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The Ultimate Guide to Writing a Winning Marketing Resume

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October 2, 2024

Whether you’re writing a marketing executive resume or a marketing associate resume, staying on top of current resume trends is essential for your career. Just like the job market, marketing resume trends also continue to change.

But one fact remains the same: Your resume acts as your first impression. However, beyond making a good impression, you need to optimize it for application tracking systems (ATS) to ensure your resume makes it into the hands of hiring managers and recruiters.

Following are tips on how to write a winning marketing resume:

What Is a Winning Marketing Resume?

A winning marketing resume is any tailored resume that will help you land the job you want. But to do that, your resume needs to highlight:

  • Your understanding of the role
  • Your most pertinent achievements
  • Relevant keywords
  • Customized information that speaks to the specific opportunity
  • Your relevant hard skills and soft skills

How to Personalize Your Resume

You should target your resume for each specific position you seek. Create a standard resume and then tailor it to the job description, using applicable marketing resume keywords that best match the open role or opportunity. Optimizing your resume for each job opening significantly increases your chances of landing an interview.

Keep in mind that some generalist HR professionals might not fully understand marketing jargon or the inner workings of the role. As such, using language that matches the job description makes it easier for the recruiter to know if you’re qualified and then pass you on to the next interview stage.

After personalizing your resume, compare it to the job description. You have better odds if you address any skill gaps between your resume and the job listing. Be sure to add any relevant experience or transferable skills demonstrating your ability to learn and adapt quickly.

Highlight Your Impact

The strongest marketing resume will highlight your real-world impact. Potential employers want to know what you can do for them. Provide concrete examples of how your work drove results. This is especially important in marketing, which is driven by performance, where quantifiable metrics and ROI are focal points.

Content marketers, for instance, should highlight website traffic growth figures. Social media managers will want to demonstrate an increase in followers. Demand generation managers can highlight their ABM campaign results.

Here are some examples:

  • Achieved a 30% increase in email open rates and a 25% rise in click-through rates by implementing A/B testing and refining email content strategies.
  • Developed high-converting gated content assets, contributing to a 33% increase in marketing qualified leads (MQLs) and a 20% improvement in lead-to-customer conversion rate.
  • Led social media marketing efforts, resulting in a 50% growth in follower engagement across platforms.

Lean into Your Personal Branding

Your personal branding sets you apart and showcases your unique value proposition to potential employers and clients. It needs to be consistent for it to be effective.

The style, fonts, colors, language, and themes you use for your marketing resume should convey your personal brand and fit with other application materials, such as your portfolio. As a marketer, you need to demonstrate skill at creating a well-designed and cohesive brand.

Optimize for ATS Scanning

Use the job ad as your guide. Depending on the marketing role you’re applying for, you must incorporate relevant keywords throughout your resume. Some examples of marketing keywords you might include are:

  • B2B, B2C, or B2G
  • Distribution channels
  • KPI
  • Search engine optimization (SEO)
  • Acquisition
  • Analytics

You’ll also need to identify relevant keywords to include, whether those are for product, content, demand generation, or social media marketing roles.

Highlight Your Soft Skills

Marketers typically need a range of soft skills, and some examples you might want to spotlight include:

  • Problem-solving
  • Creativity
  • Collaboration
  • Work ethic
  • Interpersonal skills
  • Time management
  • Adaptability

The key is not just listing skills but demonstrating how you use them. Your case will be stronger if you intersperse them throughout your resume. Call out different accomplishments that demonstrate your soft skills. For example, you can mention your ability to manage project teams and hit critical deadlines to demonstrate time management and leadership abilities.

Find Your Next Marketing Role Today

While a winning marketing resume can help you land more interviews, the other half is about your network. If you are struggling to find a job on your own, leverage the power of a specialized recruiter at 24 Seven. Ready to get more eyes on your winning marketing resume? Contact us today!

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