Earning a bachelor’s degree in marketing and sales prepares graduates for a career built on understanding consumer needs and maximizing demand for products and services that meet those needs. Consumer supply and demand are fundamental in all aspects of sales and marketing. Professional marketers can find many opportunities to help businesses thrive in a competitive marketplace.
Some marketers work for in-house teams for large companies. Others join consultancy services specializing in digital or social media marketing. They may focus on various niches within the marketing field, including influence marketing, content marketing, and interactive digital channels.
Graduating with a quality B.S. in Marketing and Sales prepares professionals to pursue careers in any of these areas.
The Traits of a Good Marketer
One of the essential components of any B.S. in Marketing and Sales program is teaching students the traits of a good marketer. Taken together, they give professionals an edge over the competition.
Strategic thinking. The best marketers understand how to leverage time and resources to provide the most positive impact on product and service sales. This trait incorporates sound decision-making with a consistent focus on achieving strategic results in a challenging environment. Among these decisions are the types of content to produce, the marketing channels to employ, the customer segment to focus on, and how to best balance data and analysis in marketing.
Customer-focused. The most successful marketers constantly focus on what is best for customers. Modern marketing strategies call for eliminating marketing processes that don’t add value to the customer. A customer-focused understanding of value requires gathering consumer feedback through social media, surveys, and focus groups.
Data-driven. Smarter marketers make data-driven decisions. By setting measurable key performance metrics, they can continually refine and improve marketing campaigns, eliminating what isn’t working. Data-driven decisions are necessary for many areas, including choosing target demographics, which products and services to focus on, and changes that improve the next sales cycle.
Observational skills. Good marketers observe how consumers interact with specific products under natural conditions, giving them detailed and accurate information on what consumers look for in specific marketing niches.
Current Marketing Career Trends
Graduates from a bachelor’s degree program in marketing and sales can work in various careers. Traditionally, some of the most common options–along with current median annual salaries from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics–include sales representative ($62,890), marketing analyst ($63,920), and public relations specialist ($62,800).
There are several options for professionals motivated to management roles, including marketing manager, social media manager, and sales manager. According to BLS data, management jobs in marketing will grow 10 percent by 2031. The current median pay is $133,380.
Forbes recently spoke with marketing experts about some of the marketing career trends emerging in recent years that will grow in the future.
Influence marketing. Influencers are effective because they build trust with their audience over time, creating a source customers rely on for purchasing advice in specific niches. This leads to more long-term relationships between brands and influencers who can promote the brand’s products.
Interactive digital channels. As people become more sophisticated in their journey to find and purchase products, businesses must keep them engaged with interactive content that makes the buyer’s journey easier for users. This includes creating content that meets users where they are and understands what they need. Interactive content includes infographics, videos, calculators, white papers, and surveys.
Content marketing. In addition to interactive content, businesses are also expanding their content marketing operations. Content marketing requires detail-oriented writers, editors, graphic artists, and SEO specialists. Content includes website articles and blogs, eBooks, long-form content, product descriptions, and video scripts.
New and immersive technologies. Immersive technologies like augmented and virtual reality will eventually become a larger piece of marketing operations as the technology becomes more mainstream. The best-known examples are the metaverses involving games such as Fortnite, Pokémon Go, and Minecraft. However, there also are emerging metaverses such as Dencentraland, where people can buy virtual land and monetize digital content using cryptocurrency, and Horizon Worlds by Meta (formerly Facebook).
Point Park University’s B.S. in Marketing and Sales
Students in the online B.S. in Marketing and Sales program at Point Park University learn the skills for success in the marketing career of their choice. The program, designed for working professionals by working professionals, offers foundational and practical knowledge applicable to whatever marketing niche students choose to pursue.
- Market research and analysis techniques
- Influential communication and negotiation skills
- Foundations of human psychology and ethical leadership
Professionals who enroll in the program may also apply their previous experience toward college credit with Prior Learning Assessment and Advanced Standing/Experiential Learning Credit opportunities. Point Park offers tuition and financial assistance for students, helping them find the resources they need to complete the program.
The 121-credit program, which students can complete in two to four years, allows professionals to hone their skills and qualify for the many marketing career pathways available.
