Marketing is a dynamic field with high demand for motivated professionals, even at the entry level. With the right combination of education and experience, you can land an introductory marketing role that launches an exciting career. This overview covers five of the most common entry-level marketing jobs, along with typical responsibilities, required qualifications, and salary expectations.

The entry-level marketing roles covered include:

• Marketing Strategist
• Marketing Analyst
• Marketing Coordinator
• Marketing Assistant
• Marketing Intern

Understanding these positions is key for new marketing grads and career changers looking to get their foot in the door. While entry-level marketing salaries start modest, with experience and proven results, compensation can increase quickly in this high-growth field.

Marketing Strategist Role and Responsibilities

The marketing strategist is responsible for developing, executing, and optimizing marketing campaigns and initiatives. This role creates plans to meet sales and customer acquisition goals.

Common marketing strategist responsibilities include:

• Analyzing market and consumer data to identify trends, insights, and opportunities
• Performing research to understand target buyer personas and behaviors
• Developing marketing plans detailing strategies, tactics, timelines, and budgets
• Designing creative campaign concepts and assets across channels like social media, SEO, email, and more
• Managing campaign execution across internal teams and external vendors
• Measuring performance analytics and optimizing based on results
• Reporting on campaign metrics and presenting results to key stakeholders
• Monitoring budgets and reconciling marketing expenses
• Collaborating cross-functionally with sales, product, and other departments

To succeed as a marketing strategist, you’ll need a mix of hard and soft skills, including:

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, business, communications, or related field
• Strong analytical abilities and data-driven thinking
• Creative problem-solving and campaign design expertise
• Project management skills to juggle multiple initiatives
• Leadership and collaboration skills to work cross-functionally
• Communication and presentation abilities to sell ideas to leadership

The average entry-level marketing strategist salary ranges from $45,000 to $60,000 annually. With a few years of experience delivering successful campaigns, marketing strategists can expect to earn $75,000 to $90,000 per year.

Marketing Analyst Role and Responsibilities

Marketing analysts focus on understanding market trends, consumer behaviors, campaign performance, and other data-driven insights. This role performs quantitative analysis to optimize marketing strategies.

Typical marketing analyst responsibilities include:

• Collecting marketing data from sources like web analytics, CRM systems, social media, surveys, etc.
• Organizing data into reports and visualizations using SQL, Excel, Tableau, etc.
• Identifying key performance indicators and analyzing data to uncover insights
• Creating models to predict customer acquisition, lifetime value, churn, etc.
• Performing statistical tests to measure marketing campaign effectiveness
• Developing recommendations on how to optimize marketing performance based on data
• Monitoring dashboards and reporting on metrics to key stakeholders
• Collaborating with marketing strategists to align analyses with strategic goals

To be an effective marketing analyst, these skills and qualifications are key:

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, statistics, mathematics, analytics, or related quantitative field
• Proficiency with data analytics programs like Excel, SQL, Python, R, etc.
• Statistical modeling, A/B testing, and data visualization abilities
• Analytical thinking and business acumen to interpret data
• Problem-solving skills to turn analyses into strategic recommendations
• Communication skills to present data insights to stakeholders

Entry-level marketing analyst salaries typically start between $50,000 and $65,000. With proven analytics abilities, marketing analysts can make $75,000 to $90,000 annually within a few years.

Marketing Coordinator Role and Responsibilities

Marketing coordinators execute tactical plans across campaigns and projects. They handle vital marketing tasks and processes behind the scenes.

Common responsibilities for a marketing coordinator include:

• Managing marketing project plans, budgets, and calendars
• Coordinating details for campaigns like events, promotions, email sends, etc.
• Liaising between internal marketing teams and external vendors
• Maintaining marketing databases and CRM systems with campaign data
• Assisting with market research initiatives and report generation
• Creating marketing materials like presentations, flyers, banners, etc.
• Monitoring and reporting on marketing campaign performance
• Performing administrative tasks like scheduling meetings, filing paperwork, etc.

To excel as a marketing coordinator, these skills are essential:

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, business, or related field
• Exceptional organizational abilities and attention to detail
• Project management skills to juggle multiple tasks and priorities
• Resourcefulness and problem-solving to handle issues that arise
• Teamwork and communication skills to collaborate cross-functionally
• Tech savvy with various marketing software and databases

Marketing coordinators earn approximately $35,000 to $50,000 in entry-level roles. Within a few years, experienced marketing coordinators can make $55,000 to $70,000 annually.

Marketing Assistant Role and Responsibilities

Marketing assistants provide administrative support to execute marketing campaigns and initiatives. This role handles important behind-the-scenes tasks.

Typical marketing assistant duties include:

• Managing marketing contacts, calendars, and email inboxes
• Coordinating logistics for meetings, events, and travel
• Assisting with market research through data entry and analysis
• Creating marketing materials like presentations, flyers, and graphics
• Proofreading, editing, and formatting marketing collateral
• Monitoring inventory and ordering marketing supplies
• Processing invoices, expenses, budgets, and other financial tasks
• Maintaining organized marketing files and records
• Providing general office support to the marketing department

To be a stellar marketing assistant, these qualifications are key:

• High school diploma or associate degree in marketing, business, or communications
• Exceptional written and verbal communication abilities
• Impeccable organizational skills with great attention to detail
• Proficiency with MS Office, marketing technology, and databases
• Proactive approach to handling numerous tasks and priorities
• Team player with strong collaboration skills

Entry-level marketing assistants earn approximately $30,000 to $40,000 annually. With proven administrative expertise, pay can increase to $40,000 to $50,000 per year.

Marketing Intern Role and Responsibilities

Marketing internships offer hands-on experience to students pursuing a career in the field. These temporary roles build skills and knowledge on the job.

Common marketing intern responsibilities include:

• Assisting with daily marketing tasks and projects as needed
• Conducting market research through surveys, focus groups, data analysis, etc.
• Creating marketing deliverables like blog posts, visual designs, presentations, etc.
• Supporting planning and execution of marketing campaigns and events
• Attending meetings to gain insights into marketing strategies
• Learning to use CRM and marketing automation platforms
• Shadowing marketing professionals to understand roles and responsibilities
• Completing a project of value to share in future job interviews

To land a competitive marketing internship, students should demonstrate:

• Current enrollment in a bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, business, etc.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and marketing technology
• Passion for marketing with an eagerness to learn
• Self-starter attitude and ability to take initiative
• Strong analytical, creative, and problem-solving abilities

Most marketing internships are paid roles earning approximately $15 to $25 per hour. For-credit internships may be unpaid but offer course credit toward a degree.

Tips to Choose the Right Entry-Level Marketing Role For You

With various options for launching a marketing career, how do you choose the right path? Consider the following tips:

Assess your skills and interests. What parts of marketing excite you most? What are your natural strengths? Play to them in your first role.

Align with your educational background. If you majored in statistics, an analyst role utilizes your expertise. A creative degree fits a strategist role.

Define your career goals. Do you want to be a future CMO or agency owner? Consider strategic roles. Prefer staying hands-on? Look at coordinator or assistant jobs.

Research company culture and training. Some firms provide robust onboarding and mentorship. This allows you to learn on the job.

Consider work-life balance. Assistant and coordinator roles tend to offer more regular hours. Strategist and analyst jobs can have tighter deadlines.

Weigh compensation and benefits. Balance higher starting salaries against hectic workloads and frequent travel.

Evaluating options based on all factors will lead you to the right entry-level marketing role.

Actionable Ways to Gain Relevant Marketing Experience

Beyond your degree, how can you get the experience needed to start a marketing career? Here are impactful ways to build your skills and resume:

• Complete internships. Apply for summer marketing internships between academic years.
• Volunteer to work on marketing projects for nonprofits. Offer your skills pro bono to gain experience.
• Take on freelance marketing gigs. Search sites like Upwork to find short-term remote work.
• Start a website, blog, or YouTube channel. Use your own platforms to showcase marketing skills.
• Get Google Analytics certified. Earn free certifications to learn digital marketing skills.
• Take marketing courses on Coursera or LinkedIn Learning. Build your expertise through online classes.
• Attend marketing conferences and events. Network with professionals and learn about industry trends.
• Join marketing clubs on campus. Work on projects and competitions to add to your resume.
• Study digital marketing trends and tools. Stay up-to-date on skills employers want.

With a combination of education, hands-on experience, and self-study, you can demonstrate your marketing abilities to land an entry-level role.

Key Takeaways on Launching Your Marketing Career

• Entry-level marketing roles like strategists, analysts, coordinators, assistants, and interns offer ways to get started in the field.
• Each role requires different hard and soft skills based on the focus of responsibilities. Assess your abilities to choose the best fit.
• Pay close attention to company culture, training programs, work-life balance, and career trajectories when evaluating roles.
• Complement your degree with real-world marketing experience from internships, freelancing, volunteer work, and self-study.
• With the right mix of education and experience, you can land a role that kickstarts an exciting and lucrative marketing career.

The demand for marketing professionals continues growing each year. By understanding these common entry points into the field, you can make strategic choices to launch your career on the right foot. With passion and dedication, you can quickly gain the experience needed to advance in marketing.

Reference: ZipRecruiter