To answer the question of whether you should pursue a career in marketing, you should ask yourself a series of sub-questions.
- Is Marketing right for you?
Just as any other career, marketing is not for everyone. You need to possess a set of qualities that match with the skills you need to become a successful marketer. Although marketers do come from different backgrounds, there are some personality traits they tend to have in common;
- Creative and self-motivated
- Persuasive and approachable
- Able to work in a team
- Detail-oriented and efficient
- Able to make last minute changes
- Able to be both a leader and a follower
- Up To-date on trends
- Able to understand customer needs
The list of course doesn’t end here, but now you have an idea of the basic qualities you need to possess.
- Is it a career you will enjoy?
A typical marketing job involves data collecting, budgeting and developing marketing strategies. The aspect of marketing that most people find exciting however is, coming up with creative marketing campaigns. You must have come across successful marketing campaigns by big brands such as Nike. For example, Nike’s “Find Your Greatness” Campaign, which was focused on identifying with the inner athlete in you, since most of Nike’s customers are not professional athletes, rather normal people who are into sports wear.
As a marketer, coming up with engaging and thought provoking campaigns like this will be a big part of your job. Whether you find this enjoyable or not however, really depends on you.