What does a Marketing Representative do?
You can’t make sales without customers, and you can’t find new customers without good marketing. Marketing representatives' chief goal is to increase interest in their company’s newest products and releases. To do so, they:
- Work with marketing managers to develop and implement comprehensive advertising campaigns and strategies (online and off-line)
- Plan and support promotional events and contests
- Cultivate cross-marketing partnerships with other businesses
- Produce and share content on social media
- Optimize websites for search engines
- Analyze web traffic data
- Conduct customer surveys to gain a better understanding of market groups
For marketing representatives, the ability to say something old in a new way is highly valued.
Although it depends what kind of marketing one's doing, the job tends to require some mix of writing, graphic design, research, and analytics. Record label marketing representatives develop comprehensive marketing strategies for the label’s new releases, and implement these strategies by collaborating closely with the promotions, publicity, sales, and A&R departments. They also face a unique challenge: developing a distinct brand for each artist on their roster and ensuring that they remain consistent (or show evolution) over the course of many releases. Marketing representatives might also oversee the work of college marketing representatives and field merchandisers.
At a Glance
Marketing representatives usually start out as interns in a marketing department or ad agency, or as college marketing representatives. From there they progress to become marketing representatives and, eventually, marketing managers. The career doesn't stop there; marketing managers can become marketing directors, found their own advertising or marketing agencies, or explore more specialized marketing positions, such as head of digital marketing, head of graphic design, or concert hall marketing director.
Aspiring marketers who are interested in digital marketing may find positions as social media managers.
Marketing representatives work all over the arts and entertainment world: in record labels, startups, advertising agencies, marketing firms, theaters, and nonprofit organizations.
College students interested in becoming record label marketing representatives should consider looking for internships and college marketing positions.
- Writing copy
- Graphic design
- Social media marketing
- Search engine optimization (SEO)
- Web analytics
- Budgeting
- Project management
- Collaboration
- Written and verbal communication
Marketing as a field revolves around creativity: the ability to say something old in a new way is highly valued, and possessing an inventive approach to copywriting or graphic design is half the battle. The other half? Business and interpersonal skills. In addition to being creative, marketing representatives must be strategic, analytical, and organized. They should be flexible collaborators and excellent communicators who make quick adjustments when something doesn't go as planned and who learn well from each successive campaign.
Most marketing representatives work normal business hours in an office setting, although tight deadlines and competition can lead to frequent late nights. The job rarely requires travel—other than walking between meetings—but experiences may differ. Some marketing representatives focus on producing promotional materials like videos, photographs, or brochures, which may require some time out of the office.
