master’s degree as a basis to get started in the profession.

This is often a key step, because unfortunately, undergraduate university courses tend to only touch upon online marketing topics, such as SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), Search Engine Marketing, Email Marketing and optimising Conversion Rates. These are important tools for high performing individuals and can only be learned by completing a Master’s degree.

 

How much can a Marketing Manager expect to earn?

What is a sales manager’s average salary? Given that it is a highly sought-after key role within companies, Marketing Managers can expect to earn between €90,000 and €120,000 a year. With a decent amount of experience, this can increase to up to €150,000. How much a sales manager earns depends on their responsibilities, their CV and their experience: the greater the skills, the higher the salary.

 

How a Marketing Master’s from BBS could help you to become a Marketing Manager

Bologna Business School offers a Master’s in Marketing and Sales Management that allows student to get started in the profession and to make the most of immediate professional opportunities. The course allows students to learn the tools and techniques needed to manage a company’s sales and marketing department, guaranteeing a high level of education. Thanks to theoretical and practical courses, students learn to analyse, communicate and build the value of a product, creating an effective positioning strategy and identifying the best distribution network.

The Bologna Business School Master’s degree is a 12 month course divided into two cycles of classroom lectures, followed by a final internship at a prestigious company. Students will have the opportunity to get to grips with the multi-faceted profession from the get go. The programme was created in order to train the managers of tomorrow in collaboration with large companies, alternating between marketing management content and case studies with a business, group or individual project focus.