Everything You Need to Know About Becoming a Marketing Director
There are few jobs that hold as much perceived glamour and allure as the title of marketing director. This high-flying role is considered to be among the most important in an organisation.
Bringing in business and managing budgets, this is a complex role, and we’ll be taking a look in this article at what kinds of skills you’ll need to become a marketing director, where they work, how much they make and what they study to get the job.
What do Marketing Directors do?
A marketing director is responsible for the big picture thinking of the marketing for a company. They will brainstorm ideas, complete and review marketing research and come up with strategic plans. Marketing directors often need to try to predict the upcoming trends in marketing and the social landscape in order to remain ahead of the curve in this difficult industry.
Where do Marketing Directors work?
Marketing directors are needed in every industry. This means that whatever your passion or niche, there is a specific industry that will be applicable to you.
If you’ve got lots of experience in fashion retail, then being the marketing director at a mid-level fashion brand with online shopping and/or physical stores would be a good fit for you.
If you’re a passionate advocate of human rights, you could be the marketing director for a NFP organisation or a lobbying body that fights for human rights.
If you’re a total foodie then working as the marketing director at a food market, or string of restaurants, or a hip new food product that has just come onto the market, will suit you well.
How much do Marketing Directors make?
Marketing directors are at the top of their field, all other marketing roles fall below this key leadership position. According to Payscale the average salary for a Marketing Director is $141,652, with the lowest salaries starting around $86,000 and the highest salaries going up to $198,000.
What do Marketing Directors study?
When you’re just starting out in Marketing
When first getting into a career in marketing, you would want to complete a Certificate IV in Marketing and Communication. This course is designed to give you a great overview of the marketing industry and provide you with the skills and tools to succeed in this industry.
The course covers how to:
- Make presentations
- Articulate, present and debate ideas
- Undertake marketing activities
- Analyse consumer behaviour
- Knowledge of communications industry
- Write complex documents
- Assess marketing opportunities
- Apply business risk management processes
- Implement customer service strategies
- Develop personal work priorities
- Build and maintain business relationships and
- Promote products and services
The course takes anywhere from 6 months to 12 months to complete depending on whether you choose accelerated or standard delivery and it’s all online so you can start anytime and study from anywhere in Australia.
When you’re looking to upskill and get that Marketing Director job
If you’re already working in marketing and are looking to upskill to be able to go for marketing director jobs, you can consider recognition of prior learning to achieve an Advanced Diploma of Marketing and Communication. This course is designed for those who already have leadership experience in the marketing field. It is likely that you will have this experience and just need that piece of paper to further validate your knowledge and skills.
If you have four or more years’ experience in a marketing management role but don’t hold any other marketing qualifications, you would still be eligible to undertake this qualification through RPL.
The first step in the process is to complete the free skills assessment here.
Once this is complete, if you are deemed a good candidate for RPL a skills assessor would create an RPL mapping document for you to provide evidence against each one of the competencies listed in the cours. You would then fill it out providing evidence and context to your relevant experience. This evidence could be presentations, reports, previous meeting minutes, email communications, campaigns or more. This whole process can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months to finalise.
Skills you’ll need to be a marketing director
Being a marketing director comes with its own set of unique challenges, but these skills will help you tackle anything that comes your way in this role.
Vision
To be a successful marketing director you’ll need to have vision, a clear idea of the company’s direction, branding and position in the market and where it’s headed next.
Having vision means seeing beyond where you are to where you are going and knowing the potential you have.
Strategic Planning
To be able to work as a marketing director you will need to be able to incorporate strategic planning in the execution of your company’s goals. Plotting out marketing activities in line with your overall marketing plan and objectives with goal posts and check points helps to keep the plan on track and ensure the consistent delivery of results in line with your overall plan.
The ability to take calculated risks
As a marketing director you will need to be able to provide calculated risk and benefit analysis for marketing activities and in some cases make the call to decide if this is the right choice. Weighing up the risk against the proposed benefit and finding the right path forward.
Leadership
A marketing director is a leader in the company. You will need excellent leadership skills to excel in this role. You will likely have both team members under you within marketing as well as a working relationship with other departments where you will occasionally need to take the reins and lead the charge on your campaigns, handing down instructions and gathering feedback from other departments and staff members.
If you’re interested in leveling up your career or even making a career shift you can check out our marketing course here or arrange to have a chat with one of our friendly course advisors here.