April is the American Marketing Association’s (AMA) National Membership Appreciation Month. To cap it off, we’re exploring the short- and long-term benefits of joining an American Marketing Association chapter for marketing career development, including direct access to national marketing thought leaders, increased credibility and visibility, and overall insights into how members can tap into the vast network of professionals and students that associate with the AMA.
How an AMA Membership Works
AMA memberships are available to marketing professionals at virtually every stage of their career and are divided into three tiers: Student, Professional, and Group/Leadership. Each tiered system is priced, structured and positioned to offer personalized advantages – all while fostering a community built on mentorship and diverse perspectives.
Collegiate (Student) Membership
AMA’s collegiate student membership, priced at around $29/year, supplies undergraduate students access to the AMA nexus for up to five years. Student members can join both collegiate and professional chapters of the American Marketing Association, strengthen their resumes through dedicated projects and competitions, and earn sought-after certifications.
Student AMA members lay the groundwork for a successful marketing career and develop invaluable skills in the field while simultaneously gaining visibility from hiring managers and department heads, setting student members apart from the rest of their cohort.
Find an AMA Collegiate Chapter near you >>
Transition Phase
When collegiate members graduate and matriculate into the workforce, their AMA membership does not automatically expire or shed benefits. Members who joined the association during their undergraduate studies can still retain some of the most crucial early-career perks, including access to the same chapters and professional groups that they would have as a student member, events with marketing veterans and unique positioning for jobs and mentorships.
During this period, an AMA membership can help young professionals smooth over their transition from college to the professional world. In an increasingly competitive labor market, having a robust network of mentors and career professionals who can point recent graduates in the right directions can make all the difference.
Professional Membership
The AMA also offers membership opportunities to established marketing professionals in the field, such as consultants and C-suite executives. Priced at $199/year, this tier grants members access to:
· Over 70+ local chapters nationwide
· Advanced training + certification programming
· Education for new and in-demand skillsets
· Research journals to keep up to date on industry insights
· Access to a primary/dedicated community
A professional membership with the AMA gives working marketers the chance to sustainably scale their career, uncover vital industry trends and expose them to other career professionals with unique perspectives. Members who frequent these events also command greater ethos in professional spaces, accruing valuable connections that can bolster their career even further down the line.
Learn more about professional memberships >>
Group/Leadership/Advanced Involvement Memberships
The AMA’s advanced involvement tier allows teams, whether they are part of the same organization or a local professional affiliate, to collectively reap the advantages of the AMA community, as well as additional ones. In addition, teams and individuals have the chance to foster increased and advanced visibility through several different channels. These include:
o Publishing relevant marketing content
o Chapter leadership
o Speaking at events
The AMA’s advanced involvement membership was established for professionals and teams who want to take their involvement beyond event attendance or learning new skills. It opens the door for them to utilize the AMA’s vast network of marketers and students to build a platform and promote their expertise/services, allowing for increased credibility and authority.
Reasons to Join The AMA
Advanced Network
Standing out in the modern marketing job market is a significant undertaking. New and different skills are in demand at various points, but what remains inelastic is the value of professional connections. Through the AMA’s membership of students, groups and working professionals, marketers looking to get ahead in their field have direct access to warm referrals through events and programming, creating a reliable pipeline for leads and providing a compass to guide members during the job search.
Increased Credibility
By virtue of the events, available certification and continued training, associating with a recognized professional group like the AMA is a signal to prospective employers and colleagues that a marketer offers a diverse and crucial skillset, as well as an inherent adaptability to absorb new skills and information if conditions were to change.
Additionally, through speeches and guided panels, the AMA also empowers members to promote and share their outlooks in a way that grants them increased influence and deference on key topics pertaining to marketing. To executives, members who take the extra steps and find channels to make their voices heard are more than vendors, but strategic planners and leaders.
Continued Education
With the onset of artificial intelligence, economic indicators affecting the buying power of the average American household, and the usage of data being in metamorphosis, it is more crucial now than ever before for marketers to stay regularly connected with industry leaders and trendsetters on these topics. However, with the endless streams of information from endless sources, the learning curve for many marketers is exceedingly steep.
Fortunately, the AMA’s curated collection of regularly updated resources means that members have access to a centralized database of content that can steer them in the right direction and lead to more collectively beneficial outcomes for members and their affiliate organizations. In essence, AMA members find what they need to know, when they need to know it in less time.
Career Acceleration
Many professional organizations are meant for a specific subset of professionals within a given sector, and have a window for who can be a member and for how long. This can leave many people needing to rebuild their networks and professional support systems, which slows networking progress and pipeline efficiency. However, the AMA’s membership structure is inherently designed to avoid this obstacle and to continue providing industry-leading events and membership resources.
Members who first joined the AMA as undergraduate students can receive the same support as they adapt to the workforce, and utilize the resources they need to build a reliable conduit of leads as they progress further in their career. The AMA acts as a career support system, rather than a professional affiliation.
Visibility and Thought Leadership
Thought leadership is at the beating heart of the marketing sector. The most important advances and developments have occurred because of the promoted and unimpeded exchange of unorthodox and unconventional ways of thinking, and marketers who share them will invariably stand out in their own professional lives. The AMA provides these marketers with an opportunity to share their viewpoints and ideas and build their personal brand in the process. Instead of speaking as a marketer, members can gradually speak on behalf of the market.