New software, gadgets, gizmos and industrial process enhancers are continually being developed. Determining whether a new product will be popular and useful for consumers can be difficult given how complex many of these products are. Also, articulating the benefits of a given product is difficult without a highly skilled marketing engineer.

Significance

A marketing engineer is a specialist who understands many of the technical aspects of engineering but is actually more involved in the sales of products. Many products have technical aspects that are difficult for others to understand, yet clients need to understand these products to both use them and determine whether they want the products in the first place, according to Volt.

Function

Marketing engineers meet with customers and explain technical products in services with the goal of showing these customers how the products and services can be useful. They often perform instructional demonstrations of these products at trade shows. According to Volt, marketing engineers also work closely with advertising and marketing teams to explain how products work so that these team members can better market these products. Whenever products need repairs or upgrades, marketing engineers are often available to provide expert knowledge. Many market engineers work with technical writers to produce support content for both instructional manuals and websites. During the production of a new product, the market engineer often serves as an intermediary between the product engineers and the customers, using customer knowledge to design products in a way most suitable to the customers. However, marketing engineers must also be aware of and be able to reconcile budget constraints with the needs of the consumer.

Education

Marketing engineers can have a variety of different engineering degrees such as electronic engineering and mechanical engineering. Businesses seek marketing engineers that have engineering expertise in type of product that the company produces. Equally important is the marketing engineer’s communication skills and the engineer’s ability to work well with customers.

Outlook

In 2008, 78,000 marketing engineers held jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Between 2008 and 2018, the need for marketing engineers is expected to grow by 9 percent. This growth will be driven by the need for companies to more competitively market technical products. However, many marketing engineering positions are being outsourced to international companies.

Earnings

The median earnings for marketing engineers in 2008 were $83,100, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The highest 10 percent earned more than $136,770 and the lowest 10 percent earned less than $49,640. Among the highest paid marketing engineers are those in computer sales, earning a median of $95,580. Marketing engineer earnings often come in the form of sales commissions.