My “template” for marketing job cover letters
Cover letters are good, actually.
Everyone I talk to hates them, but I think they’re one of the most important assets you can create when applying for marketing jobs.
For starters, they show off one of the most critical skills in marketing: how to write. While everyone should whip up a basic personal website with a couple blog posts anyways, your cover letter is likely your first impression to show off how compelling of a writer you are.
But more importantly, it’s your first shot at directly speaking to the hiring team about why you’re awesome, how you’re better than everyone else, and why you’re a perfect fit for this role. Your goal with your cover letter is to pitch yourself to the humans behind the interviewing process, and to not only show that you understand what problems they’re likely facing, but that you’re the best person to solve them.
This post will break down the structure I use when starting to write a cover letter. It’s not a plug-and-play template by any means, but by following these sections you should get through the most difficult part of writing a cover letter: getting started with a half-decent first draft.
Warning: Your Kilometrage May Vary
As always, this information is based on my experience, which is applying for (and reviewing candidates for) marketing jobs at tech organizations that are somewhat progressive.
These may not apply to your role or industry! Think critically, take what makes sense for your application and personality, and make something that works for you.
Before we begin: General tips
Cover letters are hard, and they take time. They are essentially short blog posts, so expect these to take a couple hours.
They should be relatively unique, and definitely tailored to each application.
As always: write how you speak. This is more interesting, and is generally seen as best practice for all marketing writing.
Don’t get hung up on the mental game of not starting: write drunk (so, long and messy), sleep on it, then edit sober.
This also means cover letters should be relatively unique—but definitely recycle bits and stories.
Metrics matter. Talk about the impact you’ve had, always.
Never write about soft skills that are obvious or unnecessary (i.e, no “leadership”, or “strong communication” skills.) Instead: prove it.
Don’t write for robots. If software weeds out your resume or cover letter, that’s their loss, not yours.
Get friends and peers to review!
Proofread, proofread, proofread.
My “template”
Introduce yourself
Open your cover letter with a strong sentence (or two if they’re short and snappy) about who you are. This generally includes:
Your generalized, current job role (e.g, product marketer, digital marketer, etc.)
How long you’ve been doing this field of work
Any relevant additional points of context, like an industry you’ve specialized in, or types of companies you’ve worked for
If needed, where you’re based out of
For me, this looks something like:
Hey there! I’m a senior product marketer based out of Ottawa, Ontario who has spent the last 7 years working with data/cybersecurity products and IT buyers.
Why should they hire you?
Another short and snappy paragraph. This should be your high-level summary of what makes you the best person for this job, and what makes you stand out from others.
Basically, what you write in your introduction and this paragraph are what you want every person on the interviewing panel to remember you for and repeat to each other. Everything else, from the rest of your cover letter to your resume and any work samples, are there to support and reinforce these previous two points.
Tell them why this role stood out to you, and why you think you’d be perfect for it. Here are some prompts to get you started:
I’ve done this before at X company
I understand the problems/opportunities you’re trying to solve for because of X experience
I’ve used your product before on X project and see how things can be better
I have X unique experience or skill set that nobody else you’ll interview has, and you want it because of this One Big Reason
Why did you apply? And why are you uniquely different for this role?
Reinforce what you just said
At this point, you’ve got them hooked with your “elevator pitch” by giving them the table stakes information and the key reason why they should hire you.
In this next paragraph, you should double-down on that key reason, preferably by sharing real-world experience and insights.
The easiest way to do this is to give a summary of your current (or most relevant) role, responsibilities, and key metrics:
I have X job title and I am responsible for [single sentence on what your job in a nutshell is]
My scope of work is [a scale metric, like number of leads, customers, or revenue]
I had X major win/project with Y impact
Bullet point lists can be ok here too, if they’re extremely short and quantitative, but don’t turn this into a resume page.
If it’s more impactful, you can also just talk about a single major project or revelation you had in your role. While you should still give a sentence of what your overall role is, for earlier-career or career-switching individuals, talking about a major relevant project might be easier to show your impact.
I don’t recommend talking about multiple jobs/prior jobs on your cover letter, but sometimes it is relevant and worth it. As always: talk about the impact you’ve had, and make sure that experience and impact is relevant to the job you’re applying for.
For example, when I applied for my current (at time of writing) role at MongoDB, I did talk about a previous role I had prior to my then-role, simply because it was relevant to the database industry, and I had marketing projects related to MongoDB itself. I actually led with these stories, then talked about my then-current experience. This sounds backwards, but it prioritized the experience that was most relevant to MongoDB.
I also don’t recommend talking about your post-secondary education here, unless you’re a new grad or it’s hyper-specialized and relevant for the role. That information is found on your resume, and being candid: your degree and grades generally don’t prove your impact or ability to be a good worker.
Highlight a major obstacle or culture shift you solved
In addition to your job experience, you want to give your interviewer a sense of how you look forward to solve problems that are bigger than just you. Preferably, you share something that you think the company you’re applying for is also struggling with.
Here are some prompts I’ve used:
Helped a sales or GTM team learn how to sell something different for the first time (i.e., go from sales-led to product-led)
Fought for a new, better way of doing things (e.g, try a marketing channel that everyone thought would fail)
Brought teams together that weren’t working together before (e.g., get technical resources more involved in marketing)
Statements like these can also help you punch above your weight, since these are usually the things that organizations look for when considering promotions.
Closing statements
To close out your cover letter, reiterate your key hiring reason listed at the top while weaving in some platitudes about your personality and what you care about and seek in your field of work.
This doesn’t mean to say “you love the intersection of X and Y business fields.” These are corny AF.
I find the easiest way to be authentic about your work interests is to reiterate your experience or history. I genuinely love doing technical marketing for cloud and data products, and that’s evidenced by my job history, so in my cover letters I clearly say that (it may be obvious looking at my resume, but you need to spell these things out for readers.)
Pointing to a side project, a community you’re involved in, a certification or course you’ve pursued, or an experience you’ve had can all be authentic ways to show you have a general interest in the product, industry, or type of work you’re applying for.
I also recommend avoiding “personal” things here. A lot of people default to historically bad advice around “showing your personality” by saying hobby things like “I love travel” or “I love to ski”—if these aren’t relevant to the job or organization, do not waste your space (e.g.: if you’re applying to a travel company, then sure, share your favourite trip, but nobody hiring a product marketer at a tech company cares that you take your dog for long hikes in the mountains.)
Your closing sentences are also a great way to link out to other resources that aren’t part of your application package. Remember that these are digital files, so you should be linking to personal sites, social profiles, portfolios, projects, blog posts, writing samples, or content. Be direct and tell the reader why they should look at someone (i.e: “if you want to get a sense of my writing, check out my blog at…) and reinforce that you’re happy to walk through any assets in an interview.
And finally, while it feels cheesy, you should thank the person for taking time to read your application and consider you for this role. Keep it short and keep it human.
