What Marketing Careers Are Right For Me? Quiz

The marketing career path is unique because it’s fitting for people with all types of interests and strengths. For example, very creative people might apply their writing skills to marketing careers in copywriting or email marketing. Data-oriented people in the field may use their technical skills to determine what marketing campaigns perform best.

Marketing careers appeal to a wide range of people, but how do you figure out what career in marketing is right for you? In this guide, we’ll review some of the main types of careers in marketing and share a free, fun quiz that tells you what marketing careers best match your interests, strengths, personality, and goals.

What Are Careers in Marketing?

Marketing careers encompass a diverse range of roles focused on promoting products, services, and brands to target audiences. These professionals work across various industries, from tech startups and established consumer goods companies to non-profit organizations and large banks. The primary goal of a marketer is to create and implement strategies that connect the business they work for with its potential users or customers.

How do marketers connect businesses with users or customers? That’s where different marketing jobs come into play. Some marketers are focused on specific channels, like social media or email, while others are focused on using certain tools to gain insights about target audiences — like conducting market research or analyzing consumer data. 

Whether you’re drawn to the creative aspects of brand storytelling, the analytical side of data-driven decision making, or the strategic elements of campaign planning, marketing careers offer a dynamic and evolving landscape for professionals to make their mark.

Marketing Careers Job Outlook

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the job outlook for marketing managers is promising. Employment in this field is projected to grow 8% from 2023 to 2033, which is faster than the average for all occupations. 

As of May 2023, the mean annual wage for marketing managers was $166,410, making it a potentially lucrative career path for those with the right skills and experience.

Main Types of Marketing Careers

Marketing is all about connecting users with companies and their products. Different marketing careers are usually distinguished not by what products they market but how they connect users to those products — typically, by the type of channels they work on. For example, some people in marketing might work specifically on social media, while others might work on blog articles. 

The right type of marketing for you will depend on what strengths you’re interested in leveraging — whether that’s writing, design, or event planning — and what work environment you’re looking for.

Digital Marketing

Digital marketing is an umbrella term for marketing that focuses on communicating with users online, including social media, content, and email marketing.

This type of marketing aims to connect with users via digital channels — aka, through computers or phones. For example, a social media marketing manager will try to promote a company’s brand by organizing, planning, posting, and engaging on different social media platforms. An email marketing specialist will focus on email campaigns for a brand, whether drafting emails about new products or sales or creating an email welcome flow for new users.

Types of marketing jobs in digital marketing include:

• Community manager: builds and nurtures online communities around a brand
• Content Writer: creates written material for various marketing channels, including blog posts, articles, whitepapers, and website copy 
• Digital communications manager: oversees all digital communication efforts, coordinating content across various online platforms to ensure consistent brand messaging and engagement
• Email marketer: designs and implements email campaigns, focusing on list management, content creation, and performance analysis 
• Search engine optimization (SEO) strategist: develops and executes strategies to improve a website’s visibility in search engine results, optimizing content and technical aspects to increase organic traffic
• Social media strategist: plans and manages a company’s presence across social media platforms, creating content strategies, analyzing performance, and leveraging trends
• Web marketing manager: oversees all aspects of a company’s online marketing efforts, including website optimization, digital advertising, content strategy, and analytics

Product Marketing

Product marketing is closer to sales and (shockingly!) the product side of marketing, which works to promote a specific product or service to a target audience. What’s different about this type of marketing is that people in these careers work closely with the product team to understand the product on a more granular level. These professionals often also do more market research to understand the target audience and who they’re positioning the product to.

For example, a product marketing manager might develop and execute a launch strategy for a product; a market research analyst might research similar companies and analyze their products.

Types of marketing jobs in product marketing include:

• Brand assistant: supports brand managers in maintaining brand consistency and implementing marketing initiatives
• Digital product marketing manager: develops and executes marketing strategies for digital products or services
• Go-to-market manager: plans and oversees the launch of new products or services into the market
• Product evangelist: promotes products through public speaking, content creation, and community engagement
• Product launch specialist: coordinates all aspects of introducing a new product to the market
• Product marketing manager: develops positioning and messaging for products, and creates marketing strategies to drive sales

Event Marketing

Event marketing is, quite literally, all about events! These marketers create and host live and virtual events like conferences and webinars to promote a brand, product, or service. Sometimes, these roles might be more logistical, focusing on booking venues, building vendor relationships, and managing invite lists. Other times, they might focus on developing event collateral, like presentations or pamphlets.

Types of marketing jobs in event marketing include:

• Brand experience manager: designs and manages customer interactions with the brand across various touchpoints
• Event coordinator: organizes and manages logistics for marketing events and trade shows
• Event producer: oversees the creative direction and execution of marketing events
• Event sponsorship manager: secures and manages sponsorships for marketing events
• Experiential marketing manager: creates immersive brand experiences to engage customers in memorable ways

Growth Marketing

While marketing is often considered a creative career, it also requires some data know-how to analyze the effectiveness of different campaigns — especially if you’re in growth marketing. Growth marketing is a data-driven field that focuses on acquiring and retaining users through rapid experimentation.

Technically, growth marketing can encompass all different types of marketing, including digital, product, and event marketing. It focuses on experimenting with many different tactics to optimize growth. Growth marketers need to be analytical and strategic to figure out what channels are working and how to improve their growth.

Types of marketing jobs in growth marketing include:

• Conversion rate optimization (CRO) specialist: analyzes and improves website elements to increase the percentage of visitors who take desired actions
• Growth analyst: uses data analysis to identify opportunities for business growth and expansion
• Growth hacker: employs creative, low-cost strategies to acquire and retain users rapidly
• Growth marketing manager: develops and implements strategies to drive user acquisition, activation, and retention
• User acquisition specialist: focuses on attracting new users or customers through various marketing channels and tactics

What Types of Marketing Careers Are Right for You? Quiz

How to Land a Career in Marketing

Now that you’ve taken the quiz and know what careers in marketing suit you, how do you actually land them? We talked to marketing experts to get the gist.

Build the Right Skills

“For students interested in marketing, nailing down strong analytical skills to make data-driven decisions, adaptability to embrace constant change and new trends, and top-notch communication abilities to convey marketing messaging clearly and persuasively are crucial,” says Ricci Masero, marketing manager at Intellek.

• Analytical skills: While marketing is a creative career, you also need to get comfortable with numbers to understand what campaigns or strategies are successful and which are not. “Being a numbers geek who can analyze data and spot patterns ensures your efforts are rooted in facts, not assumptions,” Masero says.
• Adaptability skills: “Marketing moves at lightning speed, so you also need to be able to adapt seamlessly as new technologies and consumer behaviors emerge — rigidity won’t fly,” Masero explains. 
• Communication skills: If one crucial part of marketing is coming up with marketing strategies, another (just as) important part is sharing those strategies with stakeholders. “Communicating your strategic vision and building buy-in from clients, teams, and the public through excellent written and verbal skills is essential for success in this dynamic field,” notes Masero.

Stay on the Pulse

Marketing is an ever-changing career. Just think: 10 years ago, there was no TikTok, and now, many companies use it as a social media marketing tool. It’s crucial to stay up to date with the latest channels and trends to figure out what channels are popular and what audiences are resonating with. 

“The field of marketing changes quickly, and real-world experience matters significantly,” says Cesar Cobo, COO of Webris, a legal marketing agency. “It’s essential to keep abreast of changing trends and work on real projects, even as simple as a social media page or a blog. Understanding what works in a practical scenario often outweighs theoretical knowledge. So, gain actual work experience, stay curious, and always be ready to learn something new.”

>>MORE: Get real-world experience and learn what marketing roles are like with Forage job simulations.

Kim Bode, principal at 8THIRTYFOUR, an integrated communications company, says that students interested in marketing careers should never stop learning — even after they graduate.

“Read industry publications and books, go to events and seminars, get certified in all the things,” she says. “The marketing industry changes constantly, and that means professionals need to change with it.”

Be a Part-Time Data Analyst…

While marketing requires a lot of creativity, data is an essential part of any marketing role to measure impact. Cobo shares how starting in the digital and data realm translated well into a marketing role later in his career:

“I kick-started my career as a data analyst with a small startup, which allowed me to understand and interpret critical customer behavior and trends,” Cobo says. “This data-driven mindset became my secret weapon in the succeeding roles and eventually earned me the COO position at Webris. With analytic abilities and a knack for multilingual search marketing, I help create data-driven campaigns that result in success for our clients.”

…and a Part-Time Writer and Speaker

“Write, write, write,” Bode says. “Everything we do in this industry is about content — writing for ads, campaigns, long-form, public relations, emails, and even AI prompts. The best way to grow your writing skills is to practice. Set up a blog, and write about whatever you are passionate about. It doesn’t matter what it is about; practice makes perfect.”

Nikita Walia, founder and CEO of BLANK, a marketing consulting agency, recommends sharing your writing work with a larger audience to flex your communication skills. 

“Sharing your thinking as a young marketer is the best thing you can do for yourself,” she says. “Share articles you’re reading on LinkedIn with light commentary. As you build your writing muscle, you become more confident and a better communicator. A lot of marketing careers involve meeting new people and presenting your ideas. I took a lot of drama classes and improv classes growing up, and they gave me the confidence to think on my feet and speak to a crowd.”

Get a Wide Range of Experience…

Because marketing careers often involve many different strategies and channels, understanding various tactics and parts of the funnel can be helpful in any type of marketing.

Walter Prystowsky, director of marketing at The TemPositions Group of Companies, shares how his marketing career began by working in a bunch of different focus areas:

“I got my start in marketing in a dermatology office that was launching a skincare line,” he says. “As a startup, I had my hands in manufacturing, packaging, public relations, marketing, fulfillment, and sales. I worked with the manufacturer to make the product; procured and designed the primary and secondary packaging; ran a consumer perception study; designed the website; created all sales collateral; fulfilled all orders; and actively wheeled a suitcase door-to-door to make sales at pharmacies, salons, and other beauty shops. It was a good role that exposed me to many sides of marketing. Package design, web development, e-commerce, graphic design, social media, consumer perception, merchandising, and direct marketing were all wrapped up into one position.”

…then, Get Granular With Your Responsibilities

While marketing can encompass a wide range of activities, it’s essential to set boundaries on how much you can accomplish in a specific role. In the interview process, make sure you get clarity about exactly what the company requires of you and your performance expectations.

“Do not let companies bully you into doing the job of five to eight people,” Walia says. “Look out for roles that expect you to manage several social channels, the website, email marketing, and beyond. That is not a fair role for anyone. And make sure companies are clear about whether they expect you to be an on-camera talent! These are all separate roles, and while exposure to different parts of the funnel is a learning opportunity, it’s also a way to burn out.”

Marketing Careers: The Bottom Line

Marketing attracts many different types of professionals — from creatives to extroverts to data-driven minds. That’s why there are so many kinds of marketing careers, depending on what channels you’re interested in! If you’re a writer looking to apply your copy skills, digital marketing might be an excellent fit for you; if you’re more of a people person who loves to get groups together, you might love event marketing.

No matter what kind of marketing you decide to pursue, analytical, adaptability, and communication skills will get you far. This fast-moving field requires creativity and strategy to succeed — yet it’s a rare and unique opportunity to combine different skill sets.

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