A day in the life of a Marketing Executive

The role of a Marketing Executive is important in any industry to help businesses promote their services or products. If it is something you have been thinking about as a career, then our interview with a Marketing Executive in a car dealership will give you a good insight.

How long have you been in this role?

I’ve been in my current role for almost a year, but I was in a similar position before that with a different company. Marketing is a very transferable skill so once you know the basics, you can take it anywhere. You just need to adapt those skills to a different industry.

What qualifications or experience did you need to get your job?

My degree was in Events Management, which included the basics of marketing. In my final year I chose to do a module in e-marketing. When I left university, I had a job in events. I later went travelling and had a couple of jobs which involved some marketing and then I got a Marketing Coordinator job in tourism. When I returned to the UK, I really wanted to find a Marketing Executive role.

Why did you choose to be a Marketing Executive?

I really love the marketing side of things, I enjoy creating and running campaigns, building a project from start to finish. It was also important that I worked in a company where I understood and believed in the product.

What was your application and interview process like?

I applied for the job online and then the consultant at Tate called to tell me more about the position. It sounded really appealing, so the next step was a Zoom meeting with him. From this he created a character reference which he sent to the employer, who invited me for an interview.

A couple of days before my interview I had a meeting with the Tate consultant where he prepared me for the interview. This was very helpful because he knew what the employer was looking for and it got me even more enthusiastic about the job. The first interview went well and I was called for a second interview. It was a long process, but it was worth it.

What has been your experience with recruitment agencies like Tate?

From past experience with other recruitment agencies, I felt like it was more about them filling the role, with Tate it was also about helping the candidate.

Can you talk us through a typical day as a Marketing Executive?

A normal day will start off with running all the reports. Then it’s working on the social media channels which are Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Some days I go to the showrooms and take pictures to use for content, although a lot of marketing material is provided by the car manufacturer as they have strict guidelines on how things should look.

Another part of the day-to-day work is coordinating events. This could be anything from going on site and displaying the cars to sponsoring an event where customers could win a voucher to have a car for the weekend. It involves promoting the event, setting up photo opportunities and preparing merchandise. I also deal with any marketing materials and content that needs to be created such as flyers, magazines, internal signage and branded items such as business cards and stationery.

Another part of the role is working with after sales, which could be anything from running promotions to digital campaigns for servicing. For example, in electric week, we spent a couple of weeks prior promoting that and trying to get as many people as possible in to see all of our electric range. When we have a new car launch, we run campaigns from start to finish. This includes email marketing, social media marketing and putting adverts in local papers and publications. We also create videos with our Sales Executives that can be used across all our channels.

What software or digital platforms do you use in your job?

We design emails using BEE Pro and then create campaigns to send out through Mailchimp. For social media we use Hootsuite so we can schedule all our social media posts from one platform.

What are your working hours like, and do you work from home or in an office?

In the marketing department we work 9 until 6 in the office. We also work events which are often on weekends. We get time off in lieu for those. 

What are the best bits about being a Marketing Executive?

The creativity. You get to use your own ideas writing content, taking photographs, making videos; it’s great to see things come to life and see a campaign through from start to finish. In this role it’s up to you how you want to promote something, so I enjoy having the authority to make it look how I want it to. The people I work with make marketing fun as well, as I deal with many different staff throughout the company.

What are the least enjoyable bits about being a Marketing Executive?

For me it’s doing all the reports and analysing the data, although my Manager really enjoys that side of things. I would rather be doing photoshoots and making things look eye-catching, but you've got to do both to make things work. I also find handling customer complaints one of the less enjoyable parts of the job.

What skills do you think you have developed by being a Marketing Executive that you wouldn't have gained elsewhere? 

You become very particular about things in marketing, your attention to detail must be spot on. You can't have spelling mistakes, you need the right colour, you've got to have the right font. Marketing also develops your creativity and because the industry is forever changing you've got to keep current with new things. For example, we are now considering whether we should use TikTok in our marketing.

What is the most important skill you need to succeed in your role?

I would say creativity and attention to detail are important because you need things to look appealing to the right customers. You’ve got to make sure that you're not doing the same thing every day so you're keeping things fresh, and you need to listen to the voice of the customer to know what they want to see.

Do you think the pandemic has had a significant impact on the Marketing profession?

Marketing was important during the pandemic to keep businesses in front of the customer and then there was a boom when the lockdowns ended as companies pushed their products and services even more. I think marketing was probably one of the more important industries coming out of the pandemic to make sure businesses got themselves back out there.

Digital marketing especially became even more prevalent during the pandemic as everything went online; people weren’t going out buying newspapers, they weren’t driving around seeing billboards, they weren’t picking up flyers. Everything you saw was online or on television. Digital is how most people get their information these days.

Do you have any plans for additional qualifications or career progression?

Before I started this job, I did a course online through Google Analytics on the Fundamentals of Digital Marketing, as a refresher. I’d definitely check out more of them, and if I left the automotive industry, I would need to do a bit more training in certain areas to learn about another industry. It’s always good to stay up-to-date with what’s new in marketing, what people are doing and what processes are being used. In the future I’d want to move up into a managerial role.

What advice would you give to newcomers or those considering this job?

Get as much knowledge as you can about the marketing industry and how marketing works. There is a lot of information on Google Digital Garage and online that is free, and it really does help, even if you think you know everything about marketing. Looking into other companies and how they do things is also helpful. LinkedIn is a good place for that and there are groups on there that offer further information and advice. I think doing your research, keeping on top of what’s current and what works in marketing would definitely help someone going into a marketing job.

Next steps

Visit our Marketing Jobs area for new opportunities or visit our LinkedIn page for the latest news. 

For more information you can click here for Careers Advice, or to review our recruitment process click here.

You can keep up to date with industry news and advice by visiting our blog.