A major in any business field is a great option for students because of the plethora and variety of opportunity. “Marketing is the most flexible of the business degrees,” said Dr. Sandra Speck, marketing professor at the Idaho State University College of Business. “There are so many different directions you can pursue within that degree. In fact, I think one of the most frustrating things for soon-to-be marketing graduates is to figure out which of those potential directions in marketing they want to head down. Other majors don't experience that same dilemma. There's room for all personality types and skill sets within the realm of marketing.”
Many students in more specified degrees also choose to minor in business for the solid background it provides almost any major. Marketing is one of those subjects that is a great choice for a major or minor because of the diversity of the field itself. Marketing encompasses a large part of the process that gets a product from conception to the market. The College of Business describes marketing as “based around promoting and sharing the value of a product or service with the consumer. Marketers enjoy the study and understanding of influences on consumer decisions, needs and interests. This knowledge is leveraged for the development and promotion of products and services that meet those needs. Marketers might work in the areas of research, tracking and analyzing metrics, strategic planning or utilizing creative tools and materials to create solutions and attract business.” Marketers are the people who get products out there, do the research on who is buying them and develop strategies to increase those purchases. This kind of degree, even if it’s a minor, can provide extremely valuable insight. “Like it or not, marketing is a part of every sphere of life in our society now,” said Idaho State marketing professor, Dr. Alex Rose. “If you want to be a musician, you’d better have some marketing skills if you’re going to get listens on SoundCloud. If you want to be the next mayor, you’d better have marketing skills if you want to sell people on yourself. Even if you’re going to do something very technical like accounting or engineering, those things cannot offer value if you can’t communicate that value to other people—consumers.”
According to Forbes, the best jobs in marketing seeing the most growth are advertising, promotions and marketing managers as well as advertising sales representative, film and video editors, graphic designers and meeting, convention and event planners. Idaho’s Department of Labor also lists marketing as number 10 on their top 20 Hot Jobs list. The marketing sector is projected to grow at 38.66% between 2014 to 2024 in Idaho. Digital marketing specialists and social media marketers are also huge in today’s marketing fields. As you can see from this short list, the field is quite diverse.
Beyond these fields, a marketing major will typically work to develop a marketing plan based on market research and a well-rounded inbound (digital and content driven) and outbound (traditional) strategy. They can also develop new products for consumers’ interests and needs and manage product development or manage analytics and the effectiveness of these strategies and products. They may also research products, consumer behaviors or target markets.
Advertising, promotions and marketing managers are all people who are in charge of developing the marketing tactics a company will use to reach a target market. They work closely with the market researchers to ensure they are creating the best marketing mix to meet their audience’s interests and needs. A marketing mix can include many types of media like television, radio, print, social media and other platforms. This manager is in charge of everything involved on the analytical side of the field. The median salary as of 2018 for a marketing manager is $24.68 an hour or about $47,385 a year (Idaho Department of Labor).
Digital Marketing Specialists are responsible for the paid advertising of a company through digital media as well as developing digital marketing strategies based around inbound marketing tactics. They work closely in a marketing team developing content for their target market and products using digital tactics to reach them such as: social media, websites, blogs and other online advertising. They also work to build a digital following and increase their company’s recognition, positive online reviews and the search engine placement of their website. Digital marketing specialists made an average $57,473 in 2020. (Glassdoor)
Social media marketing is a pretty new job position that’s opening up in a lot of companies because social media is a relatively new medium. Their job is to run the social media pages of the company. They are responsible for scheduling and managing posts from the company's social media page as well as advertising being run on those respective sites. They update their followers with special offers and create a relationship with their customers through these social channels. This position on average pays about $50,473 per year. (Glassdoor)
Advertising sales agents work more in the traditional media industry which includes mediums such as magazines, newspapers, radio or TV stations selling advertisements. These individuals typically find clients to sell media space to, such as commercials on TV and radio, endorsements at events, advertisements in newspapers, billboards and online advertising. Typically, sales reps have a certain dollar or ad amount they must sell each month to meet their quota, meaning the jobs are typically, partially or fully commissioned-based, so the harder you work the more you get paid! According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average salary is $51,740, but can easily be increased depending on the commission of the product being sold.
There are so many different options when it comes to marketing, but the best part is they all work together for the common goal and typically as a marketing team. As part of a marketing team, you would gain experience in a realm of fields from the research side, to the strategy side, to working creatively to build campaigns and then analyze metrics to determine the effectiveness of the campaigns.
Idaho State University has a fantastic marketing program focusing on marketing research and developing strategies and marketing plans. The marketing department offers a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) as well as a minor. Or, students can also choose to study under the flexible BBA, which allows them to gain a double major in marketing, management, finance or economics with no to few extra courses.
If you are thinking about a marketing major or want more information, check out the marketing department’s website. Or you can make an appointment to visit with an advisor on our website.