With a degree in marketing, you can develop the skills to attain a high-paying and exciting career in the field of business.
What Is Marketing?
As a college major, marketing is the study of how to promote an organization and its products or services. The field combines courses in business studies with more specialized courses that equip graduates with the skills to come up with, launch and evaluate the performance of marketing campaigns.
Students in an undergraduate marketing degree program take courses in consumer behavior, marketing strategy, advertising, sales, market research and marketing management, according to U.S. News & World Report. They also complete a variety of data courses that help them understand and evaluate the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns.
Classes in business law, business ethics, accounting and economics are commonly included in a marketing major’s curriculum. Some students choose to take electives in related subjects such as entrepreneurship, public relations, e-commerce and social media strategy. Ambitious marketing students will typically complete at least one internship so they can gain hands-on work experience as well as a valuable opportunity to network with established business professionals.
Marketing Jobs
Marketing is an excellent educational path to prepare for a role in the business world. In fact, marketing is one of the top degrees for high-paying business careers. After all, without a plan to actually sell their products or services, companies couldn’t make a profit.
Most recent graduates of bachelor’s degree programs in marketing start their careers with an entry-level marketing specialist job or a similar role. Marketing specialists assist in the creation, implementation and evaluation of promotional campaigns. As a lower level role, a marketing specialist is often responsible for completing individual tasks needed to carry out a campaign, under the supervision of a marketing manager or coordinator. These tasks might include coordinating marketing events conducting market research or and analysis to determine who the audience for a campaign is and what they are looking for. However, marketing specialists who prove themselves in entry-level roles can begin taking on more challenging and prominent work as they gain experience.
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A bachelor’s degree, combined with considerable work experience, can qualify you for a job as a marketing manager. Marketing managers oversee the big-picture concerns of running marketing campaigns. They are responsible for conceptualizing marketing strategies and turning those concepts into effective campaigns that bring in product sales or client leads. Marketing managers also oversee the marketing professionals, like marketing specialists, who work under their direction.
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Having an undergraduate degree in marketing can also prepare you for roles such as advertising sales agent, public relations specialist, market research analyst and sales manager. These positions range from entry-level to leadership roles, according to U.S. News & World Report.
Marketing Salaries
The income potential for marketing professionals varies significantly based on their experience. When you’re fresh out of college, you can expect a starting salary along the lines of $40,000 per year, according to U.S. News & World Report. Advertising sales agents, for example, make a median wage of $46,000. By midcareer, marketing professionals earn a good deal more, around $78,000 per year. If you advance to a manager role, you will likely earn a six-figure salary, or close to it. Larger companies tend to pay their marketing managers higher wages than smaller organizations, but the median wage is $128,750, the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.
After earning your bachelor’s degree in marketing, you will be able to perform the creative, strategic and research work needed to promote a business. These skills lead to a number of possible career opportunities.