Jobs in Marketing and Sales

In marketing, you will work on the targeted management of the external image of your company and its products and services in order to achieve the most profitable positioning possible on the market. Your work will be aimed at increasing awareness and building strong buying interest. You will be given the opportunity to use your strategic talents to develop a long-term vision and marketing strategy. The next step calls for your creativity. You will develop measures and campaigns that effectively communicate the desired image to your target group.

How marketing campaigns are designed depends heavily on the industry and the specific products. The focus is on identifying the channels relevant to your target group. These range from online marketing and print media to personal presence with your own stand at specialist congresses or trade fairs. It also includes TV and radio advertising, podcasts, sponsorship of sports teams or other events. In most cases, marketing does not just use one channel, but several. When the content of a campaign is played out on different channels, this is referred to as multi-channel marketing. Due to the large number of channels, there are often specialists in marketing for certain areas.

Online marketing has taken on a central role today. Its aim is to be optimally visible to the target group on the Internet. This includes improving your own website or webshop presence with texts that rank better in search engine queries (SEO - Search Engine Optimization). Link strategies through blog posts and articles that address the company's topics are also important. Traditional online advertising banners such as sponsored posts on search engines (SEA - Search Engine Advertising) are also used to direct potential customers to your own website.

In some sectors, customers are more difficult to reach via digital channels. Here, marketing focuses on print advertisements in newspapers or trade magazines. In addition, the design of trade fair stands and advertising flyers is often part of the marketing manager's remit. Regardless of the sector in which the company operates, the right marketing mix is crucial. This mix is an essential part of the marketing strategy and forms the basis for successfully addressing target groups.

The marketing area is therefore very diverse and tailored to the specific requirements of each industry. The main objective of all marketing managers is to identify the right channel and the right campaign for their target group in order to gain as many leads (prospective buyers) as possible.

Once a lead has been generated, the responsibility of marketing staff often ends and the sales department takes over. This is where interested parties are turned into actual buyers. The sales department takes care of the acceptance and evaluation of inquiries and orders, prepares corresponding offers and conducts the necessary negotiations with the interested parties. The tasks of the sales department include processing new inquiries as well as the ongoing support of existing customers to maintain business relationships.

How the sales process is actually supported also depends heavily on the industry and the specific products. Some products require a great deal of consultation due to their complexity, individuality or configurability. In such cases, technical background knowledge is often required in order to successfully sell the product and adapt it precisely to the needs of the prospective customer. Other products are less technically demanding, but have their own challenges. Especially in highly competitive markets, the salesperson needs to have a strong sales talent. Here, persuasiveness, knowledge of human nature and negotiating skills are crucial in order to achieve the best prices and sales figures.

Depending on the product and industry, jobs in sales often involve a high level of willingness to travel. A personal level is often essential for a good customer relationship. This is best achieved through personal interaction. Good salespeople are usually also good communicators and networkers. They manage to build long-term customer relationships that lead to regular purchases and long-term sales growth.

Sales employees are responsible for identifying, developing and exploiting customer potential. The focus here is not only on the company's own customers and products, but also on observing the market situation, competitors' activities, customer needs and trends. The task of sales is to maintain and expand market share in the best possible way in the long term and to achieve internal targets. This includes meeting specified KPIs, such as turnover and sales targets, or generating certain new customer quotas.

A job in sales therefore requires a combination of sales skills, knowledge of human nature, but also business know-how in order to always run the business for the benefit of the company's profitability.