Anyone studying for a degree in advertising or marketing could benefit from researching marketing careers before even finishing their prerequisite study. Not only does this help a student assess their strengths and weaknesses within the field before exiting school, it can also help them focus their studies so that they are taking the right electives and concentration coursework.
Brand Management Careers
One of the most popular career paths within the marketing field is the brand management path. Professionals in this field look at an existing brand and find ways to potentially make the brand grow. They will review market research, approve brand images, research the competition, develop ad campaigns, and more.
Since this is a position where there is a broad list of responsibilities, many brand managers enjoy the fact that they do something different every day. While it is exciting, it can be a high-stress position. This is why the average brand manager earns $96,169 per year, according to research conducted by Glassdoor.
Public Relations Coordinator
Another path that is traveled down by graduates who earn degrees in both marketing and communications is public relations. In this line of work, candidates need to be articulate speakers and excellent writers. They are also commonly extroverts who are assertive in the workplace and don’t lack confidence.
If you feel like you are a good fit for the PR field, you would be responsible for managing all of the communications for the organization that will be sent off to shareholders, investors, the public, consumers, and the media. A coordinator might send pitches about new product releases to the news while an executive might answer media questions about an emergency.
Market Research Manager
The only way that companies like Walmart and Amazon are able to battle it out for market share is by investing a great deal of money into market research. The entire purpose of the research department is to gather information that helps a company decide on a target market. They will hold focus groups and other studies to gather the information that they need to conduct the research and pitch the findings to the marketing team.
Promotions Manager
Marketing is about promoting a specific company or product. It doesn’t necessarily only include marketing to new customers. One of the best ways to market is to send existing shoppers who frequent your store promotions. This is why there is an entire promotions department in big retail stores.
A promotions manager will create their own campaigns to give their current customers and even prospective shoppers an incentive to buy their product or come to their store. They make displays, have direct mail campaigns, run email blasts, and hold events to kick-off a sale or a product release. Promotions managers earn an average of $72,721 per year, according to Glassdoor.
Marketing is a discipline that includes far more fields and subfields of study than what students initially expect. Anyone who wants to enter a line of work where there are a lot of paths to choose from and a lot of different types of jobs to specialize in may want to consider working in marketing. Review the roles and duties of all of the top marketing careers, assess earning potential, and then make an educated choice.
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