Is it Marketer or Marketeer?

The English language has many rules and traditions and is frankly quite complex. Due to the complexity of the language, debates are always cropping up from how to pronounce vitamins, to how to spell analyse/analyze and now a debate within the Marketing industry. The debate is centred around the correct way to describe a Marketing professional. Are they described as a Marketer or a Marketeer?

A search on the internet doesn’t seem to clear up this debate as this is how multiple sources define the two descriptions:

Marketer

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, a Marketer is “a person or company that markets goods” and when consulting Dictionary.com, a Marketer is a derivative of the word market, and it doesn’t have its own meaning.

Marketeer

A Marketeer is then defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as “someone who works in or supports a particular marketing system” or “a person who sells goods or services in a market” according to the Oxford Dictionary.

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Is Marketer or Marketeer correct?

The various definitions of the two terms aren’t successful at settling this debate, various sources will debate over what term is correct but truly there is no right or wrong, it is just personal preference.

A recent survey found that over 78.3% of Marketing professionals prefer to be called ‘marketers’ and 21.7% of Marketing professionals feel they would prefer to be called ‘marketeers.’

This survey made me curious to know more about which term people prefer and why they feel this way. I conducted research and gathered thoughts from a few of our marketing professionals:

"I prefer the term Marketer because it conveys a sense of professionalism and expertise, it better reflects the strategic and analytical aspects of my work.” – Shannon, Marketing Manager.

“The word Marketeer is my pet hate, to me the word Marketeer sounds like musketeer which conjures up images of a soldier in battle. I mean I have my struggles, but NO Marketer makes more sense” – Elizabeth, Managing Director.

“Marketer for me, sounds much more professional.” – Caitlin, Marketing Executive.

“To me, Marketeer is someone who is creative and focuses on crafting experiences for customers and helps build connections and relationships with customers, so Marketeer is right for me” – Upasana, Content Specialist.

"Marketeer has its charm, I do have reservations due to its striking resemblance to 'meerkat,' which might inadvertently distract from the professional image we aim to convey." – James, Head of Marketing.

There are many differing opinions, and there are those who have no opinion at all and don’t place value on a descriptive term they are more concerned with how their work is performed and perceived