For those who have a knack for sales, product development and advertising, a marketing degree can start a path to an awesome career. Whether you are looking to obtain a brand management job at a large food manufacturer or would like to work as a sales director for an information technology company, the career opportunities in marketing are essentially boundless. Here is a quick and comprehensive overview of career options in marketing.
Sales
One of the most common careers that many marketing majors find themselves going into is sales. Career opportunities are boundless when you work for a company’s sales force. Usually, most individuals start off working as an account manager, account executive or sales representative. Depending on the industry, account manager and sales representative jobs are either inside or outside. Inside sales representatives or inside sales account managers typically are responsible for lead generation, cold calling and closing sales deals all over the phone and internet. Outside sales representatives typically negotiate and close sales deals with customers face-to-face. After a number of years of success in this entry and mid-level point, most sales representatives begin to transition into management roles. This means you would be directly responsible for managing a sales team. After a number of years of working as a sales manager, most successful sales managers move into sales director and vice president roles overseeing the development of company-wide sales strategies and initiatives. The average salary for an entry and mid-level sales representative is anywhere between $25,000 to $40,000 depending on industry, background and experience. The average salary for a sales manager is $60,000 to $100,000 and the average salary for a sales director or VP of sales is around $120,000 or more.
Brand Management and Development
Marketing majors can also land jobs working as a brand manager. This is another great career with a marketing degree. Brand managers oversee the development of a particular category of brands and their associated products. This usually entails that a brand manager will oversee product creation, sales strategies, market development, advertising, etc. One of the biggest aspects to brand management and development is market research. Brand managers will usually take the lead on developing a series of tests, polls and focus groups to gain better insight and feedback into product features and whether or not consumers would actually buy the product. Brand Managers also spend a considerable amount of time of translating consumer feedback about certain products into digital, print and radio advertising. Brand managers work closely with internet or outside advertising agencies to develop full-scale advertising campaigns for the brands they manage. Most people start off as assistant brand managers and move into being senior brand managers and vice presidents of product design and development. Assistant brand manager jobs start off making at least $100,000 and work for large consumer packaged goods companies like Procter & Gamble.
Advertising
For those with more creative juices, advertising is another popular choice for marketing majors. Advertising jobs are vast. They include copywriting, art direction, account management, digital advertising and sales. However, most people choose to get into either copywriting or art direction because these tend to be the most creative-oriented fields. Creative directors, Art directors and copywrtiers will actually design commercials, ads and other visual layouts that appeal to consumers. Copywriters make anywhere between $50,000 and $75,000 while successful art directors can make anywhere between $75,000 and up.
Marketing careers are vast and numerous. Whether you want to land a job in sales, copywriting, digital marketing or SEO, there many options you can consider in the marketing industry. Take the time to research schools and check out scholarships for studying marketing that may be available. It is without a doubt that you will be bound to have a fun and well-paying career with a marketing degree.
