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By University HQ Staff Writers
Edited by Evelyn Keener
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What is Marketing?

As is true everywhere, Oregon industries benefit from good marketing programs. If they don’t put in the effort to tell potential customers what services or products a business (or industry) offers, they’ll miss out on many good opportunities.

In Oregon, the information industry is last on the list of top 10 industries in the state. Even so, it netted $8.8 billion in revenue in one year — that isn’t bad, but it could be better. Improving revenue is the goal of marketing in every industry. In the information sector, marketing informs organizations looking for excellent tech products or services of the available options in their area. The #1 industry in the state right now is real estate, leasing, and rentals, which netted $38.8 billion in a recent year.

Today’s businesses need not only good marketing but also good marketing management. Gone are the days when CEOs and managers could rely solely on their professional contacts to spread the word about their business, products, or services. Whether a business focuses on accounting, engineering, architecture, medical services, dentistry, or something else, not making sure that you pay attention to traditional or digital marketing is a slow road to low sales.

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Online Marketing Education in Oregon

Between real estate at the top and information at the bottom, Oregon’s top 10 industries include manufacturing; educational services; healthcare and social assistance; retail and wholesale trade; finance and insurance; arts; entertainment, recreation, accommodation; and food services. And all industries in the state can benefit from effective marketing.

How do realtors bring potential buyers or tenants to their offices? They need a good marketing team. Together, they may write out a marketing plan, narrow down the target audience, and decide which marketing channels will be the most effective, such as search engine optimization and content marketing. To do this effectively, they will need to understand the analytics that can help them identify who their customer is and what they need. To do so, most companies either hire their own marketing team, with a mix of advertising managers and analysts/creatives, or use a marketing firm to help them create a successful marketing campaign.

Marketing managers are responsible for ramping up consumer curiosity in customers — their aim is to get them to want to buy the product or service. Above all, a marketing professional should understand and be able to use their creativity. They tend to have excellent people skills, which they use to help a company connect with customers and increase interest in the organization, as well as its products or services. As you can imagine, communication skills are vital to successful marketers.

Marketing professionals may work on the analysis side or the creative side of marketing. Those in analysis will perform studies, review data from focus groups or surveys, or review engagement data to see if a campaign is working. Those on the creative side of marketing might work to create images or video for a campaign, or they might write copy to be used in a print or digital campaign or read out in a radio or TV campaign. A marketing manager oversees both sides of the marketing department. They take charge of each marketing campaign, organize activities around each campaign, and work to increase the public’s awareness of the products and services offered by an organization.

Online Associates (AS)

Oregon colleges of business offer marketing degrees at all degree levels. The lowest-level full degree you can earn is an associate degree. This may be an Associate of Science or an Associate of Arts; both are available as marketing degrees from community colleges and even some four-year institutions across the state. Students who choose to earn an associate degree should only require around two years to earn their credits and graduate, unless they must attend part-time, in which case it will take somewhat longer to complete the program. As long as you are attending an accredited institution, financial aid should be available for students who qualify. And, since attending an unaccredited school could mean that you cannot use your credits completed to gain more education, and it keeps you from gaining financial aid, you should always check to ensure that any prospective college is accredited.

These programs may offer marketing students instruction in business topics such as business management, accounting, or economics, but the majority of courses will be focused on helping you complete your general education and marketing major courses.

After graduation, students may be able to find entry-level positions in marketing, advertising, sales, convention and trade show promotions, purchasing, new business development, promotion of products and services, merchandising, management, developing materials used for marketing and communication, and more.

Online Bachelors (BS)

To be successful, marketing professionals must develop strong knowledge in consumer behavior, among other things. This skill is important for organizations and marketing professionals who need to reach a wide audience and also for those who focus on developing an organization’s products or brand.

Students who earn a bachelor’s degree in marketing will learn the skills they need to communicate with consumers, understand consumer behavior, and understand the science behind consumers, communication, and products.

Degrees in marketing are often offered by a school’s college of business. They might learn about how business works in their courses, but they will also learn about the technical and creative side of marketing. Some programs will also allow students to participate in valuable leadership training which, after graduation, can make them a valued asset to businesses looking for marketing professionals.

Bachelor’s degree programs are often offered online, and students should keep their eyes open for programs accredited by AACSB, which is the top-tier programmatic accreditation for most business degrees. Bachelor’s programs offer not only foundational knowledge, but all the education you will need to be successful post-graduation.

Online Masters (MS)

Oregon students and those who are already marketing professionals can earn either a master’s degree in marketing or an MBA with a specialized track in marketing, marketing insights, or analytics in order to gain access to even more job opportunities and meet their career goals. These types of programs are often offered part-time, with students graduating in around 18 to 24 months, though full-time students can often complete these programs in one year to 18 months.

An MBA with a concentration in marketing allows graduate students to gain a deep understanding of business while also letting them gain great marketing insight. They also delve into business and marketing analytics, allowing them to gain the knowledge and skills needed for analytical techniques in business data and marketing research.

Online Doctorate (PhD)

Some universities in Oregon offer doctoral programs in marketing for anyone looking to earn a terminal degree in the field. Graduates may plan to enter the world of research and academia, or they may plan to begin their own marketing firm and be looking to gain credibility. Check for programs with the best marketing schools in Oregon, and you’ll find PhD programs that focus on analytical training in marketing, as well as teaching scholars the quantitative methods they need to thrive in academia or research.

These programs are highly competitive, enrolling very few students each year. Faculty will work closely with PhD students, allowing them to develop relationships and work together on research, gaining deep insights into the field and finding new lines of questioning that they may choose to follow when writing their dissertations.

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Become a Marketing Manager in Oregon

Marketing professionals who take the time to earn professional certifications may find that they are in higher demand by employers. Some marketing specializations are especially popular, such as digital marketing.

Examples of marketing certifications that employers may be looking for include Google and HubSpot. These are high demand certifications, and may continue to be in demand for at least the next five years. Here are some well-known marketing-focused certifications that you might earn in order to boost your resume or gain access to specific jobs.

  • Digital Marketing Institute: Digital Marketing Certification
    Offered in four courses, this certification allows a marketing professional to be certified by the Digital Marketing Institute and the American Marketing Association. Courses include thirty credit hours and may take up to two years to complete. The Digital Marketing Pro Course offers two certifications.
  • Google Marketing Certifications: Fundamentals of Digital Marketing

    This certification, offered by Google Garage, is accredited by the Interactive Advertising Bureau Europe. The Open University has also accredited this program. The modules include the following courses.

    • The Online Opportunity
    • Expand Internationally
    • Your First Steps in Online Success
    • Sell More Online
    • Build Your Web Presence
    • Build Your Online Shop
    • Plan Your Online Business Strategy
    • Turn Data into Insights
    • Get Started with Search
    • Find Success with Analytics
    • Get Discovered with Search
    • Get Started with Analytics
    • Make Search Work for You
    • Make the Most of Video
    • Be Noticed with Search Ads
    • Deep Dive into Display Advertising
    • Improve Your Search Campaigns
    • Advertise on Other Websites
    • Get Noticed Locally
    • Connect Through Email
    • Help People Nearby Find You Online
    • Get Started with Content Marketing
    • Get Noticed with Social Media
    • Make Mobile Work for You
    • Deep Dive into Social Media
    • Discover the Possibilities of Mobile
  • Content Marketing Institute’s Master Class Certification

    This course offers 10 modules, running more than 30 curriculum hours. Students gain access to more than 20 marketing-related classes. A sample of the master class courses includes the following.

    • What is a Content Marketing Strategy
    • The Operating Models of Content
    • The Four Strategic Archetypes of Content:
    • Story & Narrative: The Heart of Business Storytelling

      • Elective modules are also offered, which can increase the effectiveness of the content marketer.

    • Write Like a Journalist
    • Profitable Multicultural Marketing; and others.

Careers for Marketing Graduates

  • Marketing Director
    Marketing directors offer guidance and directions to their marketing department. They may be located within an organization or run a firm that caters to many companies. They take the lead in evaluating various marketing strategies and planning out the marketing strategy chosen. They discuss the marketing plans with employees and make sure that everyone understands the goals of a campaign.
  • Marketing Specialist
    A marketing specialist may work beneath the marketing director carrying out market research, looking for answers about what customers need and what their habits are, and more. They run, or at least participate in, brainstorming meetings, where they develop ideas for upcoming creative marketing campaigns. They also help out with both inbound and outbound marketing tasks.
  • Special Events Manager
    This professional takes care of the planning for events such as corporate conferences and weddings. They work with clients to find out what they need or want and create exactly the event they envision. This may include renting tables, chairs, tents, and other items; choosing the venue for the event; and even hiring staff and caterers.
  • Social Media Manager

    A social media manager focuses on digital marketing. Aside from posting on various social media sites, they may carry out research on benchmark trends, create and implement social media strategy that aligns with the goals of an organization, establish objectives, and report on return on investment (ROI).

    Employers expect their social media managers to stay current on digital technologies. They must have top-notch communication skills and should be able to express the organization’s views with imagination while increasing engagement with the public.

  • Account Manager
    An account manager is responsible for ensuring that each department within an organization is satisfying the needs of customers. This professional fields customer complaints, narrows down solutions, and ensures that the relationship between the organization and customer is positive.
  • Marketing Coordinator
    As their job title suggests, the marketing coordinator’s role is all about carrying out research, understanding the behavior of the organization’s customers, creating and carrying out new marketing campaigns, and creating tracking systems to be used in online marketing efforts so they can tell when something is working and when it isn’t.
  • Senior Project Manager

    This role is for a project manager with more experience. They may be handed larger projects with a higher level of complexity. Or they may be expected to handle more than one project at a time.

    A senior project manager might help out a project manager working under them when a project suffers from “scope creep”, or they could completely take over from a subordinate until they are back on track. They may also act as the contact point for project managers who are experiencing issues they can’t resolve. They can interview and hire new talent, train them, and more. Their work might also require them to mentor and coach other managers.

  • Business Development Director
    This professional works to increase organizational revenue by identifying new business opportunities and working hard to develop them. They may also focus on the organization’s brand presence and find ways to expand that. The business development director can lead teams with various functions and help to evaluate the organization’s business goals.

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