Business English For Marketing
Marketing is probably my favorite business topic.
In the Oxford Dictionary, it is defined as the action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising.
To me, marketing means communicating your ideas to the right people. These people, ideally, are looking for your solution.
When you learn English for business, knowing what you are learning English for is a great help. Your why, such as English for marketing, technology or accounting, is a good motivation and makes learning more enjoyable.
That’s why I was happy when a reader sent me the following question:
“I want to learn more about English for marketing. Where do I start?”
Whether you want to grow your personal brand or reach customers for your new product, here are 5 suggestions to learn business English for marketing effectively.
Start with a course or textbook as a guide.
A good textbook or online course is a good guide. These resources are a good start, but you will have to use more than one resource to learn successfully.
Textbook: Professional English for Marketing
Cambridge English for Marketing
Free Business English course: Marketing and Sales This free 6-week course is a basic introduction to marketing for English learners.
Watch video lessons and listen to podcasts about English for marketing.
Videos are mainly for listening practice and you will also learn some new expressions.
Video lesson: the difference between customers and clients
Business English Pod This website has a great selection of video and audio lessons about marketing for intermediate learners.
Read marketing articles in English.
You will learn something about the newest marketing techniques. At the same time, you will improve your reading skills in English. These are my favorite websites for information about marketing.
- Hubspot This is my favorite blog with useful advice and clear information.
- Quicksprout This is another one of my favorite blogs about marketing. The information here is more detailed and the articles are longer.
- Inc. If you are looking for some inspiring examples from real companies, Inc Magazine is a great resource for you.
- Duct Tape Marketing This is an informative blog with clear advice. The website also has a nice podcast.
Learn new words and phrases for the marketing field.
- Mosalingua Mosalingua has a great method of teaching you useful phrases for Business English. They have a great section on marketing and you will easily memorize the words and phrases if you use their method.
- Marketing flashcards on Quizlet
- Article: 12 English Phrases for Marketing
- Article: English Vocabulary for a Marketing Plan
- Useful English words for marketing: image launch whitepaper
- English words to use instead of ‘good’
You can find more great English resources in the Globify Business English toolbox.
Don’t forget to practice writing and speaking!
The resources and suggestions above are useful as input.
In addition, you need to apply what you have learned in order to improve your English for marketing.
Here are some ideas to practice your writing and speaking skills:
- Write a post for Twitter or LinkedIn, get feedback on your writing from a tutor or Grammarly, then post it!
- Practice the pronunciation of the new words you learn by using Forvo.
- After listening to a podcast episode or reading an article, record your comment or reaction about one idea you liked. Get feedback from fluent speakers on Rhinospike.
- Write a summary of a podcast episode or article and get feedback by your tutor or on Write&Improve.
More useful tips:
How to improve your Business English writing
Free tools to improve your pronunciation
Call to Action
What is your favorite business topic? What is ONE thing you will do to improve your English in that area?
Let us know in the comments below!
Happy learning!