There are many jobs available to marketing professionals.
Marketing studies how firms can sell their products. A degree in marketing, whether undergraduate or graduate, can open a range of careers to you. To succeed at marketing jobs, you need skills such as critical thinking, active learning and time management. In addition, you must also develop your reading, writing, speaking, negotiation and persuasion skills.
Public Relations
Many professionals with a marketing degree decide to pursue a career in public relations, also referred to simply as PR. The objective of PR is to build bridges of understanding, goodwill and awareness between a firm and the general public. For example, if a company is implicated in some wrongdoing, PR professionals come up with a plan for improve the firm's image.
Product Development
Many marketing professionals work in product development. They are responsible for analyzing the market demand for new products and providing guidance to the company's managers on position the product in order for it to appeal to the widest possible range of clients. In a product development department, marketers work with engineers, product designers, manufacturing professionals and senior executives.
Research
Research is another marketing career. Marketing research professionals conduct research on how consumers make their purchasing decisions and how the company can leverage this knowledge to increase sales and profits. Marketing research also looks at how competition is affecting the firm's market share.
Promotion and Advertising
Promotion and advertising constitute another career option in marketing. Promotion is a broader term than advertising and often includes it. Whereas advertising simply conveys a marketing message through different mass media channels, such as the Internet, television, radio, newspapers and magazines, promotion aims at using all means possible to sell the product. For instance, promotion can include sponsoring events or promoting the firm's products through online social networks.
Sales
Marketing professionals who work in sales are responsible for establishing and maintaining relationships with clients. They need to communicate effectively, gathering any feedback clients generate and forwarding it to senior executives. The salespeople also need to offer the clients as many of the company's products as they are willing to buy, a process known as cross-selling.
Tags: Marketing research, product development, professionals work, senior executives