A Note on Entry-Level Marketing Positions
One common misconception among individuals aspiring to enter the marketing field is the belief that they must have prior experience to secure a job. However, this couldn't be further from the truth. Many entry-level marketing positions provide on-the-job training and do not require previous experience. Additionally, there are numerous marketing internships available, offering not only compensation but also valuable industry insights, giving interns a competitive edge within their organizations.
Now, let's dive into the world of digital marketing roles.
Product Marketing Roles
Understanding Product Marketing
Product marketing occupies a unique intersection between marketing, product development, and sales. Product marketers are tasked with positioning and messaging new products and features as they enter the market. Their responsibilities extend to both potential customers (prospects and leads) and existing customers. Ensuring that customers understand how to effectively use products and stay informed about new features is crucial. Equally important is equipping sales teams with the knowledge to discuss the products they sell. Product marketers play a pivotal role in bridging these areas, ensuring smooth operations and consistency.
Insights from an Expert
"Product marketing is the ultimate cross-functional marketing role. We shape the positioning, messaging, and go-to-market strategy for our products. We also collaborate closely with Sales and Customer Success to boost demand and adoption in the market. It's a dynamic and ever-evolving role." – Heather Widman, Director of Product Marketing at WordStream
“The customer is not a moron; she is your wife.”
Product Marketing Specialist
- Average base salary: $69,500
- Experience: 2-5+ years
- Key Skills: Strong verbal and written communication, attention to detail, analytical mindset, multitasking capability
Responsibilities:
- Conduct competitive research by analyzing competitor marketing and sales materials
- Utilize exceptional writing skills to create blog posts, white papers, webinars, case studies, and other product marketing materials
- Identify customer insights and stories to develop, implement, and manage testimonial and referral programs
- Collaborate with marketing, tech, and sales teams to contribute to product roadmaps
- Extract relevant insights from online and customer data
Product Marketing Manager
- Average base salary: $113,200
- Experience: 3-5+ years
- Key Skills: Excellent verbal and written communication, strong organizational and program management abilities, consistent meeting of deadlines
Responsibilities:
- Lead the development of communication tools and collateral to promote new features, functionality, and services to both prospects and existing customers
- Cultivate and maintain in-depth knowledge of buyer and customer profiles
- Organize and facilitate client meetings and forums to advocate for new products and gather feedback
- Provide strategic messaging to empower the sales and marketing teams in crafting proposal templates, presentations, data sheets, website content, pitches, and other collateral
Director of Product Marketing
- Average base salary: $167,000
- Experience: 7-10+ years
- Key Skills: Exceptional verbal and written communication, adept at managing multiple projects and stakeholders, skilled in developing operational KPIs and utilizing data, strong leadership skills under pressure
Responsibilities:
- Communicate performance metrics to key executive stakeholders across the organization
- Collaborate with engineering leadership to strike a balance between speed-to-market and value
- Act as an internal and external authority on product knowledge and implementation
- Continuously introduce product innovations to enhance KPIs related to revenue scale, scope, frequency, and reliability, guiding significant business decisions
Content Marketing Positions
Unpacking Content Marketing
Content marketing involves creating and distributing valuable, informative, and relevant content to a well-defined audience. The goal is to engage this audience effectively, whether through website visits, sales, or content downloads. While blog posts (long-form content) are a common form of marketing content, other formats include newsletters, emails, white papers, landing pages, product descriptions, and more.
Content Marketing Specialist
- Average base salary: $50,400
- Experience: 1-3+ years
- Key Skills: Strong writing and grammatical skills, adaptability in writing styles, keen eye for editing, meeting deadlines, familiarity with SEO best practices
Responsibilities:
- Generate search-friendly blog content that provides value to prospects and readers by conceptualizing, proposing, researching, and composing it
- Create content for landing pages, product descriptions, white papers, newsletters, social media campaigns, and other collateral
- Edit various content types for both print and digital formats
- Possess a general grasp of SEO tactics, including link building, site structure, image optimization, keyword-centric copywriting, and keyword research
Content Marketing Manager
- Average base salary: $66,100
- Experience: 3-7+ years
- Key Skills: Exceptional writing and grammatical skills, comprehensive understanding of SEO best practices, ability to analyze traffic and conversion data, adept at coordinating and managing in-house/freelance writer teams, capability to generate blog topics
Responsibilities:
- Use keyword research to generate blog topics aligned with specific business objectives
- Oversee in-house/freelance writer teams and implement content calendars and schedules
- Deliver content to support inbound marketing, demand generation, sales enablement, and other initiatives
- Collaborate with designers, product marketers, and sales teams to plan the production of videos, case studies, website copy, and various digital and print marketing collateral
