Students seeking a degree or certificate in marketing are preparing themselves for a job that can often be complicated and challenging, but comes down to one thing: finding ways to generate interest among consumers for a product. They work with people across many departments in a company – sales, creative and executives – to do the best job of accomplishing their goals.

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Marketing Degree Course Topics

Courses in marketing are often intertwined with other business-related classes, with the idea being to provide students with fundamental knowledge in business management and operations, as well as fiscal issues. Courses might include:

  • Business ethics
  • Business organizations
  • Business communication
  • Business law
  • Management
  • Economics
  • Accounting
  • Finance
  • Mathematics
  • Statistics

Job Duties for Marketers

Marketing managers handle a variety of job duties. Some might typically include working with top-level managers across departments to determine what products will be marketed and sold; organizing design and implementation of marketing campaigns; negotiating advertising contracts; overseeing marketing research studies to gather demographic data on specific markets.

Within marketing, there are three basic areas where managers typically work.

  • Advertising managers work to create interest for a specific product. They help to develop ideas for advertising campaigns, working with the creative and sales staff. They also are often the primary contact between a company and an outside advertising agency.
  • Promotion managers work on campaigns that combine advertising with financial incentives – free or discounted offers on products, for example – to increase sales.
  • Marketing managers oversee the task of locating areas where products should sell well with consumers, and then developing campaigns to reach those consumers.

Job Outlook in the Field of Marketing

The number of jobs for marketing managers is forecast to increase by 14% by 2020, a rate that is on par with the average growth expected in all occupations, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Advertising and promotions managers will grow by about 13% each, according to the BLS.

The federal agency bases that projection on the fact that marketing, as well as promotions and advertising, will continue to be an important part of every business operation. With the global reach of many companies, they will turn more often to attempting to expand their reach into new markets.

The median pay for a marketing manager was almost $113,000, according to the BLS. Those in the top 10% made more than $166,000. The median pay for advertising and promotions managers was about $83,000.