How to Make it in Marketing - Ben Pritchard, Marketing Manager at Cardinal Global Logistics

The world of Marketing is as popular and as vital to business as ever, being valued at over £7bn in the UK alone! It's a great time to get involved, but starting your career in this dynamic and important industry can be daunting. But don't fear! Ben Pritchard, Marketing Manager at Cardinal Global Logistics lets us know about some of the best ways to get started in Marketing, and how to make your career a successful one! 

Ben Pritchard - Marketing Manager at Cardinal Global Logistics

What is Marketing?

When people ask what I do, they still think I’m either involved in Sales, look after social media or just think of advertising, but Marketing covers all of that and much more. Marketing is basically anything that involves promoting or selling a product or service, so it covers most areas of a business.

I think the view of Marketing has changed in recent years and is now being seen as a much more business-critical role. I always say that 75% of what I do, will never be seen because it involves a lot of data, insights, conversations and understandings of the business and of its customers. It is all planning and strategy that then produces a visible end result.

How did you get into Marketing and what would you recommend for someone thinking about a career in Marketing?

I studied business and finance in school and was looking into studying Business and Marketing at University, but I decided to go down the route of an apprenticeship as I thought I could learn everything that a university course would teach, along with getting real-world experience. I’m very proud of that decision and I am a big advocate for apprenticeships. They have developed a lot over the past few years, and I truly believe that they give the best option for getting started in Marketing as you learn how to put things into practice and learn how to react to different situations.

I would say to someone who really wants to study marketing at university, to get some work experience while you study, being able to apply your skills and understand how a business works with a marketing function is so valuable when it comes to working in a marketing role.

There are many different specialisms in marketing and there are roles to suit all kinds of personalities. Whether you’re digital or creative, you have Design, Ecommerce, Social Media roles, if you are a more analytical person, there is PPC, SEO, Data Analytics. I find myself in a position where I am digitally savvy, creative and analytical so I have always worked in broader roles where I can apply my skills in a number of different areas, which again shows that there is an opportunity for everyone.

 What would be your advice for someone looking to get into Marketing or just starting in a role?

Find out what you are good at and what makes you happy. The best thing you can do is get a job that you enjoy. You won’t enjoy every moment or every day, but if you enjoy what you do then it makes work feel less like work. That old cliché.

You aren’t expected to know what you want to do at 16, 17, 18 years old. I didn’t, and I know people who still aren’t sure now at 25! I would recommend finding a business or apprenticeship scheme that covers a broad range of roles or a rotational apprenticeship which allows you to work in each team to give you a better understanding of the day-to-day work. You can then decide what you enjoy and see what you are good at, then pursue that as a career.

What do you need to do to be successful in Marketing?

To be successful in Marketing, you need to constantly adapt, learn and grow. The industry is constantly changing, and you need to do the same if you want to keep up or get ahead. There are courses available to teach new skills, read news articles on changes and keep up with trends to make sure you know what is happening and that you are aware of what is happening around you. If you don’t do this, then what you do will soon stop working.

Be open to new ideas and opinions, speak to people who have more knowledge and experience and build a team or network of people around you who you can learn from. LinkedIn is a great way to do this. You should always be able to learn from the people around you. Just knowing that you will not always have all the answers or the best ideas, asking for another opinion or sound boarding will help you produce better results.

Finally, get involved. I started out in a very small business, I worked very closely with the owner and was well integrated with the Operations, Sales, Design, Development and Logistics teams. That gave me great insight into how these teams work, how I could work with them and how I could make things work better. I have tried to do this in every role since and that allows me to work better rather than working as a single team. Going back to What is Marketing? Marketing has a hand in all areas of a business, so you need to be able to work well with all areas in order to do an effective job.

Thanks so much for this great advice Ben!

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