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When you’re applying for a marketing position, your cover letter is a great opportunity to sell yourself. As a marketing professional, you play a critical role in building awareness about how a company’s products or services can satisfy customers’ needs. In this article, we will discuss tips on how to write a cover letter that can help you effectively demonstrate these abilities and stand out from other marketing candidates.
1) Analyze the job requirements
However good your marketing expertise is, the simple truth is that you may not land an interview if your cover letter says otherwise. Moreover, it will be challenging for you to convince recruiters that you are the person for the marketing role unless you clearly understand what your prospective employer really needs. Hence, knowing and comprehending what the job requires before writing your cover letter is crucial to your application’s success. Once you have this knowledge, you can utilize it to market yourself better and persuade your target employer that hiring you is in their best interest.
To understand the job requirements, we recommend reading through the job description at least twice. What are they looking for? What do they need prospective candidates to do? Remember to be mindful of the terms and skills that appear repeatedly throughout the job post. Then, list down the specific marketing skills, qualities, and experience that the company requires. Utilize this information as a foundation for creating a compelling narrative for your marketing cover letter.
We recommend using a table to organize the information you gathered. This will provide you with a quick overview of how your skills and experience match up, allowing you to make an informed decision on what to include in your cover letter. You don’t need to do this for every single job application. The same table can be utilized for vacancies that are at least 70% similar in terms of requirements. Below is an example of how you can do it in practice.
| Marketing Job Requirements | Skills and Experience I Have |
| – A minimum of 5 years of marketing experience | ✓ 5 years of marketing experience |
| – Knowledge and hands-on experience in marketing automation and how to build and execute campaigns required | ✓ Built and executed marketing automation campaigns at ABC company that generated $1.2M sales |
| – Experience managing/mentoring team members | ✓ Supervised and mentored 8 team members as a Marketing Manager at ABC Company |
| – Proven oral and written communication skills that keep varying groups and teams aligned and informed | ✓ Frequently interacted with cross-functional teams |
| – Experience in running and managing digital/social marketing campaigns from the ground up (Google Adwords, SEO techniques) | ✓ Utilized Google Adwords, SEO techniques, and marketing automation campaigns at ABC company |
2) Highlight your most relevant or exceptional marketing qualifications
As a marketing professional, companies depend on your expertise to promote their brand and maximize profits on marketing initiatives. Hence, it is imperative that your cover letter introduces you as a candidate who is results-oriented and capable of executing best practices to optimize their marketing strategies. The best way to do this is by providing specific examples of your accomplishments and including figures whenever possible. This will provide decision-makers further insight into how you’ve utilized your skills to make a positive impact on your previous employer’s bottom line.
While you aim to impress decision-makers, don’t go overboard by including all your accomplishments. Instead, maintain focus on your most recent, relevant, and notable successes. Remember the table we suggested at the beginning of this article? This is the time that information will come in handy. Always keep in mind to reference the requirements listed in the job descΙription when deciding what to include in your cover letter. This will enable you to address your target employer’s specific needs, differentiating you from other marketing candidates.
For maximum impact, we recommend creating one to two paragraphs with 3 to 5 sentences each, conveying that you are a strong candidate for the marketing position. Mention the marketing campaign you managed and how you’ve consistently met or exceeded your goals in doing so. To create a lasting impression, present your relevant experience and achievements as a story. Avoid focusing on the details that exist in the resume.
Here’s an example of how you can effectively market yourself in your cover letter.
“While working as a Marketing Manager with ABC Company, our team faced the challenge of dealing with complex, time-consuming marketing activities. To address this, I analyzed the existing process and identified enhancement opportunities. I guided a team of 8 members in the development and execution of a marketing automation campaign. As a result, this campaign generated a sales profit of $1.2M in less than a month.
For the past 5 years, I’ve had an opportunity to promote the brand and services of 3 Fortune 500 companies. I utilized Google Adwords and SEO techniques to run and manage their digital marketing campaigns. My efforts have significantly contributed to increasing their profits by up to 43%.”
3) Convey your motivation for the job
Turnover and hiring new employees can be both time-consuming and costly for the business, given the investment in training new staff. For this reason, employers are looking to hire new employees with long-term potential. So, apart from convincing decision-makers that you’d be a good employee, you also need to prove that you’re in for the long term. This can be done by communicating your genuine interest in the job.
To effectively convey your motivation, take time to get to know your target company. Research their website and social media pages and read through the company’s mission, vision, culture, products, and services. Has the organization’s mission statement inspired you? Do their services resonate with your passion? Below is an example of how you can put things into practice.
“Following ABC Company’s journey, I was inspired by how much the company has grown from a new app-based challenger bank in the UK into becoming one of LinkedIn’s Top Startups. I have been using your product since it was launched and was impressed by its user-friendly features. I am thrilled at the prospect of bringing my marketing expertise to ABC Company to help increase brand awareness and expand your product’s reach.”
Your cover letter is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate your marketing skills by communicating your unique selling points and persuading recruiters that you are a strong candidate. By following the guidelines outlined above, you should be able to nail your marketing cover letter. However, if you still find it challenging to do it on your own and prefer to seek professional help, we are here for you.
