What is Marketing?
The Buckeye state has more than 5.5 million workers spread out over dozens of industries. The largest industries in the state are professional services, manufacturing, and real estate. In other words, there are accountants, dry cleaners, construction companies, and real estate agents who could all use some help getting their products and services in front of the right people. After all, no customers and no sales, means no business. So, real estate agents need people who can make their houses (and their services as agents) sound great, someone needs to sing the praises of the latest commercial building and neighborhood built, and business services have to alert the general public about these services out there ready for them to take advantage.
A marketing professional is anyone who works in marketing. Marketing is a form of sales, so people who work in the industry are interested in helping people and businesses get the materials they need. There is a lot of persuasion involved in the profession, so the ability to determine a person’s needs and find a way to match products that meet those needs is important. Marketing professionals not only know how to nail down the needs of their customers, but they also understand the industry and market in which they work, so a person who is excellent at research and profiling both customers and products is important.
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Online Marketing Education in Ohio
How do they do that? Through marketing. Marketing is the art of selling. Those who hone that skill and do the selling and persuading are marketing professionals, and they are everywhere. No industry could exist without some form of marketing. It’s how they find business. And because they are so important, they are paid decently as well, with the 29,000 workers employed in marketing fields making an average of $70,000 annually.
Think you’d enjoy matching a business with customers and providing businesses the tools they need to be successful? You’ve come to the right place. Below you will find educational requirements, tips for breaking into the industry, and examples of the types of jobs people in the field have. Whether you want to work face-to-face with customers or behind the scenes making the meetings happen, for those who want to become marketing professionals, the opportunity is there. Keep reading to get the information you need to make an informed decision.
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As with many professions, the more education you have, the better. In the case of marketing careers, an upper-level formal education is often required to enter into management-level positions. Below are the more common degree programs and some of their class requirements.
Online Associates (AS)
An associate degree in marketing provides education and training for entry-level marketing positions in a variety of organizations. This two-year degree is enough to allow a person to decide if a marketing career is something they want to pursue and may give you the chance to find an internship or job. Courses in the associate degree are generally lower-level general business and introductory marketing and management courses.
They may include the following.
- English Composition
- Introduction to Business
- Principles of Marketing
- Business Communication
- Consumer Psychology
- Professional Selling and Retailing
- Public Speaking
- Integrated Marketing Communications
An associate degree consists of four semesters of courses and usually takes two years to complete. A more motivated student could complete the degree in less time, but many require more than two years, especially if they attend part-time.
Online Bachelors (BS)
A four-year bachelors in marketing is most commonly the first step on the ladder of someone who wants to rise to the ranks of marketing professionals. These degrees are a combination of business administration courses and specialized marketing classes. Many marketing majors are required to create a portfolio, which contains all the marketing projects they complete through their college career. This portfolio can be used as a sample of work when it's time to land their first marketing job.
There will be twice as many courses for a student aiming to earn a bachelor’s degree, and some of the courses you might take in these programs include the following.
- General Education (English, mathematics, composition, etc.)
- Intro. To Business
- Micro-Computer Applications
- Macro- and Microeconomics
- Financial Accounting
- Accounting for Decision Making
- Application of Statistics
- Principles of Marketing
- Professional Business Communication
- Business Law
- Buyer Behavior and Retail Marketing
- Marketing Research and Data Based Management
- Marketing Analysis and Decision Making
- Marketing Electives
Bachelor’s degrees consist of eight semesters and generally take four to six years to complete, depending upon whether you can attend full-time or not or online. Upon the completion of this degree, a marketing professional will have a general idea of how to market to people, how to decipher how people think, and what motivates people to make specific purchases. This is the groundwork needed to be a successful marketing professional.
Online Masters (MS)
For those who have goals of moving into executive positions within the marketing industry, a graduate degree in marketing or a Master of Business Administration (MBA) with a concentration in Marketing is the next step. An online graduate degree will provide the student with greater understanding of the marketing process as well as helping them to gain more insight into running a business, how to handle employees, and other general business tactics. A capstone project or a comprehensive exam along with various marketing campaigns completed throughout courses must usually be completed to attain the degree.
Some of the courses a graduate student of marketing might take include the following.
- MBA Core (For those earning an MBA, the core covers general business knowledge)
- Marketing Research
- Current Topics in Marketing
- Marketing Analytics
- Brand Management
- Marketing Communications
- Strategic Pricing
- Marketing Consulting Practicum
- New Product Innovation
- Marketing Electives
An online graduate degree in marketing or business administration generally takes two to three years to complete. Upon completion, mid-level or upper-level management positions could become available, depending on the organization and the person's work experience.
Online Doctorate (PhD)
For those seeking a terminal degree, it’s most common that the student is either attempting to establish themselves as a subject matter expert or are considering a career in academia. Top levels of management, such as executive officer positions, are also an option after attaining this level of education, though many of these can be earned with a master’s degree and do not require that you earn a PhD.
An online doctorate in marketing or business focuses on leadership and attaining a thorough understanding of how businesses operate and how customers make their buying decisions. An online PhD program takes between five to seven years to complete, usually requires a dissertation, and the successful defense of the dissertation. The combination of the doctorate degree, solid work experience, and a proven track record as a marketing professional could easily land a person a top-level executive position for a business or organization or allow them to earn a position as a professor with tenure at a college or university.
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Become a Marketing Manager in ohio
If you want to become a marketing professional in Ohio, you can do two things at the start that will help you reach this goal. First, choose the industry in which you want to work, and then determine what aspect of marketing interests you the most. Marketing is the backbone of a business’ sales generation, regardless of the industry so, finding a marketing position in your chosen niche should not be much of an obstacle. Choose where you interest lies and learn everything you can about it. If you can work in the industry, that’s even better; that experience will serve you well.
Once you have narrowed down the industry in which you want to work, start to focus on attaining a marketing education. During your education, you will cover many types of marketing forms and techniques. You will most likely prefer some forms over others. For example, you might enjoy direct marketing but not like telemarketing or marketing for special events. Once you find an area that’s of interest to you, take as many classes in that area as possible. However, you do want to ensure you have a well-rounded marketing education, which will include the methods that aren’t that interesting to you.
Once you’ve attained an education in marketing, if you aren’t already, seek marketing positions in the industry that interests you. For example, if you want to work in manufacturing and enjoy direct marketing and media events, you could seek out marketing positions for manufacturing companies that include media events and conventions. Or maybe you want to work in the education field. You could apply for jobs in student recruitment or writing marketing materials for colleges and universities. And, if you are fond of customer service, you could seek telemarketing jobs where you handle inbound or make outbound calls.
Potential Careers for Marketing Graduates
Marketing careers are varying and plentiful. Below are a few examples of positions a person with a marketing education can pursue.
- Marketing Director
Marketing directors run marketing teams that execute marketing plans and campaigns. This person communicates with the client to ascertain their needs and then relays this information to the marketing team tasked with creating the campaigns and marketing materials. In larger companies, an account manager might talk to clients and the director may simply oversee everyone, only becoming involved with a specific project when absolutely necessary. The director is also often the person who presents the campaign, especially if they are the point person of the team. Some marketing directors run one team, while others often oversee several teams and have under-directors who run point for the marketing teams. - Special Events Manager
Special events are often one of the most popular places for businesses to reach target markets. A special events manager is tasked with planning events and ensuring the right customers are drawn in to attend the event. The manager matches the audience with the companies and then creates an event that brings them together. Another type of special event might also be the rollout of a new product that a certain group of people would be interested in. In this case, the events manager would create an event that would be of interest of these people and then use it as a launching pad for the new product. A good example is the meeting Apple has every year. iPhone users are always eager to hear about the newest phones and gadgets, so Apple holds a major event each year and makes presentations targeted to these people. - Social Media Manager
A social media manager does exactly as the title suggests, they manage a company's social media platforms. Social media managers strive to ensure that a company’s brand and mission always match. Posts on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram will all convey the same type of message so that potential customers know what the company is about and can make it just can't decision whether to consider making purchases from this organization. - Account Manager
Account managers work with clients to ascertain their specific needs, and general desired outcome for their marketing campaign. The account manager then takes this information to the team assigned to the client and together they create the marketing campaign that matches the client's needs and desired outcome. An account manager is an excellent communicator and is adept at reading between the lines when a client isn't always very clear. - Digital Marketing Manager/Director
Digital marketing is a relatively new industry. In the old days, when a business wanted to market their goods and services, they took out an ad in the newspaper or in a magazine. If they had some cash to throw at a campaign, they might also have radio spots or even a television ad. Nowadays, companies are using digital marketing formats at an increasing rate. Digital marketing is aimed at an online audience and social media has been a large part of the revolution of marketing. It makes finding targeted audiences easier because people tend to gather in groups of like-minded individuals in social media. If you can find the group that is interested in the products and services you are offering, marketing to that group is much easier.
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