What Is a Cover Letter and Why Do You Need It? (+ Examples)
What is a cover letter for a job application? What is the purpose of writing a covering letter? A great CV isn't enough–see what a cover letter can do for you.
Marketing Cover Letter Examples & Template [2024]
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Whether you’re a seasoned marketing executive or a marketing intern looking to get that first serious job, you’ll need a winning marketing cover letter (or covering letter). Winning, but not award-winning. Your marketing cover letter has one job to do and it’s not to bring home a Davey Award.
The best and most effective cover letter is the one that lets your skills and achievements shine and gets you that interview. Keep reading for a step-by-step guide to writing a cover letter that’s been written specifically for marketing professionals of all experience levels. You’ll find plenty of examples and advice as well as a template to work from.
Use the LiveCareer cover letter builder and your cover letter will write itself. Choose a professional template, answer a few easy questions and the creator will generate a professional cover letter for you with just one click.
Considering similar positions too? See cover letter examples for different jobs:
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Want to explore other options? See our selection of cover letter examples for other jobs.
Marketing Cover Letter Example
Leah Sinclair
54 Overton Circle
Liverpool
L3 5YN
079 2627 5965
sinclair.ls@mailport.co.uk
16th June 2021
Elizabeth Hale
Marketing Hiring Manager
Blue Door Outfitters
22 Cunnery Rd
Liverpool
L3 3ZB
Dear Ms Hale,
Being a long-time admirer of Blue Door’s ability to make the retail experiences of old new again, I was delighted to read of the opportunity to join Blue Door’s team as a marketing manager. In my 4 years as a digital marketing specialist with Red Rust Rentals I’ve found similarly innovative ways to keep engagement metrics rising an average of 40-60% a month whilst actually reducing net costs.
Inspired by the traditional meat raffle, I introduced a dynamic series of low-cost online contests and draws that have boosted social media engagement by 20-30% per month each month since February. I streamlined our reputation management system by delegating over 60% of daily monitoring tasks to more junior colleagues and scheduling their workflow, allowing my team to deal more effectively with the <5% of issues that require in-depth intervention. I created a secondary sales funnel which catches over 80% of people not captured by the primary funnel and steers them towards minor, low-barrier purchase actions that, although barely profitable, have consistently yielded an extra £7,000+ a month. The oversight of 3 outsourced printing suppliers is also a big part of my role at Red Rust and over the past year I’ve reduced the need for reprints by 38% through more systematic quality control earlier in the process, saving at least £9,500 annually.
Blue Door’s blending of the trappings of days gone by with cutting-edge tech and dynamic growth models very much appeals to me. My track record of innovation and strong focus on sustainable growth could, I believe, be put to great use at Blue Door.
Thank you for your consideration, I look forward to discussing my candidature with you further.
Yours Sincerely,
Leah Sinclair
1. Begin your marketing cover letter with a properly set out header
What to include in a cover letter? Start your motivation letter with your details first. Align your name, postal address, phone number, and email address to the right. Hit enter twice (leave a line blank) and write the date. The format for the date is always the same: 1st January 2021, 3rd May 2021, 14th July 2021. Leave another line blank (hit enter twice).
Now align the hiring manager’s details to the left. Include their full name, job title, the company name, and the company’s postal address. It’s at this point that you may be realising that you don’t know to whom to address your cover letter. More on this in the next section.
Marketing cover letter examples: header
Leah Sinclair
54 Overton Circle
Liverpool
L3 5YN
079 2627 5965
sinclair.ls@mailport.co.uk
16th June 2021
Elizabeth Hale
Marketing Hiring Manager
Blue Door Outfitters
22 Cunnery Rd
Liverpool
L3 3ZB
You can adjust every cover letter created in the builder to meet the job requirements. Choose the name of your profession and the company to which you’re applying, and the LiveCareer cover letter builder will automatically adapt the content for you. Create a cover letter faster than you ever thought possible and apply for the job in record time.
2. Use the right salutation for a marketing cover letter
Begin your cover letter with a personal salutation. Dear + first name (e.g. Dear John) is best. You might feel safer using the more formal Dear + title + surname (e.g. Dear Mr Smith) if applying for a marketing intern or entry-level position. Keep it gender-neutral if in any doubt and always use Ms rather than Miss or Mrs.
What should you do if you don’t have the hiring manager’s name? Well, find out, if at all possible. Double check the advert for clues, search online, check LinkedIn. You could even call and ask. Consider the effort you put in an investment—it will pay off.
If you really can’t put a name to the role, then go with “Dear Hiring Manager” or, better yet, “Dear XYZ Department/Team Hiring Manager”. Avoid the old-fashioned and effortless “To Whom It May Concern” or “Dear Sir/Madam” approach—the hiring manager won’t be impressed.
Marketing cover letter examples: salutation
Dear Ms Hale,
3. Open strong and introduce yourself in your marketing cover letter
Marketers know all about hooking their audience and the importance of attention-grabbing first impressions. How do you do that in a cover letter (or, letter of application)? You have 40-80 words to do three things:
- Show your enthusiasm for the company and passion for the work
- Mention the job and company to which you’re applying
- Give a taste of what you bring to the table.
Have experience? Describe one of your achievements in your current marketing job. Show that it lines up with the company’s goals. Explain how you can apply the skills your accomplishment points to if need be. Be specific and quantify your results and achievements. Use an accomplishment statement.
Writing a marketing internship cover letter or entry-level marketing cover letter? Start with your passion for the job and the company (don't make your cover letter too generic). Save achievements for the next section if you have them. Include a belief statement here in the opening. Use it to show that you’re a match for the company’s values and mission.
Now is also a great time to name-drop if you were referred to the position. Don’t be afraid to put your contacts and connections in full view, social proof can be an extremely effective tool.
Marketing cover letter examples: opening
Being a long-time admirer of Blue Door’s ability to make the retail experiences of old new again, I was delighted to read of the opportunity to join Blue Door’s team as a Marketing Manager. In my 4 years as a Digital Marketing Specialist with Red Rust Rentals I’ve found similarly innovative ways to keep engagement metrics rising an average of 40-60% a month whilst actually reducing net costs.
You don’t have to create any content yourself. The LiveCareer cover letter generator will automatically suggest the best content for your cover letter with ready-made examples and expert tips.
4. Show what you can bring to the company
The main part of your cover letter is a showcase of your achievements and skills. Use them to show that you’re the perfect match for the job. Consider using something like the STAR method to structure your sentences and quantify everything you can, especially results.
Base each achievement around an action you took and the results that flowed from that action. Aim for two or three achievements, about 120-200 words in total (the whole cover letter should not exceed 500 words). Break this section down into two paragraphs if you end up with a large block of text. You could also use bullet points to break things down visually.
Writing a cover letter for a marketing internship with no experience or for an entry-level marketing job? Include relevant achievements from your studies or volunteer work. Don’t force it, though. If you don’t have anything that works, just skip this section. Your belief statement will become the main part of your cover letter.
Marketing cover letter examples: main paragraph
Inspired by the traditional meat raffle, I introduced a dynamic series of low-cost online contests and draws that have boosted social media engagement by 20-30% per month each month since February. I streamlined our reputation management system by delegating over 60% of daily monitoring tasks to more junior colleagues and scheduling their workflow, allowing my team to deal more effectively with the <5% of issues that require in-depth intervention. I created a secondary sales funnel which catches over 80% of people not captured by the primary funnel and steers them towards minor, low-barrier purchase actions that, although barely profitable, have consistently yielded an extra £7,000+ a month. The oversight of 3 outsourced printing suppliers is also a big part of my role at Red Rust and over the past year I’ve reduced the need for reprints by 38% through more systematic quality control earlier in the process, saving at least £9,500 annually.
5. Wrap things up and add a call to action
Briefly summarise your achievements, picking out the main theme or themes. Tie them back into benefits for your new employer. Make it clear that your skills and achievements are exactly what they’re looking for. Show your interest in the company by referring to some specific information about it.
Thank the hiring manager for their time and end your cover letter with a call to action. Remember that the purpose of your marketing cover letter and CV is to get to that interview.
Keep the ending part of your cover letter very short, about 40-60 words, one or two paragraphs.
Marketing cover letter examples: closing paragraph
Blue Door’s blending of the trappings of days gone by with cutting-edge tech and dynamic growth models very much appeals to me. My track record of innovation and strong focus on sustainable growth could, I believe, be put to great use at Blue Door.
Thank you for your consideration, I look forward to discussing my candidature with you further.
6. Sign off the right way
There are two conventional ways to sign off in a marketing cover letter, you just need to choose the right one:
- “Yours sincerely” if you addressed the cover letter to a person by name, e.g. ‘Dear Jill’
- “Yours faithfully” if you didn’t use their name, e.g. “Dear Hiring Manager”.
Marketing cover letter examples: sign-off
Yours sincerely,
Leah Sinclair
7. Formatting your marketing cover letter
Your marketer’s eye for detail and appreciation for classy understatement are really going to come in handy here. Your cover letter needs to follow the conventions of a standard UK business letter and it needs to look good and be easy to read. Here’s a list of tips to make that happen.
Length
How long can a cover letter be? Over half an A4 page but no longer than one A4 page (a two-page cover letter is too much), about 200-350 words in total. It should also be nicely proportioned:
- Opening paragraph—between 60 and 80 words
- Main body—between 120 and 200 words
- Closing paragraph—between 40 and 60 words.
Visual consistency
Your marketing CV and cover letter are two parts of one document (though it's obvious that a CV and a cover letter are two different things). They should clearly share a look to reflect this, from colour choices to font selection. Simple templates are recommended as they improve the document's readability.
“Creative professionals should format their CVs to balance creativity with professionalism by avoiding excessive use of photos, colours, or icons. Instead, focus on clarity and conciseness, ensuring the CV conveys information effectively to both technical and non-technical readers. Reserve more creative elements for your portfolio while keeping the CV clean and straightforward to highlight your skills and experience”.
Choosing an appropriate font
This is one situation in which understatement is a real asset. Stick to classic fonts that don’t draw attention to themselves, like Arial, Noto, and Garamond. If in doubt, go with the default Liberation or Calibri—they’re defaults for a reason. Stay with 11 or 12 point font size, don’t drop below 10 points.
Use page layout to your advantage
Your goal is to make your marketing cover letter a pleasure to read. You have an entire A4 page to work with, fully use it to your advantage. Play with line spacing, paragraph formatting, and page margins to get your cover letter looking just right (the ideal margins should be approximately 1-inch all around). Use bullet points to break up large chunks or text.
Export to PDF
Use PDF format for your cover letter unless you’ve been specifically asked for something else. Even then, consider including a PDF version as well—file types such as *.docx are known for being a little unpredictable. Of course, this does not apply to email cover letters.
A cover letter alone simply won’t be enough—you need an impactful CV, too. Create your CV in minutes. Just follow our wizard and fill in every CV section with ready-made content. Get started by choosing a professional CV template.
Was this article and sample helpful? Did it cover everything you needed to know about writing a marketing cover letter? Did you get that dream marketing job you were going for? Let us know in the comments!
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Our editorial team has reviewed this article for compliance with Livecareer’s editorial guidelines. It’s to ensure that our expert advice and recommendations are consistent across all our career guides and align with current CV and cover letter writing standards and trends. We’re trusted by over 10 million job seekers, supporting them on their way to finding their dream job. Each article is preceded by research and scrutiny to ensure our content responds to current market trends and demand.
About the author
Since 2013, the LiveCareer UK team has shared the best advice to help you advance your career. Experts from our UK editorial team have written more than one hundred guides on how to write the perfect CV or cover letter.
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