One of the most fascinating subjects that somehow entailed in our daily life and influences our decision-making processes is the Marketing strategy employed by companies, professionals, and individuals. The academic definition of marketing is many but all of them agree on one point that Marketing (which includes research and advertising) is used by a company or an individual to promote and sell products or services to prospective customers. But have we ever noticed that how we ourselves indulge in marketing almost every day? For example, when we fight with our siblings on the choice of restaurants Italian or Chinese, don’t we use all our efforts, knowledge, and skills to convince the other to accept our preference and choice. Yes, we do, and this is what the subject marketing teaches, how to understand your consumer and influence his decision.
Why one may consider studying Marketing
Being one of the most interesting and thought-provoking subject marketing is an indispensable element for any business. There are thousands of reasons to study marketing. Marketing courses and programs help a student to acquire knowledge about consumer relations, communication and the stakeholders involved in a business. These knowledges are required to build a business and make it successful.From a career point of view a marketing degree can open innumerable avenues as marketing is an integral part of a company’s strategy and most of the corporates require a marketer for their products and services. We will talk about the different jobs that a marketing graduate can get into but before that let’s see the best Universities for marketing degrees and the best marketing programs in the world.
Best Marketing courses, universities, and placements
Since a decade ago, a common notion was that you need to do an MBA and take Marketing as your Major to be able to get the coveted marketing jobs. However, the educational institutes and Universities have realized that Marketing has such a big domain and so dynamic that it need programs and courses which will only teach the subject of Marketing. So, in today’s time when we try to search about the best Universities for Marketing programs, we hardly see any top MBA program with Marketing major in the top 10 list of best marketing programs. However, a plethora of specialized master’s in marketing degrees has emerged as the best courses in marketing in the recent times.
Top 10 Masters Programs in Marketing
The top 10 list follows:
1. MSc in Marketing Science (Colombia University): Ranked number 1, this program costs $98,0096 (including tuition and living for the first year). 100% of the class scores a job within 6 months of graduation.
2. MSc Strategic Marketing (ICBS): Ranked at number 2, this program from Imperial College Business School, London costs GBP 30,700. 92% of the graduates were employed within 3 months of completing the program.
3. MSc in Marketing (HEC, Paris): Third on the list is this Marketing program from HEC, Paris. One of the bests in Europe this master’s program costs 27,050 euros. With an average salary of 46,000 Euros, 100% of the graduates got placement within 3 months of graduation.
4. MSc in Marketing Management (ESADE): One of the best in Europe this program costs approx. 29,000 euros. GMAT and GRE scores are accepted.
5. MSc in Marketing and Creativity (ESCP Business School): This is an 18-months program and one of the most sought after marketing programs in the World. The average starting salary within a year of graduation stands at 46,040 euros a year. The fees for this program are fixed at £21,500.
6. MSc in Marketing (Manchester University/Alliance Manchester Business School): This 12-month program costs around £14,500 for UK residents and a whopping £25,000 for the other international students.
7. MSc in Marketing (University of Texas, McCombs): Ranked 7th in QS World rankings, it is a 10 months rigorous program that would cost US$ 48,000 to an International student seeking admission in this program. This degree gives an amazing return on investment. The starting mean salary for international students after graduation is US$ 68,833. That means within a year of graduating a student could earn more than what he would have spent for this program.
8. MSc in Marketing (University of Southern California/Marshall School of Business): The admission to this master require 4 years bachelor’s degree. A student needs to obtain 30 credits to graduate. A credit would cost US$1980, that means the total tuition fees for this program is around US$ 59,400.
9. Master’s in Marketing and Digital Transformation (Vlerick Business School): One of the best in Europe it is a 10-month program with a tuition fee of 16,000 euros. The tuition fees also include costs of textbooks. 98% of the students got employed within 3 months of graduating. The average salary of the students after one year of graduation has been around 52,000 euros a year.
10. MSc Marketing and Strategy (Warwick Business School): The program would cost £30,000 to a non-UK student. The average salary of the students who graduated in this program stands at US$ 45,820, this figure, however, has been recorded in 2018, which might have changed a little in these last two years. Consulting and financial services are the two biggest sectors where the students got employed after their graduation.
Job profiles for marketing graduates
As I already said in the beginning, Marketing is indispensable to any business. Every business needs marketing in some form or the other. Hence, there is a large and dynamic domain of jobs that are available for marketing graduates. Apart from becoming a marketing strategist, consultant or product manager there are tens of job profiles that a marketing graduate can build their career into. Some of the traditional job profiles for a marketing student are as follows:
1. Brand Manager 2. Copy writer 3. Advertising Manager and Promotion Manager 4. Marketing Manager 5. Marketing Research Analyst 6. Production Manager.
New-Age Marketing Jobs and Future Trends
In the case of the digitalization of marketing activities and new emerging digital marketing courses, there has been a rapid increase in new job profiles for digital marketing experts. Some of the new-age digital marketing job profiles are as follows:
- SEO Manager
- Digital Marketing Analyst
- Web Marketing Manager
- Director of Internet Marketing
- Digital Marketing Specialist
- Digital Media Director
Marketing as a lucrative career option
Jobs for students in a variety of industries make marketing a fascinating and challenging subject. Some analyses showed that graduating from a reputed university can help a student to start with an average minimum salary of US$ 45,000 that can go up to US$ 70,000 per annum. The progress in technology and the introduction of Artificial intelligence with big data have led to dynamic transformation of marketing programs in all over the world. Digital marketing is the future for marketing graduates and one should keep on updating oneself with different certificate courses and diplomas in digital marketing to prolong their career in this domain.