What is a Marketing Coordinator?

A marketing coordinator, sometimes also called a marketing communications coordinator, is a person who helps oversee the day-to-day execution of marketing plans for a company or small business. The specifics of the job can look really different depending on the setting, but in most cases these people work as members of larger marketing teams. There are usually two main realms of responsibility: field work, which includes preparing things like proposals, brochures, client research, and events materials; and digital work, which often involves monitoring social media sites and working to boost the company’s web presence and Internet identity. Getting started in this sort of job usually requires university training and an interest in collaborating with people for a common goal.

Most companies have marketing departments with the goal of promoting the company’s goods or services in creative ways. A marketing coordinator is usually something of a mid-level employee in one of these departments. This person typically works under a marketing manager or director, but over an associate or assistant. As such, he or she will have some supervisory and leadership roles, but in most cases the job revolves primarily around creativity and team contributions.

Defining a hard-and-fast job description for this sort of work can be challenging since so much depends on the setting and the overarching corporate goals. A coordinator for a small start-up business will probably be heavily involved in grassroots marketing and direct community involvement, whereas someone with the same title in a major financial firm might spend most of each day reviewing paperwork and drafting up publicity ideas for review and formal approval. Still, the core areas of responsibility for people with this job are more or less consistent across sectors.

In most companies, coordinators are focused on one of two key areas: working in the field or working online. “Fieldwork” is usually broadly understood to include almost everything in the print media realm as well as work with individuals directly, either on-site in a store or marketplace or through advertising at events or elsewhere in public.

This aspect of the job often requires direct interaction with vendors, such as hotels, printers, web designers, and graphic artists. The marketing coordinator is also usually knowledgeable about his or her company’s corporate visual identity and other branding standards. Core responsibilities may include direct support of the marketing manager or director or of other company personnel involved with sales or marketing, and this person may also be responsible for certain groupings of marketing tasks or even have a focus in working with a particular product or service line, brand, department, or geographic territory.

Field marketers sometimes also participate in planning event logistics, particularly for companies that host conferences or attend trade shows. Selecting site locations for seminars or conferences and arranging for a speaker’s travel are often part of this person’s job. In these situations, coordinators help accomplish the company’s overarching marketing plan through more indirect means, and are a part of the tactical rather than the strategic marketing workforce.

Corporations are also increasingly hiring marketing professionals to manage their online presences. A coordinator in this sort of role will most likely spend the bulk of his or her time posting messages to the company’s social media pages, monitoring networks for chatter about brands or products, and often either directly addressing concerns customers have posted in these venues or alerting the company’s customer relations team. Managing a corporate website may also be this person’s job, which can include everything from basic web design and formatting to search engine optimization and steps to ensure that people who are searching the web are able to find the company’s page.

There may also be a bit of overlap between a coordinator in the marketing division and other professionals elsewhere in the company. Coordinators sometimes work with public relations, investor and client relations, information technology, or internal communications staff. In most cases the overlap is because marketing is a discipline that is increasingly seen as useful in other departments, and it has a very broad reach.

Jobs in the corporate marketing sector almost always require an undergraduate university education. Degrees in things like communications and business are often the most helpful, though depending on the job, a degree in anything will usually meet the threshold requirement. Work experience is usually a plus, too. The coordinator job isn’t usually seen as “entry level,” which means that it can be difficult to jump right into the position without at least some relevant marketing experience, whether with the company or elsewhere. Candidates are also usually able to improve their applications by emphasizing their ability to solve problems, work in a team, and make some independent decisions. People who are able to work with various software programs, such as contact relationship management databases, spreadsheets, word processors, and graphics programs, are usually more desirable as well.