Sample Marketing Paper on Personal Marketing Plan
Introduction
As a marketing professional, I am aware there are many factors that may influence my career growth. I, therefore, intend to make use of my strategic plan to position myself effectively in the job search market in order to be capable of achieving my career growth objectives. The challenging job environment demands that youths find ways of coping with the competition (Denny and others 196). Through this marketing plan, I will create a foundation for developing positive professional networks, empowering my personal brand and landing employment in areas that fit my needs. The mission statement will help me place myself strategically and competitively above others in the field (Huhman par. 8)
Career Mission. I intend to be among the most dynamic young marketing professionals in my organization as well as in the industry in which I am fortunate to be engaged in. My goals in this regard include:
- To be a leading professional in networking and communication development.
- To enhance my leadership skills substantially to be capable of working with and leading large teams in marketing.
- To hone my skills through experience and to develop both soft and hard skills relevant to the marketing profession.
Personal SWOT
I am aware I will be able to handle the challenges and competition in the field based on the set of characteristics I possess. According to Ciletti (159), creating an outline of my strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats can help me to constitute my core competencies. In this way, I can align my personal objectives to the career objectives that I intend to meet. As an individual, one of my key strengths lies in my strong communication skills. I can communicate effectively both in writing and verbally and I believe my persuasion skills are also at par with the demands of the field. As such, I believe I am in a career that fits me perfectly. Furthermore, I also possess computer and analytical skills which I believe are mandatory in the field. I am also an excellent team worker and leader and I believe in consultation, collaboration and cooperation within teams for the accomplishment of greater organizational goals. My experience in the actual marketing environment also gives me an upper hand in the job search environment. On the other hand, my key weakness is that I may at times be frustrated due to my lack of responsiveness to urgent situations when I am in a leadership position. I have however learned to somehow deal with this weakness through stepping in and motivating others to be productive instead of giving instructions and waiting for others to perform.
Taylor (97) reports that employers in the contemporary times prefer youthful candidates who are effective in communication, presentation and teamwork. I believe this gives me an opportunity to utilize my skills to achieve greater objectives in marketing. For instance, I can use my communication and presentation skills as desired by the employers. In addition to this, the increasing use of social media and technology in marketing communication gives me an excellent opportunity for effective performance since I am an ardent user of technology. On the negative side, the key threat that I am bound to face in my job search is the competition. Many marketing graduates are already in the field searching for jobs. Many more are graduating each year and each of them is aware of the challenges and demands of the job market. As such, they are all willing to stake their all in their quest for productive employment opportunities. As for me, I intend to use my additional strengths, such as effectiveness in communication and teamwork, to stand above the competition.
Target Market
In a bid to develop my career and to ensure that I advance as I desire, I intend to target the communications industry and multi-national corporations. I believe these types of organizations offer a good opportunity for growth in the marketing industry due to many reasons. With the high competition in the marketing industry at present, I believe venturing into the internet marketing and online marketing industry is a good way to advance my career. The communications industry offers various opportunities to pursue these segments of marketing. As such, working in this industry will enable me to advance in offline as well as online marketing. Similarly, multi-national corporations work within diverse cultural environments hence leading to exploration of different marketing frameworks. Through engagement in such an environment, I will employ a diverse range of marketing frameworks and thus explore the whole extent of my profession in marketing.
Conducting a Job Search
To be able to get into the targeted industries, I will need to expand my job search strategies. The most commonly applied strategy in job searching is the use of online technologies. I will use career search engines such as indeed.com with specific keywords to be able to view job adverts. I will also access various print sources renowned for running job adverts. Furthermore, I will be able to use professional networking sites such as LinkedIn to get in touch with other professionals in my field. Getting to know people through social and professional networks will thus be an important step towards my bid to get information about jobs and companies. I will then make applications to jobs that have been advertised and which fit my career objectives. In case I am invited for any interviews, I will take that as an opportunity to out-perform other candidates by showcasing my capabilities through verbal as well as written means.
Personal Brand Promotion
As a marketer, I consider myself a brand that needs to be promoted just like any other product brand in the market. In this case, my market is the job search market. My main methods of self-promotion will include practices such as building strong online profiles, maintaining positive networks and influences and performing exceptionally when given the opportunity. Platforms such as LinkedIn and Referral key give users an opportunity to elucidate their experiences, skills and capabilities for others within the same networks to see and connect with them. For this reason, I believe that a well-built profile will be a good personal marketing tool. In addition to this, excellence always attracts greater demand for services. By applying this adage, I intend to use every opportunity given to me for the benefit of the hiring organization and for my professional growth.
Evaluation. While pursuing my strategic plan, I will need to evaluate my performance at different stages. My personal career goals will give me a sense of direction while also enabling me to determine the congruence between organizational objectives and my own goals. In terms of marketing, promotion and job search, I intend to use increase in contact, invitations for interviews and expansion of professional networks as indicators of effective performance.
Works Cited
Ciletti, Dorene. Marketing Yourself. Cengage Learning, 2010.
Huhman, Heather R. “How to Create a Personal Marketing Plan. Personal Branding Blog.” 10 September 2013. Retrieved from http://www.personalbrandingblog.com/how-to-create-a-personal-marketing-plan/
McCorkle, Dennis, Joe Alexander, James Reardon and Nathan Kling. “Developing Self-marketing skills: Are Marketing Students Prepared for the Job Search?” Journal of Marketing Education, vol. 25, no. 3, 2016, pp. 196- 207.
Taylor, Kimberly. “Marketing Yourself in the Competitive Job Market: An Innovative Course Preparing Undergraduates for Marketing Careers. Journal of Marketing Education, vol. 25, no. 2, 2016, pp. 97- 107.