So, you’ve reached the milestone of “What should I do with my marketing degree,” worry not, you are on the right path. Luckily for you there are so many different marketing career paths, unluckily there are so many it is sometimes hard to decide which you should pursue. Whether you are interested in tech, cosmetics, or fitness, there is a place for you.
1. Market Research Analyst
If you have ever answered a survey at the end of a purchase, you have participated in market research. One of the first and arguably most important steps of marketing is research and analysis of the results. A market research analyst helps organizations understand what products or services that consumers want and what they are willing to pay for them. Market research is more than just creating surveys and polls. Market researchers must measure how effective campaigns are, monitor and predict sales trends, and come up with creative ways to get research feedback. Research analysts must be able to breakdown results so simply they can explain and communicate them to stakeholders and explain how the information can be used.
2. Advertising Director
Advertising and promotions are usually the most expensive element of a marketing strategy, involving the skills of graphic designers, writers, and media specialists. Individuals in such roles are responsible for overseeing projects and campaigns launched by their organization. Different companies have different tasks, but most can expect to do administrative tasks, negotiating contract, managing budgets, and communicating between other marketing departments or branches of a business.
3. Brand Strategist
Did you take you hours to make your iPhone home screen perfect or are adamant about your Instagram having one particular style? Perhaps being a brand strategist would come naturally to you. Brand strategists work with others to ensure a brand has a consistent and effective brand message. Such strategists look to the future to develop the positioning of a product/service, work with market research to implement it and define a brands tone and elements.
4. SEO Manager
Have ever done a Google search it is likely you have seen millions of results for any question you have typed in (SEO manager had had 256 million!). Ever wonder how results are ranked and what it allows to show up first, a lot of it has to do with SEO. SEO is short for search engine optimization. SEO managers have a lot more of a technological role when compared to most of their marketing counterparts, making it a lot more specialized. SEO managers are responsible for optimizing websites, social media, and content for it to do best on search engines. SEO managers must be able to build and nurture online communities, produce and SEO strategy and monitor analytics.
5. Public Relations Coordinator
Though PR may not be as scandalous as shows like “Scandal” make it seem, it has an important role for public corporations. PR coordinator help manage the image of companies or clients they are representing. The ultimate goal is to increase media presence and popularity. PR managers monitor media coverage on multiple channels and use them to promote their clients’ brand. Some of the primary responsibilities for the role are assessing the company’s strengths and weaknesses and devising strategies to make them better. PR coordinators manage a company’s interactions with clients, the media, and the general public. Coordinators assist in in distributing press releases, fact sheets and other media invites.
Do not panic if you didn’t see anything that didn’t interest you on this list, there’s so much more you can get into. The first step is figuring out what it is you want, research the industry and find a way that you could provide value to an employer through your skill set. I encourage you to scour the web looking at different roles and what the entail.