by Imed Bouchrika, Phd
Through marketing, companies can identify and develop their products or services while crafting a unique brand identity. With engaging strategies, businesses can maximize efforts in cultivating long-term customer relationships and carve out an impactful presence within any industry. For a potential marketer to be good at their job, they need to be aware of the needs of their audience and how they can use those to market their goods or services. On top of this, they need some business and finance know-how.
Thus, they need to acquire a marketing degree, which will teach them about a vast spectrum of topics (American Intercontinental University, n.d.). If you are roaring to get into the professional field, you can look into getting a bachelor degree in 2 years.
Marketing is a versatile, fast-paced, and continuously evolving field. This specialization paves the way for a range of in-demand, high-income careers. It also ensures job satisfaction and continuous learning opportunities (Aldini, n.d.). However, modern marketing is slowly venturing into digital venues, which can make already complex traditional marketing ineffective. Now, the question is: is marketing a good major?
This article discusses what this field entails, including the aspects of marketing major requirements, jobs, and salary. It will help a student planning to go the way of marketing as a career choice by giving him a glimpse of what the future job in the field holds for him.
Every business, no matter the sector and size, depends on marketing to reach its target customers and gain growth and success. Marketing uses the four Ps—product, price, place, and promotion. Popularized by Neil Borden in the 1950s, the four Ps is a marketing mix that makes up what a business needs to market a service or product (Twin, 2020).
Product is what a business offers to its consumers. It must fill in an absence in the industry or satisfy consumer demand. Marketers must understand what a product is, its edge over competitors, if it is a good match with other products, and whether substitutes for it exist to come up with the right campaign.
Price answers the question “How much is the product?” Businesses consider the unit cost price, marketing expenses, and distribution costs to establish a price. They also consider the prices of competitor products and whether the planned price is logical for the consumers.
Place deals with product supply. Crucial points include whether the company will sell the product through a physical store, online, or both. Then, the kind of product placement will vary depending on the place of product supply.
Promotion is the coordinated marketing communications campaign. The fourth P includes activities like advertising, selling, sales promotions, and more. It depends on what phase the product is in. Marketers know that customers connect price and distribution with product quality, and they consider this when planning a strategy.
Most marketing programs center around the basic notions associated with the industry. Their focus will vary from public relations (PR), consumer research, and any marketing-related job one may find after graduating. These studies will provide important information and a strong foundation for post-graduation jobs (Beener, 2019).
Marketing majors are taking courses in marketing principles, communication, economics, finance, and management classes. Most marketing courses also require students to take general programs in English and math and electives, such as goals of psychology, introduction to computers, and other business courses. Public speaking, business writing, ecommerce marketing principles, graphic design, sales, logistics, international marketing, and other computer programs supplement marketing degree requirements as well. These programs teach students to choose the best target customers to whom to sell a product, how and when to attract a certain market, how much is the service or product, and ways to handle business relationships (Best Marketing Degrees, n.d.). However, you can also take up one of the popular business degrees available whether in person or online and enroll in marketing courses to enhance your major.
Marketing course titles vary from school to school. Nevertheless, they carry the same information students must learn to succeed. These courses are:
Marketing majors are expected to only choose between sales and advertising jobs. With the advancement in technology, the field has now broadened extremely. Some marketing major jobs are account executive, brand manager, copywriter, digital media director, event planner, market research analyst, production manager, PR representative, promotions coordinator, sales manager, search engine optimization (SEO) manager, and social media coordinator.
A degree in marketing can lead to an attractive pay scale, career growth, and professional stability. Of course, all these benefits hinge on one’s skillset; no doubt, not all marketing professionals are of the same caliber in terms of abilities, network, and experience, just as not all companies are equal. But in general, one can expect a marketing degree to lead to a fulfilling career trajectory.
Marketing major salary depends on the job title, but most jobs offer high income. Numerous marketing professions earn over $100,000 annually. Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) is one of the jobs that can generate a high marketing major salary.
Source: Robert Half, 2020
Marketing provides opportunities in almost any field, be it a small or big business. Skills associated with this degree are deemed relevant and highly in-demand. Individuals who have earned even an online associate’s degree in marketing may also succeed in the communications, design, or business field (Aldini, n.d.). Marketing graduates can also take on public relations careers.
The employment rate for the marketing industry is increasing faster than average. A recent Redburn and PwC survey on how much money is on the global marketing industry indicates that the marketing industry is now worth $1.7 trillion. The survey was conducted on both traditional and digital media (Dimitrioski, 2019).
Studies reveal that marketing professionals are satisfied with their jobs (Aldini, n.d.). In the 2019 Glassdoor survey on jobs with the highest employee satisfaction, eight out of the ten positions were all in marketing and sales (Connley, 2019).
A marketing degree helps in developing marketing skills like communication and problem-solving. Moreover, marketing professionals are encouraged to further their education through advanced programs or individual degrees to adapt to technological advancements.
Source: Altimeter Digital Marketing Survey, Q2 2019
Designed byEven in weak economic situations, marketing remains resilient. When businesses need to save on money, they rely on people who can maintain or increase sales. Marketing jobs are not safe from recession, but knowing that these roles aid during economic crises is somehow comforting to know (Erstad, 2017).
Marketing is becoming more competitive with its shift toward the digital landscape. Aside from students, professionals who were trained in old-school marketing and adjusting to the digital age also wonder, “Is marketing a good major?”
Marketing is the right choice only for those who are creative, meticulous, team player, socially adept, detail-oriented, and willing to take criticisms and learn from them. At the same time, one has to possess skills in organization, strategization, collaboration, research, social media algorithms, SEO, originality, and data science (American Intercontinental University, n.d.). If you are into data can even choose to become a data scientist later on. But if you want to remain in the field of marketing, you can utilize your data science skills to figure out marketing insights.
Is marketing a good major? The answer to the question depends entirely on the student and on what he or she wants out of a degree experience and future career goals. Businesses and consumers benefit from marketing every day. Traditional marketing may soon become entirely obsolete, but digital marketing is here to stay and still growing (Oregon Web Solutions, 2018). The best advice we can give is that taking a marketing major may give one a brighter future and lead to more exciting careers. And if you are looking to go into business, you can even use your marketing background for international business careers.
References
by Imed Bouchrika, Phd
by Imed Bouchrika, Phd
by Imed Bouchrika, Phd
by Imed Bouchrika, Phd
