Want to Become a Marketing Assistant? Here’s How!

It’s hard to go a day without seeing a targeted ad, a billboard, a commercial, or a new marketing newsletter in your email inbox or text messages. Marketing happens everywhere! Behind the scenes, a marketer and marketing assistant are bringing these campaigns to life.

What does a market assistant do exactly? In this article, we will share what there is to know about becoming a marketing assistant.

What is a Marketing Assistant?

Marketing assistants, also called marketing coordinators, work alongside marketing executives and managers to help them with projects that promote sales on behalf of a product or brand.

A part of their job may be administrative, but in some cases, marketing assistants also get to offer their creative services, be it by writing copy or managing social media accounts, for example.

The marketing department often works closely with sales, market research, production, advertising, and the creative team. A marketer’s goal is to drive sales, promote brand awareness, and retain brand loyalty on behalf of existing customers.

What Does a Marketing Assistant Do?

The marketing assistant job description may vary based on the employer and overall business or campaign goal. With that said, it helps to look at some common job descriptions for marketing assistants to understand what will be expected of you in this position.

Here’s a look at some duties you are likely to be in charge of as a marketing assistant:

• Monitoring social media accounts and engaging with customers
• Analyzing questionnaires for market research
• Sharing ideas for marketing campaigns
• Writing marketing copy
• Compiling marketing analytics and reporting it
• Organizing market research
• Creating presentations and coordinating events
• Helping with promotional activities
• Communications with external agencies

What Skills Should a Marketing Assistant Have?

Marketing assistants work alongside various teams and departments. At any single point in time, they may be helping to manage multiple campaigns. Valuable skills for marketing assistants to possess include:

• Organizational skills
• Creativity
• Analytical thinking
• Communication skills
• IT skills, including the use of spreadsheets to analyze data
• Presentation skills
• Problem-solving skills

How to Become a Marketing Assistant?

If you have a creative flair and are an organized person that wants to help bring ideas to life, then becoming a marketing assistant could be a great start to a successful and exciting career.

Speaking of starting, where should you begin?  This is how you can become a marketing assistant:

Earn an Education

In most cases, marketing assistants will be required to have at least a bachelor’s degree. The best majors to pursue this role include business, communications, or marketing itself. Bachelor’s degrees tend to take four years to complete, but the timeline may vary depending on where you attend school and whether you are enrolled part-time or full-time. You can also earn your degree online instead of in person at an institution like the University of the People, where programs are tuition-free. We offer associate’s, bachelor’s, and master’s degrees in business administration. You can also choose to pursue a certificate in marketing at UoPeople.

Create Your Resume

On your resume, be sure to include your education, relevant work experience, and any certifications you may have earned. When applying for marketing assistant positions, be sure to highlight the skills and knowledge that you have which will benefit you in the position. Your resume serves as your first impression and will be used to get you to the next step of an interview, so be sure to spend time making it as strong and presentable as it can be!

Apply for Jobs

With your experience, education, certifications, and resume ready to go, it’s time to apply for jobs! You can search for marketing assistant jobs on company websites or job boards. Be sure to filter by experience level so that you can apply for a position within your wheelhouse. It may also be beneficial to send a cover letter that further shares why you are a great fit for the open position.

Gain Work Experience

Upon earning your degree, it is recommended to start getting work experience so you can build up your resume or grow in a company. Relevant experience may be in sales or administrative positions. You can also apply for jobs that require content creation or data analytics, as you’ll be expected to know how to do that as a marketing assistant. Any type of work experience will be useful, be it a full-time or part-time paid position, volunteer activities, or an internship.

Get Technical Certifications

While it isn’t necessarily required for the role of a marketing assistant, earning technical certifications can provide you with a competitive advantage. Certifications exist in many subject areas that are relevant to the position, including analytics, search engine optimization (SEO), digital marketing, content writing, and email marketing, to name a few.

Source: Unsplash 

Average Salary and Job Outlook for Marketing Assistants

In the United States, Salary.com reports that marketing assistants earn an average of $45,141 per year. 

Most marketing assistants continue on to become advertising, promotions, or marketing managers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics shares that the field is expected to grow by 10% between 2020 to 2030, which represents average growth.

Marketing assistants tend to work in corporate offices or advertising and marketing agencies. They may also work at charities, manufacturers, retailers, media and entertainment companies, and consultancy firms.

Final Thoughts

A marketing assistant is a crucial member of any marketing team. They often are responsible for much of the heavy lifting to make marketing campaigns successful. Since marketing managers and marketing executives are focused on the big picture and overall company goals, marketing assistants are on the ground and behind the scenes to pull the pieces together.

As such, marketing assistants get to do a lot early on. Their tasks prepare them to continue on within the industry of marketing and grow into managers and executives, should that be their goal.