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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Area Marketing Representative

💰 $45,000 - $75,000

MarketingField MarketingRetailSales Enablement

🎯 Role Definition

The Area Marketing Representative is a field-facing marketing professional responsible for planning and executing localized marketing initiatives that drive brand awareness, in-store visibility, product distribution, and sales growth across a defined territory or set of retail accounts. This role partners closely with sales, category management, merchandising, and national marketing teams to adapt corporate campaigns for local markets, manage retailer relationships, ensure point-of-sale (POS) compliance, and report on campaign performance and ROI. Ideal candidates are strong communicators, analytically minded, and experienced in retail activation, trade marketing, and territory management.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Marketing Coordinator (Field or Trade)
  • Retail Sales Representative / Merchandiser
  • Junior Area Sales Representative

Advancement To:

  • Area Marketing Manager / Field Marketing Manager
  • Regional Marketing Manager
  • Trade Marketing Manager
  • National Accounts / Key Account Manager

Lateral Moves:

  • Category Manager
  • Brand Activation Manager
  • Field Sales / Business Development

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Develop, implement and optimize localized marketing plans and field activation strategies for assigned territory to drive incremental sales, distribution and on-shelf availability for targeted SKUs, ensuring alignment with national brand objectives and seasonal priorities.
  • Own execution of in-store promotional calendars including planogram placements, POS deployment, pricing/promotional signage, and endcap activations; monitor merchandising standards across retailers and take corrective actions to maintain visual compliance.
  • Build and maintain strong, trust-based relationships with store managers, retail buyers, and third-party distributors to negotiate placement, secure promotional space, and escalate issues impacting product availability or visibility.
  • Coordinate and execute retail and community events, product demonstrations, sampling programs, and local sponsorships; manage logistics, staffing, materials, vendor coordination and post-event reporting to evaluate ROI and learnings.
  • Manage territory-level marketing budgets, track spend against plan, reconcile invoices, and ensure cost-effective execution of campaigns and promotions while maximizing marketing ROI.
  • Use CRM tools (e.g., Salesforce) and merchandising reporting apps to record store visits, activation results, leads, and competitor observations; maintain accurate territory records and follow up on action items.
  • Plan and deliver on trade promotions and shopper marketing initiatives in partnership with sales and trade teams; recommend price, display and promotional mechanics based on localized insights and sales objectives.
  • Analyze sales, distribution and promotional performance data (POS, syndicated data, retailer reports) to identify growth opportunities, optimize retailer plans and provide actionable recommendations to cross-functional teams.
  • Lead training and enablement sessions for retail staff, merchandisers and temporary event teams on product benefits, selling points, promotional mechanics and display setup to improve conversion at point-of-purchase.
  • Conduct regular store audits and compliance checks, document non-compliance with photographic evidence and escalations, and drive corrective plans to improve shelf presence and merchandising adherence across the territory.
  • Develop and present clear, insight-driven performance reports and post-promotion analyses to internal stakeholders including sales, marketing managers and regional leadership to inform future planning and investment.
  • Collaborate cross-functionally with brand marketing, e-commerce, customer success and supply chain teams to align product launches, distribution plans and omnichannel campaigns for consistent brand messaging in the territory.
  • Identify and qualify local partnership opportunities (co-op marketing, cross-promotions with local businesses, influencer activations) that align with brand strategy and can be executed within budget constraints.
  • Execute retailer onboarding for new product launches—coordinate initial display build-outs, in-store launch events, merchandising compliance checks and follow-through support to achieve target distribution and velocity.
  • Track competitor activity, pricing and in-store tactics; provide regular intelligence summaries and recommend tactical responses such as counter promotions, display refreshes or targeted regional advertising.
  • Optimize field routes and visit cadence using territory planning tools to maximize retail coverage and face-to-face retailer engagement while reducing travel costs and improving productivity.
  • Manage third-party merchandisers and temporary staffing partners—set expectations, validate execution quality, conduct spot checks and ensure workforce follows brand standards and safety requirements.
  • Drive lead generation and sales enablement by providing the sales team with localized marketing collateral, POS assets, sell sheets and talking points tailored to specific retailer segments and shopper demographics.
  • Oversee sampling and demonstration programs including target audience selection, route planning, staffing and KPI measurement (sampling conversion, redemption rates, subsequent sales lift).
  • Ensure all brand, legal and retailer compliance requirements are met in local promotions and communications, including correct use of trademarks, pricing compliance and adherence to retailer policies.
  • Continually test and iterate activation tactics (A/B testing of displays, messaging, promo mechanics) and document best practices and scalable playbooks that can be applied across similar territories.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc reporting requests and deliver weekly/monthly territory performance dashboards that illustrate distribution, sales trends and promotional ROI.
  • Contribute to the development of localized creative briefs and content suggestions for digital and in-store channels, ensuring on-brand messaging tailored to local shopper behavior.
  • Assist with inventory checks and communicate supply constraints to supply chain and sales teams to minimize out-of-stocks and ensure promotional availability.
  • Provide feedback to product development and packaging teams from field observations, shopper preferences and retailer reactions to improve assortments and merchandising formats.
  • Assist in the coordination and tracking of co-op marketing funds, ensuring retailer reimbursements, approvals and campaign documentation are accurate and timely.
  • Participate in quarterly business reviews with key retail partners to share insights, performance, action plans and build long-term merchandising partnerships.
  • Support CRM hygiene by maintaining contact lists, opportunity statuses and updating visits/notes in the system promptly after each retailer engagement.
  • Help develop training materials and standard operating procedures for new Area Marketing hires and temporary staff to standardize high-quality territory execution.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Field and trade marketing execution: in-store activations, planogram implementation, POP/POS setup, and promotional mechanics.
  • CRM proficiency (Salesforce, HubSpot or equivalents) for pipeline tracking, visit logging and retailer relationship management.
  • Strong Excel skills (pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, basic formulas) for territory analysis, budgeting and ROI calculations.
  • Familiarity with merchandising apps and route optimization tools (e.g., Repsly, Movista, Skynamo, Map My Customers).
  • Experience with POS and syndicated data analysis (Nielsen, IRI, retailer POS) to measure distribution, velocity and promotional lift.
  • Competence in digital tools: PowerPoint for presentations, Google Workspace, and basic image editing for POS assets.
  • Budget management and invoice reconciliation experience for marketing funds and local promotions.
  • Event and experiential marketing management: planning, permitting, staffing, and vendor coordination.
  • Knowledge of retail operations and category management principles to influence shelf placement and assortment.
  • Basic understanding of omnichannel marketing: coordination of in-store and online promotions, click-and-collect, and local digital advertising.

Soft Skills

  • Outstanding communication and interpersonal skills for building strong retailer relationships and influencing cross-functional teams.
  • Negotiation and persuasion skills to secure in-store placement, promotional space and favorable merchandising terms.
  • Strong organizational skills and time management to execute multi-site activations across a territory.
  • Analytical mindset with the ability to translate sales data into actionable territory recommendations.
  • Problem-solving orientation and adaptability to address on-the-ground issues such as stockouts, display damage, or staffing gaps.
  • Presentation skills to create and deliver concise, data-backed updates to internal stakeholders and retail partners.
  • Attention to detail to ensure compliance with brand guidelines, pricing rules and promotional mechanics.
  • Collaborative team-player who can work with regional sales, trade marketing, and national brand teams.
  • Resilience and self-motivation for independent field work with remote supervision.
  • Customer-service orientation with a focus on long-term relationship building and retailer satisfaction.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business Administration, Communications, or related field; or equivalent work experience in field/retail marketing.

Preferred Education:

  • Bachelor’s degree with a concentration in Marketing, Retail Management, or Sales; certifications in trade marketing, retail analytics, or sales enablement are a plus.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Marketing
  • Business Administration
  • Retail Management
  • Communications
  • Supply Chain / Operations (beneficial)

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 2–5 years of experience in field marketing, trade marketing, retail merchandising, or territory sales in FMCG/CPG, retail or consumer goods sectors.

Preferred:

  • 3–5+ years with demonstrated success in territory activation, retail partnerships, promotional execution and measurable sales uplift. Experience with CRM systems, POS or syndicated data (Nielsen/IRI), and managing local marketing budgets is strongly preferred.
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