FMCG vs Tech: is FMCG no longer the best foundation for marketing?

The FMCG sector has always been known as the place for young marketeers to start their careers, due to the success and high-profile status of the industry, however are things changing?

Is tech the new cornerstone for graduates starting their marketing careers? Being a millennial myself, four years ago I started a career in marketing, and chose to work in the tech sector, rather than FMCG.

Has the FMCG sector lost its crown as the best place for a marketer to learn their trade?

Opportunity is key to the development in our careers. Without opportunity, we won’t have the chance to grow and progress in our roles. Some people will see a high-profile FMCG company as the best place to start and develop their marketing career, because they are a successful, well-established company. However, working in the tech sector may actually increase the speed of your career development.

The tech sector can be a lot more complex compared to FMCG, with so much more to learn. Being a consumer makes understanding the buyer journey and purchase drivers that much easier than trying to understand the more complex process of selling tech solutions to business decision makers. You are exposed to working with partner networks and understanding the need for and use of software and systems. This can be a lot to take in at first, however it will reward you with an increased knowledge base and a broader skill set.

The tech sector also boosts the need for experience of faster paced environments and provides marketers with core digital skills that you can apply to a range of different industries.

This is why more graduates and young marketeers, including myself are choosing tech over FMCG, given the opportunity it presents to learn. Having broad experience across a range of marketing techniques is a huge advantage and something which gives you a competitive edge in the marketing industry.

Benefits of working in the tech sector

Graduates and young marketeers really want responsibility early on, so they can leave their mark on the world. The tech sector offers the pathway to achieve this.

The tech sector exposes you to a lot more media channels, because digital and social play much bigger roles. Tech has to be at the forefront, and the sector involves the possibilities for trying and testing all the time. There is also much more exposure and the flexibly to find new, innovative ways to tell the story, which is something that gives young marketeers the opportunity and freedom to try new things, learn from mistakes and continuously improve. In tech, there is a real opportunity to think outside the box.

Don’t get me wrong, FMCG is incredibly good at teaching strategic skills and trains you to have the consumer at the heart of everything you do. But what FMCG loses in, is their opportunity to put that thinking into practice very quickly. The FMCG sector can be quite slow paced compared to tech, so marketers tend to lack in the execution experience.

Growing my marketing career in the tech sector

For me, the opportunity to work in the growing tech sector was a no brainer. The sector offers a great platform to develop my marketing career, presenting the chance to grow within a role, roll my sleeves up and get stuck in. The end result will be a greater knowledge of a broad range of marketing skills and tools which will benefit my future career.

Essential is a PR and Inbound Tech Marketing agency that specialises in helping B2B technology companies to grow.