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

Marketing is used by all types of organizations, including businesses, nonprofits, hospitals, schools and more. Organizations rely on marketing to grow and succeed, since it promotes products or services to current and prospective customers. If you’ve wondered “what can I do with a bachelor’s in marketing degree?” this guide explains the many pathways you can take.

Pursue a Career With a Marketing Degree

A marketing degree curriculum has wide-ranging professional applications. Someone who is majoring in marketing may pursue a career as a:

  • Market research analyst, who studies market conditions and forecasts sales trends.
  • Marketing manager, who creates marketing plans for products and services.
  • Social media specialist, who manages an organization’s social media channels and digital public relations.

In addition to marketing-specific positions like these, a marketing degree may be useful for other business roles, like sales manager and public relations specialist. Since many marketing degree programs aim to foster skills like communication, business strategy and analytics, you may be able to apply those skills in a variety of business professions.

You may be able to pursue marketing degree careers without a specialized degree, especially since there are online marketing certificates and courses that may help you expand your skill set. But a bachelor’s in marketing degree may help you obtain an entry-level marketing job and grow your career.

Should You Major in Marketing or Communications?

The answer to whether to pursue marketing vs communications depends on your career goals. Both degrees have some overlap in curriculum, covering topics such as communication strategy, digital technology and social media. 

If you’re interested in a job title such as journalist, public relations specialist or human resources specialist, a communications degree may make more sense because it may focus on writing, reporting and mass communication.

Skills That Marketing Majors Use at Work

Marketing majors may learn how to analyze market conditions and position a product or service so it appeals to a target audience of leads and customers. A marketing degree program aims to teach you many skills that apply to a variety of jobs, including marketing and non-marketing roles. These include:

  • Critical thinking.
  • Creativity and brainstorming.
  • Communication.
  • Advertising and sales.
  • Promotions.
  • Market analysis and strategy.
  • Product and service development.
  • Leadership and teamwork.

Marketing courses may include individual and group work, to help prepare students to work autonomously and in teams to collaborate on projects on the job.

Marketing majors may learn a variety of techniques for both business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) products or services. In the professional world, marketing graduates may contribute to organizations using analytical thinking, creativity and data-driven campaign strategy skills.

Explore These Jobs for Graduates With a Marketing Degree

There are a variety of careers for marketing degree holders. With a marketing degree, you may be able to apply for jobs such as the ones below early in your career or as your career progresses.

Event Planner Jobs

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 Assistant Jobs

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 Specialist Jobs

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 or Director Jobs

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.

Admissions Representative Jobs

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. 

Brand or Product Marketing Manager Jobs

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 Manager Jobs

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.

Market Research Analyst Jobs

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 Planner Jobs

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.

Public Relations Representative Jobs

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 Manager Jobs

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 Manager Jobs

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 Manager Jobs

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 Manager Jobs

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.

Are Marketing Majors in Demand?

The BLS reports marketing jobs are in high demand in the United States. For example, jobs for market research analysts are projected to increase 22% from 2020 to 2030, which is much faster than average. For marketing managers, jobs are expected to grow 10%, which is faster than average.

Do marketing jobs pay well? The marketing salary and career outlook for many roles is higher than average compared to all jobs. 

The May 2021 median annual wage for all business and financial occupations was $76,570, according to the BLS. For marketing managers, the 2021 median pay was $135,030 per year. For market research analysts, median pay was $63,920 in 2021. 

How much you make will depend on your job title, where you live and a variety of other factors.

Why Pursue a Career with a BA in Marketing?

Marketing is a career in which you can put a variety of skills into practice each day. 

Marketers may benefit from having a solid understanding of business operations. There’s a psychological aspect to marketing, since marketers have to understand and relate to the customers they’re trying to sell to as they market products and services. 

Marketing teams are often collaborative and creative. They rely on data and analytics to inform decisions.

Is marketing worth it? That depends on your career goals. How useful a marketing degree is will depend on the role you want to pursue. 

If you’re interested in working on behalf of an organization to market their product, service or brand, you may want to become a marketer. Since a bachelor’s in marketing degree may apply to other business-related roles, it could help you grow your career beyond marketing, as well.

Last updated April 2022