Should You Be a Marketing Major? Potential Jobs & Other Information

Should you buy this pair of shoes? Or will another set offer better arch support? If you know the answer before popping those sneakers on your feet, thank a marketing major.

Marketing is the art and science of promoting products or services to a target audience. It involves understanding consumer behavior, identifying market trends, and developing effective strategies to reach and engage customers. A career in marketing requires creativity, analytical skills, and a strong understanding of consumer psychology.

Read on to find out more about the pros and cons of majoring in marketing. We'll also tell you what sorts of jobs you can get after graduation, and we'll sprinkle in tips you can use to make the most of your education.

A marketing degree prepares you for a career in sales, advertising, public relations, or a similar field. These are all business environments, and your work will involve connecting your organization with a community of supporters/consumers.

A key benefit of a marketing degree, experts say, involves versatility. Choose to focus on something like veterinary medicine, and you'll have one basic route to follow toward graduation. In comparison, you can tackle a variety of degrees with a marketing focus, including:

• English. With this degree focus, you'll study old texts and determine what made them innovative. You'll also learn how to craft your own winning writing projects. This focus prepares you for any blog posts, radio scripts, and advertising copy you'll write after graduation.

• Business. This is the traditional focus for marketing majors. You'll learn how to split people into market segments, and you'll find out how to craft a marketing plan and develop a budget.

• Communications. You'll learn how to vary your style depending on your audience. You'll also learn how to be comfortable in front of a camera, which could help you rock your next live video on social.

Some of the best colleges for marketing are the University of Michigan, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Texas, the University of California, and New York University, according to U.S. News & World Report. You could also look into getting your marketing degree online. After you graduate, you'll have a career that blends analysis with creativity. If you've always wanted a job that puts both your left brain and right brain to work, this could be right for you.

Marketing degree jobs are also in flux. In a few years, you could have a position no one has even thought of yet. For example, AdAge reports that some companies are replacing the Chief Marketing Officer title with innovative options like these:

• Chief Experience Officer
• President of Brands
• Chief Growth Officer
• Chief Commercial Officer

Get a balanced education, and you could be just the person forward-thinking companies are seeking right now. You'll have the knowledge to evaluate the market and the skills to help your company succeed even when times are tough.

All business degrees are under fire from pundits. They suggest that business is a default degree for students who don't want to study. They also suggest that choosing a business major is a quick way to spend a lot of money with little to show for it.

Experts say business majors are more likely than their STEM-studying colleagues to be:

• Unemployed. They don't emerge with a hard-and-fast skillset, so finding that first job is hard.
  
• Self-taught. Some concepts taught in school are dated. Students have to get up to speed as employees.
  
• Lazy. The major isn't challenging, they suggest. Students spend more time partying than learning.

These are serious allegations. The idea of unemployment, in particular, may make you intensely nervous. If you're still wondering is a degree in marketing worth it, know that you could be the exception to the rule. You could study hard, round out your education with robust classes, and do just fine.

Before you decide what to do with a marketing degree, learn more about the jobs you can get after graduation. Marketing professionals specialize in education and persuasion. Their work combines sales techniques, exceptional communication skills, and technology to deliver the right message at the right time. Equipped with these skill sets, you will have several different career paths open to you after graduation.

If you're wondering how much do marketing majors make, we've included the newest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) so you can get a sense of the pay range across these interesting positions. The jobs that you can get with a marketing degree are varied and include:

Market research analysts gather and analyze data to understand market trends, consumer preferences, and competitive landscapes. They conduct surveys, interviews, and focus groups, and use statistical techniques to interpret data. Market research analysts provide valuable insights to companies, helping them make informed business decisions.

You'll need at least a bachelor's degree to enter this field. You'll make about $64,000 per year according to the BLS. Job openings are expected to grow 19% between 2021 and 2031, so this is definitely a career on the rise.

A marketing manager is responsible for developing and implementing marketing strategies to promote a company's products or services. They oversee marketing campaigns, analyze market trends, and coordinate with various teams to ensure the successful execution of marketing initiatives. Strong leadership, strategic thinking, and excellent communication skills are essential for this role.

In this role, you might create advertising campaigns to entice customers to work with your organization. At the entry-level, you'll work with a marketing director. In time, you could take that role yourself.

The good news is the median salary for these positions is around $133,000 per year, making it one of the highest-paying marketing jobs according to data from the BLS. These jobs are also growing by 10% over the next decade, faster than the average for all occupations.

In the Information Age, social media has become a powerful marketing tool, and social media managers are responsible for managing and leveraging social media platforms to promote brands and engage with customers. They develop social media strategies, create compelling content, monitor social media metrics, and build a strong online presence for companies.

As a social media manager, you'll interact with a community of followers on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. You'll create graphics and captions and answer questions and comments. You'll need good time management and multitasking skills, or you'll always be working. Social media never sleeps.

These positions have morphed over time from entry-level roles to valued positions, and you can expect to make somewhere around $62,000 per year, according to the BLS. However, competition is typically fierce.

Public relations (PR) specialists manage the public image and reputation of companies or individuals. They develop PR strategies, write press releases, organize events, and build relationships with the media. PR specialists play a critical role in shaping public perception and managing crisis communications.

As a PR specialist, you might position your organization in front of the community and news crews and attract consumers. You could stage events, speak at rallies, and help shape public perception. Anticipate working very long days and devoting your weekends to your job. You may also need to respond quickly when a crisis hits. Expect to make about $63,000 per year according to the BLS.

Content marketers focus on creating and distributing valuable and relevant content to attract and retain customers. They develop content strategies, write engaging blog posts, create videos, and optimize content for search engines.

Content specialists play a crucial role in building brand awareness, driving website traffic, and nurturing customer relationships. These positions generally offer a wide range of salaries commensurate to the work.

This is a sampling of the jobs open to marketing majors. Your skills with analysis and communication could serve you in all sorts of fields not mentioned here. There really is no limit to what you can do.

You'll want a job right out of school, as will all your fellow students. Be intentional as you study, and you could increase your chances of landing the perfect job as quickly as possible.

While you're enrolled in school, follow these tips:

• Keep your grades up. It's tempting to blow off your classes and spend time hanging out with your friends, but your future employers may ask about how well you did in school. Ensure that you have positive data to share.

• Enhance your education with writing. If you're following a traditional business-major track, add English Literature classes. They will help you to refine your critical thinking and writing skills. You'll lean on them in your work.

• Tackle an internship — or two! You'll need experience when you sit down to write your first resume. Your internships can count as jobs well done. Take on as many as you can. Your guidance counselor can help you find the right opportunities.

• Join your school's marketing club. Learn how to network with your peers. Your club can also connect you with alumni members. They could be critical when you start searching for your first job.

• Work part-time. You'll enter the business world when you graduate. Get your foot in the door while you're in school, and learn more about what it's like to sit at a desk all day. Part-time jobs in reception could be just right for you, and your supervisor might be willing to be a reference when you start your job search in earnest.

If you're ready to start now, we can help.

Visit our website, and look for marketing jobs. Get a sense of how much you might get paid, and find out which career paths have many openings and which are fizzling out.

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