Marketing managers help plan and execute campaigns that communicate a brand or organization’s message to its target audience.

“As a marketing manager, you’re really responsible for a wide variety of strategic and marketing communications projects,” says Robin Meeks, associate vice president of marketing and communications at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma. Meeks has worked in marketing for more than two decades, including a few years as a marketing manager.

The exact job duties can differ according to the industry that you’re employed in – for example, whether the role is with a private company, a tourism bureau or a higher education institution – but a marketing manager generally is responsible for crafting plans that create interest for a product or service. For instance, in higher education, a marketing manager may create a plan to help the university meet its enrollment goals.

In addition to creating and executing marketing plans, duties may include hiring and overseeing a marketing team, meeting with clients or stakeholders, doing market research, and evaluating the success of a campaign after its launch.

“When I worked in that role at the University of Arizona, I was responsible for understanding what the goals were overall, where the students needed to come from, and how many students needed to be there,” Meeks says. “And then I needed to come up with campaigns that would attract those students.” The angle or scope of a marketing campaign could differ depending on whether it was targeted at local residents or designed to recruit students from other states.

Marketing managers should have a broad understanding of the various aspects involved in a marketing campaign. And they must work well with other stakeholders, including art directors, financial staff members and heads of other departments.

“It’s an amazing opportunity to see a wide swath of an organization because marketing hits so many areas,” Meeks says. “So you have that kind of catbird seat to see across an amazing organization and how it works. And you learn so much from all those different entities, where you can drive the product or service.”

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 6.6% employment growth for marketing managers between 2022 and 2032. In that period, an estimated 23,700 jobs should open up

People interested in entering the field should generally have a bachelor’s degree in marketing or something related, such as journalism, communications or advertising. Because there are many aspects of marketing, those who want to pursue a career in this field should also have an understanding of both digital marketing and social media.

Completing an internship is imperative for learning the realities of marketing management and is a valuable experience for demonstrating that you are an asset to future employers.

“The key thing as an intern is that you want to have demonstrated success,” Meeks says, emphasizing that interns should “participate fully” in the marketing process.

After graduating from college with a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field and completing an internship, marketing hopefuls should apply for an entry-level position. During this introduction to the business, they should learn all they can and show they can accept more responsibilities, thereby opening the door for promotions.

Anyone who hopes to pursue a marketing management position should also be curious about the world around them.

“You have to be interested, in my opinion, in a wide variety of things because you never know when something outside your industry or something that happened in popular culture is going to influence your work,” Meeks says. “And you have to be prepared – always having a really strong skill set, understanding the trends, and then being able to execute against that.”