What Can You Do With a Bachelor’s in Marketing?

Event planning jobs involve working with clients to understand the type of event they need. Event planners coordinate with venues, vendors and partners to execute those events. Event planners may work on behalf of organizations like hotels or food services organizations, or they may be self-employed. 

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), a bachelor’s degree in marketing may help people become event planners, since event planning involves understanding the needs of target markets.

Marketing assistants help professionals like marketing managers execute various duties, track marketing campaigns and analyze results. Marketing assistant jobs can range from basic tasks related to marketing administration to entry-level marketing-specific positions. 

A marketing assistant may focus on market research to help more advanced marketing professionals make decisions, distribute information to decision makers or compile relevant financial information.

According to the American Marketing Association, those interested in marketing assistant roles may need a degree in marketing and an interest in professional development and continuing education.  

Digital marketing is marketing conducted online, via channels like social media, email, blogs and video platforms. Unlike traditional marketing, which can be one-way communications consumers can’t interact with, digital marketing allows businesses to get real-time feedback on their marketing efforts. 

If you’re looking for a career in digital marketing, you may start as a digital marketing specialist, or go on to choose a particular digital marketing path like search engine optimization (SEO), social media or content marketing. 

Marketing manager and marketing director positions are leadership positions in marketing. A marketing director may oversee one or more marketing managers who are focused on specific aspects of the business’s marketing activities. So becoming a marketing manager likely comes before becoming a director. People in these positions help organizations maximize their profits using marketing strategy. They collaborate with staff including product development and sales. 

The BLS states a bachelor’s degree in a marketing-related field, at minimum, is required for most of these positions. Previous work experience in marketing may also be required, since managers and directors lead and direct others.

School admissions counselors and representatives both work to help students find the right schools for them, be they secondary or post-secondary schools like college. While some private admissions counselors may work just for students as an independent voice, colleges also have teams of representatives who are focused on attracting students to their school. In many ways, this is a form of marketing. Admissions representatives must make their schools look attractive to their customers: students and families.

If you are interested in higher education marketing, a degree in marketing may help you find a job as an admissions representative. 

Product marketing, according to the Product Marketing Alliance, is learning about customer needs, articulating a product’s value and driving product adoption. A brand management or product marketing career will focus on helping organizations communicate their value and information about new products and nurture products through their lifecycle. 

The Product Marketing Alliance states one of the most common backgrounds brand and product marketers have is in marketing, with 33% of respondents in their 2020 survey on product marketing holding a marketing degree. A marketing degree could lead to an entry-level position in brand and product marketing.

Fundraising managers oversee fundraising events and campaigns for organizations and coordinate efforts to gain donations to run operations. They develop and carry out fundraising strategies, build relationships with donors and manage fundraising staff. 

According to the BLS, fundraising managers need at least a bachelor’s degree in a relevant subject with courses such as advertising and business administration. Those who work in fundraising development careers may move up into fundraiser management positions.

Those who work in a market research career conduct marketing analytics to examine market conditions for a product or service. They research customer needs, target customers and pricing recommendations. Market research analysts analyze data using statistical software and present complex findings into reports for key stakeholders, like management and clients. 

According to the BLS, most market research analysts need at least a bachelor’s degree in a marketing-related field.

Media planners select and execute cost-effective promotional and advertising campaigns to maximize marketing reach for products and services. Media planners use market research to determine the best placements for advertisements and media buys to reach the best audience and generate the most conversions. This can mean aiming for high-visibility events like the Super Bowl or pairing a television show with just the right ad.

A bachelor’s degree in marketing that covers subjects like social media, digital media, communication and media relations provides skills that may be used in a media planning career.

A career in PR may lead to a title like public relations specialist or public relations manager. PR specialists represent an organization to the public and use tools like social media and press releases to share news and updates. Public relations managers manage teams of public relations specialists and develop public relations strategy for organizations.

For both of these positions, BLS reports that the minimum education requirement is typically a bachelor’s degree that covers topics like public relations, business and communications.

Social media management involves using social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn and Pinterest to represent a company to the public. Social media managers devise social media strategy, manage social media specialists, use social channels to provide customer support and create social media campaigns to promote products and services. 

According to the BLS, you’ll need a bachelor’s degree or higher in a field like digital marketing to work as a social media manager.

Advertising managers create advertising campaigns, prepare budgets and provide reporting on advertising results. Advertising managers may negotiate contracts, manage advertising specialists and work with key stakeholders to develop advertising strategy. 

You may be able to enter a career in advertising with a marketing degree, since BLS reports advertising managers typically have a bachelor’s degree and work experience in marketing.

SEO stands for search engine optimization, the process of optimizing a website so it appears higher in relevant search results on a site like Google. SEO specialists have an expert understanding of search tools like Google Search Console, as well as knowledge of how marketing techniques like content marketing, paid advertising and social media impact SEO efforts.

You may be able to begin a career in SEO with a marketing degree, since SEO is considered a form of digital marketing. 

Sales managers direct sales teams and set sales goals, analyze data and create sales training programs for staff. They use sales statistics and customer preferences to direct the distribution of goods and services. They monitor customer needs to create sales strategies as they lead their teams.  

According to the BLS, to become a sales manager, you’ll need at least a bachelor’s degree and work experience as a sales representative. This means you may not start your career as a sales professional as a manager, but the entry-level skills paired with courses in marketing could be advantageous.