Is marketing a good career for you?

When considering different career paths and majors to pursue in college, you may wonder whether marketing is a good option. It can certainly be a lucrative career option, although it's not necessarily an easy path to take. Marketers often work long hours and juggle tight deadlines when dealing with the needs of their clients or co-workers. Dive in as we answer the question, "is marketing a good career?"

What is marketing?

Before answering the question "is marketing a good career?" we'll clarify what marketers do daily and their work's influence on others. Marketing is the business of promoting products and services through various outreach efforts.

Over the years, successful marketing efforts have shifted dramatically. Paper flyers and mailed postcards were once the bread and butter of successful marketers, but the digital age has transformed the way customers receive information. Social media, websites, podcasts, video presentations, and other digital formats continue to revolutionize the way audiences embrace their favorite brands, products, and services across various industries from entertainment to education.

You might hear about the “four Ps” of marketing:

• Product
• Price
• Place
• Promotion

Marketers often intermix these four concepts together when creating materials that generate awareness about a product or service and encourage customers to buy it. Companies hire marketing professionals to handle their marketing and advertising efforts. Some marketers work for marketing agencies and manage the needs of multiple clients.

Pros of a career in marketing

Now that you have a better understanding of the business behind marketing and what marketers are responsible for, you might be wondering what advantages come with a career in this field. Discover some of the pros of working in marketing.

Work in a fast-growing industry

As mentioned, marketing strategy has evolved over the years, resulting in significant growth across the industry. Marketers must stay current with the trends and learn to use new tools and resources to streamline processes and generate results. When you work in marketing, you have the opportunity to work in an industry that is moving quickly and growing at a rapid pace.

You can also keep learning throughout your career, as the tools you use today probably won't be the same ones you'll use a few years later. For example, social media marketing started with creating and sharing posts daily. That process has evolved, allowing social media marketers to create content for days at a time and schedule every post to go out at a designated time on a specific day.

Apply your creative skills

Marketers have to exercise creative thinking when solving problems and creating effective strategies. If you like applying creativity to your work, you might thrive in this fast-paced atmosphere. Creativity comes in many different forms in a marketing department. One creative individual might focus on creating content, while another might apply design skills to create eye-catching logos, marketing materials, and digital campaigns.

Collaborate with others

Marketing could be a good career path if you like a team-based atmosphere. No matter your marketing area of expertise, you'll need to build a network and collaborate with your team members on various projects. For example, if you're leading an email campaign, you might work with a content creator, a graphic designer, and a coder to get the project to the finish line. When collaborating with your team members and building your network, you'll have the chance to socialize with others, so marketing is an excellent career for social people.

Enjoy variety in your job

Marketers rarely do the same tasks for two days in a row. If the idea of trying new things and working on all different projects appeals to you, marketing might be a good fit. You might create content for a website for a few hours during your day and set up and send an email campaign to thousands of people in the same workday. The next day might include collaborating with a vendor and optimizing a website for search engines. Marketing professionals often wear multiple hats, taking on different tasks for the department.

If the idea of trying new things and working on all different projects appeals to you, marketing might be a good fit.

Select from many aspects of marketing

The marketing field is a complex science with many different roles and areas of expertise. Pursuing a degree in marketing allows you to discover various career options, depending on your interests and skill set. If you like to create visual graphics, the design side of marketing might be for you. If you want to analyze data and calculate ROI, working in a marketing manager or analyst role could be a great fit. Other positions to consider in marketing include those in:

• Content creation
• Web design and development
• Event planning
• Account management
• Public relations
• Social media
• Fundraising
• Search engine optimization (SEO)

Enjoy working anywhere in the world

Marketing is a global industry, as companies worldwide rely on advertising and marketing efforts to generate awareness about the products and services offered. Marketing may be an excellent path to pursue if you want to travel the world and find work wherever you go. Marketing skills transfer to other countries as long as you speak the language where you plan to reside. You might be able to work remotely from a different location than where your company is based.

Appreciate the potential for a high salary

Although entry-level marketing jobs don't necessarily pay well, higher-level positions offer the potential to earn more. If you're willing to work your way up through a marketing department, you may be able to become a marketing manager or director and earn a higher salary. A chief marketing officer earns an average annual salary of $213,000.

Cons of a career in marketing

There's a lot to like about working in marketing, but the field isn't necessarily for everyone. Marketers experience a few attributes about their work that may be undesirable to some. A marketing career may present the following disadvantages:

Work can be stressful

Since marketing is often a fast-paced career choice, it can come with some stress. When you're facing a tight deadline, you might feel the pressure of this line of work. Marketers may also have to defend their strategies and show proof of the return on investment to the key decision-makers of an organization.

Jobs often require a degree

Many marketing roles require an associate or bachelor's degree, and some require a master's degree. Completing the necessary education could be seen by some as a drawback, although the coursework in marketing programs is undoubtedly beneficial for those who want to pursue this career path. Some of the subjects that a marketing program might encompass include the following:

• Advertising
• Consumer behavior
• Marketing strategy
• Public relations
• Communications
• Research
• Business
• Digital marketing methods

Professionals must continually adapt to new challenges

Marketing is a rapidly changing industry, and marketers must be willing to adapt to new challenges and shift ways of doing things. What was once incredibly effective may go by the wayside, requiring a marketing professional to think creatively and develop something new. If you're up for the challenge and can be flexible in your work, the importance of adaptability may not be a drawback for you.

Although marketing can undoubtedly bring challenges, working in this field can also present many advantages to those interested in the industry. If you're ready to take the next step and find a marketing job that aligns with your skills and experience, upload a resume on CareerBuilder and explore the latest job openings in marketing.

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