What is a Marketing Degree?
Marketing is the process of promoting and selling a business or service, and it’s a huge component of the business field. Marketing includes market research, advertising, and so much more. To approach the subject from a more technical standpoint, marketing is a study of relationships. As a marketer, you are responsible for establishing and maintaining positive relationships between customers and a business. A marketing degree is a program that is designed to prepare you for all of that. Marketing is a fast-paced field because consumers are always changing; it takes creativity, flexibility, and strong skills in problem-solving. When you earn a marketing degree, you’ll develop those crucial skills and gain so much more along the way.
There are different types of a marketing degree. You can study marketing at the graduate or undergraduate level. You can also pursue a degree in a related field to lay the groundwork for graduate study in marketing. There are associates programs in marketing; however, the majority of entry-level marketing jobs will require you to have at least a bachelor’s degree.
At the graduate level, you’ll have the MBA program as your primary option. You can take a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in marketing. Some schools may also offer a Master of Science in Marketing, but the MBA is more widely available. There are also PhDs in Marketing, but again, the business administration degree seems to be offered at more institutions. A Doctor of Business Administration in Marketing would prepare you for advanced careers in marketing.
What Does a Marketing Degree Teach You?
Since marketing is actually a vast field, a marketing degree has a lot to teach you. In an undergraduate marketing program, the curriculum is designed to give you a basic understanding of the field of business, prepare you in business communication, and cover the core principles of marketing. You can use this degree to find an entry-level marketing position or as the foundation for graduate study depending on what your professional aspirations may be.
Some of the core classes you may encounter include:
- Business to Business Marketing
- Consumer Behavior
- Macroeconomics
- Managerial Communications
- Marketing Research
- Principles of Finance
- Principles of International Business
- Principles of Management
- Principles of Marketing
As you advance academically, the courses are going to become more in depth and, of course, more tailored to your specific needs. Topics in marketing you may encounter at the graduate level of study include psychology, sociology, statistics, qualitative and quantitative research, and more.
How to Get a Marketing Degree:
Getting a marketing degree can be easy for you because there are plenty of online programs in marketing available. Most students begin with an undergraduate degree in marketing, management, business, finance, or accounting. Thorough research is the key to finding the perfect school for you.
What Can You Do With a Marketing Degree?
Marketing is all about promoting products and services, and a lot of things fall under that umbrella such as managing brands’ images, managing customer relationships, designing advertisements, and more. There are hundreds of different jobs you could get if you chose to get a degree in marketing. These degree programs are going to equip you with skills that are attractive across a range of industries. You’ll develop strong research skills, become a stronger communicator, grow as a leader, and become an organized planner.
Additionally, the job you can hold will also depend on where you decide to focus your studies with electives, internships, projects, research, and so on. No matter the industry or size of a business, they all need people who are skilled in various areas of marketing. Some common job titles in the field include the following.
- Brand Manager
- Copywriter
- Marketing Manager
- Research Analyst
- Media Planner
- Promotions Coordinator
Whatever job you hold, your core responsibilities are going to center around the same things. You’ll be tasked with building brand awareness, boosting customer engagement, driving performance in the company, influencing and promoting certain purchasing behaviors, and retaining customers.
There are also a ton of titles in digital marketing as well. Digital marketing has exploded in the past few years. You could find work as an SEO Manager, Director of Internet Marketing, Social Media Coordinator, Digital Marketing Specialist, Director of Web Analytics, and more. Marketing as a whole is a huge industry that is projected to grow as much as 17% by the year 2025, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
There are also jobs in consulting. You could build up your skills in one particular area of marketing and enter into your own business as a consultant. You would evaluate the strategies of different companies and provide them feedback on how they can improve those strategies.
Marketing is very technical when you dive deeply into it, but there are plenty of creative positions if you’re a more visual or artistic person. Designing advertisements, packaging, websites, is all part of marketing. The last thing we’re going to touch on that you can do with your marketing degree is to enter into academia. You could do research and, of course, become a professor. It typically takes a DBA or PhD in Marketing in order to be a teacher. Each individual state is also going to have a variety of licensure requirements.
What Can I Do With a Doctorate or PhD in Marketing?
A PhD in Marketing is the academic apex, and it is a sign of years of dedicated study and professional experience. Having a doctorate in marketing opens you up to an incredible range of options because you hold the highest education one can obtain; you’re essentially an expert. The majority of those who have earned their PhD in Marketing opt to work in an educational setting.
While it is true that most higher education institutions require their tenure-track professors to hold PhDs in their respective fields, there are other avenues you could pursue in academia. With that said, it’s worth noting that marketing professors are some of the highest paid in education because the field is continually evolving and growing, so education plays a massive role in that. You could also get an even higher level job at a university as the leader of a department, the director of a program, or a leader of cutting edge research.
If you’re not interested in working in education, there are still opportunities. The business world is incredibly vast and constantly evolving, and experts are very desirable to a lot of employers because the skills you have can put them ahead of the curve. A common position in the field of business for those who have a PhD in Marketing is that of a Market Research Analyst. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that this career is going to expand as much as 23% over the next decade. That’s three times the national average! No matter the industry, market research analysts are critical. As an analyst, you would see yourself gathering data about specific populations and their purchasing behavior and habits. You would use the information you found to provide industry guidance. Engineering, medicine, management, finance, national defense, and so many more fields rely heavily on research, and the demand is growing for those who are well-equipped to handle this role.
With a doctorate in marketing, you could also land yourself a position as a top executive. Chief Marketing Officers lead broad marketing and sales teams. It is their responsibility to oversee all the marketing, sales, advertising, and outreach in a particular business and use their expertise to develop effective teams and strategies in order to impact the organization they work for positively. Earning a terminal degree in the field of marketing is the perfect way to propel yourself into high-level leadership roles; however, keep in mind that this type of job is very hands-on so it’s likely that an employer would expect you to have extensive marketing experience.
While those are some of the standard career options with a doctorate in marketing, there is a vast amount of opportunities out there. Companies across all industries are looking for highly-skilled individuals to work as content marketing producers, brand strategists, directors of marketing and client strategy, data scientists, product marketing managers, directors of global strategic marketing, and more.
The best way to ensure that you’re prepared for the professional role you’d like to step into once you’ve earned your doctorate or PhD in Marketing is to tailor your academic journey to those goals. Work closely with an advisor to select appropriate plans of study, explore different electives to bolster your skills, do research relevant to the job, consider taking internships that give you direct field experience. Marketing is crucial to the survival and the thriving of any business so the more equipped you are to handle the challenge of steering them towards success, the more desirable you’ll be as a candidate.
How Long Does it Take to Get a Marketing Degree?
There is no concise way to answer this question because there are several levels of degree program in marketing and, of course, each student is going to have a unique situation. If you’re just looking to get your feet wet when it comes to marketing, you may opt for an associate’s degree. This is the shortest option; however, most entry-level positions in marketing require candidates to hold at least a bachelor’s degree to be eligible for hire. Most associate’s degrees take just two years to complete.
Bachelor’s degrees in marketing, business, finance, accounting, and other related fields could all meet your needs if you’re looking to land a career in marketing. This is the typical requirement for entry-level marketing jobs like event planner, public relations representative, brand managers, and even admissions representatives for colleges and universities. The average student takes four years to complete a bachelor’s program. But, thanks to the option to earn a marketing degree online, you could see that time cut in half. Accelerated bachelor’s degrees are offered at several major schools, and there are even opportunities to earn credits for work or life experience. Some students might be able to earn a bachelors in two or three years.
As you progress in your studies, the amount of time it can take to earn your marketing degree continues to vary. A masters program typically takes two or three years. Some schools offer accelerated masters programs, though. With year-round terms, condensed classes, and generous transfer credit policies, schools do what they can to help you get where you’re going faster. Online MBA programs are very popular and offer marketing concentrations, and some of those are as short as just one year.
Doctorate degrees tend to take the longest, and the requirements are going to vary significantly from school to school, program to program, and even student to student. Liberty University currently offers the fastest online doctorate in marketing, and it takes the average student three years to graduate.
How Much Can You Make With a Marketing Degree?
Marketing is a field that is known to pay very well. It is essential to keep in mind that there are a lot of different factors that contribute to your salary. These can include your level of education, level of work experience, and geographic location, among other things.
If you hold a bachelor’s degree, here are the average salaries of some typical marketing jobs you could hold.
- Account Director: $91,229
- Account Executive: $48,600
- Marketing Director: $89,900
- Marketing Manager: $67,400
- Sales Manager: $82,200
Here are the average salaries of some commonly-held positions for those who hold a masters degree in marketing, such as an MBA in Marketing.
- Marketing Director: $102,200
- Marketing Manager: $72,300
- Product Marketing Manager: $97,100
- Senior Marketing Manager: $115,000
- Vice President of Marketing: $167,000
The higher your education is, the higher your salary tends to be. For those who hold a doctorate degree in marketing, you have the skills and the experience you need to hold higher-level positions. One of the most common career options for a PhD in Marketing is that of a professor. Marketing professors are some of the highest paid in the field of education, with an average salary that camps out around $100,000 per year.
Here’s a list of some of the highest paying careers you could hold with a marketing degree and their salary ranges.
- Account Management Executive: $115K – $240K
- Chief Marketing Officer: $120K – $300K
- Sales Channel Development Managers: $115K – $270K
Marketing is a deceptively diverse discipline, and those of you who are looking to pursue your education at the doctorate level are likely to have a lot of experience with this. Marketing professionals are tasked with managing brands at various stages starting from the very creation of them. Marketing as a field encompasses advertising, public relations, sales strategies, brand enhancement, media planning, and more. Courses you’ll encounter in a marketing program could include topics like microeconomics, psychology, consumer behavior, understanding culture, and so much more. At the PhD level, those courses are going to be more in depth, and a lot of programs are going to delve into research methods, statistics, and other advanced topics.
