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What is Marketing?
If the state of Texas was a nation, they'd be the 10th strongest economy in the world. This status is helped in no small part by Texas' oil and gas industry, but the state has grown to now include tech companies, retail business, real estate, and more. In fact, the state's #1 industry is now manufacturing and mining; quarrying, and oil & gas extraction is in the #4 position.
A marketing professional is a businessperson whose career is built around creating effective promotional campaigns for products and services. Marketing teams are known for making creative and fun advertising campaigns but also for knowing how to target specific, relevant demographics who may be drawn to the product. These teams are generally divided into two camps: the data crunchers and the creative team. Data crunchers are those who work with the data that helps determine who the target consumer is and how that consumer may be reached. The creatives then take the conclusions from the analytical side and create the advertising campaigns we all know and love.
The analytical marketing team necessarily works on their computers, devising new and interesting ways to parse huge troves of data. They may work in their firm's office building or perhaps from a remote location, as is increasingly popular in these post-COVID days. The creative team likewise may work either from the office or at home. Creative marketing professionals tend to have a more casual approach to work since they need to stimulate their creative minds. A creative marketing team may have offices full of games and toys that help them create the exciting campaigns that prompt stellar sales numbers.
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Online Marketing Education in Texas
Regardless of whatever industry is on top, they all rely on marketing professionals to help them take their products to market. While it may seem that oil or gas is a generic item, there are multiple types of each, and companies rely on marketing experts to communicate that to customers at the wholesale and retail levels. Thus, all of Texas needs marketing experts. Even the state itself uses marketing to communicate messages regarding things like littering, or to promote the state to companies it would like to move within its borders.
In order to keep the state strong and growing, Texas' government, colleges, and universities must continually help to provide businesses with a steady stream of competent, skilled marketing professionals. They do this by fully funding the state's public universities, colleges, and community colleges. In turn, these institutions of higher learning strive to provide students with the very best curriculum and faculty possible.
The schools do this by seeking out the nation's best academic minds to teach marketing. When they can offer professors strong salaries, they tend to attract the top minds. They also create a blended faculty body by finding local marketing executives who have at least a master’s marketing degree and a desire to teach. These executives are experienced and can bring relevant insights into the classroom. Though they need to stick to scholarly research, when that information is show applicable to real-world scenarios, students tend to learn a lot more.
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With strong marketing departments, Texas will continue its strong position in the nation and world. Students will also find that their marketing careers are rewarding and fun. Given the sheer breadth of the Texan economy, they will surely find the marketing job they want.
Online Associate Degree in Marketing (AS)
An associate marketing degree is a great way to jump start a marketing career. Both analytical and creative marketing executives can benefit from what their Texas community college system has to offer. The analytical students may even choose an associate mathematics degree or an associate computer science degree that will prepare them for the analytical work. Analytical marketing executives should at least take statistics as part of their associate marketing degree program, even if it's only an elective.
Creative marketing executives can earn their associate marketing degree while also taking additional courses in graphic arts or video production. Other students might choose to focus on their art and then take a few marketing courses for their electives. Either way, creative marketing students can prepare for an entry-level position or a bachelor’s marketing degree program.
This approach is also shrewd for purely financial reasons. Community college credits are typically far cheaper than credits from a four-year institution. Graduates therefore have less of a burden in terms of student loan debt. They may even pay off those loans and then proceed into a bachelor’s marketing degree program with a lighter financial load.
Online Bachelor's Degree in Marketing (BS)
A four-year online marketing degree is perhaps the best way to launch a career in the field. Employers are more interested in hiring candidates with a bachelor’s marketing degree than those with a lesser degree. They like knowing that candidates have a focus on the field that has been honed over a longer time. Those candidates may also have gained experience in actual marketing firms or departments via part-time work or internship programs.
Bachelor’s marketing degree students can also delve into complimentary fields that will inform their careers. For instance, someone who is more interested in the analytical side of marketing can take courses in computer science, statistics, or data science. Marketing students who aim for the non-analytical side can likewise take courses in graphic arts, video production, economics, or sociology. These students thus become more well-rounded marketing executives who are even more effective problem solvers.
Online Master's Degree in Marketing (MS or MC)
These days, a master’s degree is more and more expected, especially in upper management and the C-suites. Marketing students and working professionals alike should prioritize a master’s marketing degree or an MBA that concentrates on marketing. The MS in marketing will be a great boon to all students in that it focuses intently on the field and graduates true experts in the field. On the other hand, an MBA with a marketing concentration provides a general business curriculum in the first year with a second year that intensely focuses on marketing.
Either degree will serve a student well after they graduate. Those who are interested in upper management in marketing will benefit from either course of study. The MS in marketing is a great choice for those who are interested in becoming marketing department managers or who wish to start their own marketing firms. The MBA, on the other hand, will support those same goals but it's also good for those who desire a position in the C-suites. This is because an MBA provides a more well-rounded business view that can be helpful for a top executive.
PhD Degree in Marketing (PhD)
A doctorate degree isn't very highly valued in the business community. Since PhDs are steeped in academic learning at the near-exclusion of practical experience, leaders in the C-suites tend to favor MBAs or other graduate business degrees that distinguish their firm. This could be changing, however, as new technologies have made a PhD more relevant in the business community. For marketing, however, there may still be few uses in the business world.
One use for a PhD in the marketing world is in the area of data science. Since marketing is driven by data, and there is so much data going around these days, marketing firms and departments increasingly depend on high-level analysis to gain an edge in the market. Thus, those who study computer science and mathematics may find a real home in marketing. They may even take an entrepreneurial tack where they offer consulting services to marketers or sell research reports to those who are interested.
Other PhDs in the marketing field might decide to stay in academia. A doctoral degree is de facto required for a tenure-track position in a top university. Note that many academics moonlight as consultants in their field.
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Become a Marketing Professional in Texas
Texans are terrific businesspeople who each help to support the #10 economy in the world. Historically, the state has been pivotal in the genesis and development of the oil and gas industry, and their place in the cattle industry is legendary. This huge economy is in constant need of brilliant, well-trained, and prepared marketing experts. Texans who are interested in this field have a number of ways to approach that career path.
One way to become a marketing professional in Texas is to earn an associate marketing degree and land an entry-level position with a local firm. With this degree, professionals can start off in any part of the marketing field and move up through experience. Those with strong artistic talents might start with a local advertising agency where they can start building a portfolio. Those who are more interested in the business aspect might start as assistant to a marketer where they learn how to manage marketing campaigns. Then there are the analytical marketing experts who may need more training, but those with strong programming and mathematical skills might start crunching data for a firm.
One of the best ways to become a marketing professional in Texas is by earning a bachelor’s marketing degree. Over the course of those four years, students can seek out internships and/or part-time jobs that help them learn the ropes, while also learning how they really want to direct their marketing careers. They can dive deeper into the subject and even compliment their marketing studies with other fields such as statistics, economics, graphic arts, or computer science.
Finally, Texans can become marketing professionals by earning a master’s marketing degree or an MBA with a concentration in marketing. These top degrees will make any resume stand out and they tend to pave the way to a position in marketing management and the C-suites. An MBA may be the better choice in that it offers a more well-rounded business education that can help C-suite executives and entrepreneurs alike.
No matter what the degree, or lack thereof, marketing executives should all seek to network with as many in the marketing community as possible. For those on the creative side, this may include knowing video editors or having a list of creative freelancers they can call on to work a project. Others may need to know convention hall managers or a list of people who can print flyers, signs, or other physical marketing materials. After all, in business, sometimes it's more important to have resources than actual skills.
Learn more about marketing manager careersCareers for Marketing Graduates
- Marketing Director:
After a few years in the field, marketing professionals may rise into the position of director. To excel in this job, professionals will need to have a working knowledge of all of the elements of a marketing campaign. That will include knowledge of the analytical side, the creative side, media buying, and how to best work with clients. - Marketing Specialist:
Specialists are indispensable in any marketing firm. They work in a specific area of marketing and make that their area of expertise. Some, for instance, may work in digital marketing as SEO experts, social media geniuses, or E-commerce mavens. There are, naturally, other areas in which to specialize such as market research, data science, copywriting, graphic design, and more. - Special Events Manager:
These marketing professionals help their firm or clients arrange and execute special events. They may work on product launch events, shareholder meetings, or conferences. This field can be very fun since event vendors want to entice special event managers with, say, trips to their hotels or samples of their catering wares. Events managers should be highly organized and expert at delegating tasks as needed. - Social Media Manager:
The internet has opened up a wide range of opportunities for savvy marketing experts. Social media in particular is a terrific place for a brand to gain recognition or to go viral and generate sales. Social media managers may also work for individuals who need to manage how their image is conveyed to the public. This may involve tightly scripted tweet threads, savvy choices for Instagram photos, and friendly yet informative responses to fans or customer comments. - Account Manager:
Every marketing firm needs an account manager to help keep campaigns focused and on track. Account managers often pitch their firm to potential clients and then help keep the firm focused on the client's needs. This may involve editing copy, communicating the client's needs or desires, and otherwise keeping communication strong so that the firm meets and exceeds client expectations.Search Programs Offering Marketing Majors
- Media Buyer:
A media buyer may be one of the more overlooked members of a marketing team. However, they are integral to the success of any marketing campaign. They negotiate the best prices for media space including television time, magazine space, and internet advertising. A savvy media buyer knows where to place the ads so that they reach their intended audience, the client's customer base. - Merchandising Manager:
This job title is not unlike that of marketing manager. Merchandising managers may do all the jobs of a marketing manager but the title is often associated with the marketing professionals who know where to place items in a store, including promotional displays. Savvy merchandising helps customers find the products they want, as well as new products they aren't yet familiar with. - Marketing/Research Analyst:
This is a position on the more analytical side of a marketing department or firm. Researchers may devise market research studies, or they may commission those studies and then work to crunch the resulting data in a way that makes sense for their client. While every aspect of marketing is vital for success, no amount of promotional materials will work if it doesn’t target the best audience.
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