Marketing Degree

A marketing degree can be an excellent career springboard in today’s society, where customers are consuming more than ever and businesses have a plethora of advertising channels at their fingertips.

Whether you opt for a digital marketing degree, a sports marketing degree, a marketing and advertising degree, a fashion marketing degree, an advertising and marketing degree or a business and marketing degree (sometimes known as a business marketing degree), there are a range of marketing jobs waiting just around the corner, and an exciting variety of industries looking for talented marketing professionals.

Many also opt for a marketing foundation degree or a part time marketing degree, a distance learning marketing degree or a digital marketing masters degree, which also helps people too.

What to do with a marketing degree

You might want to find a role in a field that you find interesting; in which you have prior knowledge (such as academic or work experience); or some other kind of connection. Marketing degree UK jobs can be based in music, retail, finance, leisure and tourism (gyms, festivals, tourist attractions), public services, fashion, technology and electronics… almost anything, really. This makes it easy to work in an arena that you love.

The skills you develop on a marketing degree - brand awareness, design techniques, effective communication, market analysis, understanding of demographics - are valuable in all careers to do with sales or persuasion. We’ll look at some of the more typical (and less typical!) career paths a marketing graduate might take in the next section, ‘What can you do with a marketing degree?’, and if you think you’d like to stay on in education after your degree, check out the information further down the page on postgraduate study opportunities and an online marketing degree.

What can I do with a marketing degree?

Jobs in sales are very well suited to graduates with a business and marketing degree or a marketing management degree, including advertising sales agents roles, insurance sales, and property and estate agency. They can be lucrative because of commission earned on top of a fixed marketing degree salary, and the competitive aspect is a big driving factor for many marketing grads, especially those who are studying a marketing and design degree.

If you’ve got the gift of the gab but don’t get a thrill from the direct chase of sales, your persuasive expertise would be well suited to a job in public relations (PR), in which you work as the mouthpiece of a company or organisation, producing materials to engage with the public, which is sometimes covered in something like a marketing and management degree as well. Specific roles include PR officer, PR account executive, or social media manager, where you manage the brand’s Instagram, Twitter and Facebook presence, answering the public’s questions, running competitions, and creating content to increase engagement.

Similarly, brand management, advertising accounts, advertising art director, marketing executive and market researcher roles all position you in the fast-paced marketing world. Seeking out an internship can be an effective way to pinpoint the type of work that you enjoy best, as well as getting some all-important experience for your student CV.

The writing abilities developed during your marketing degree could help you become a copywriter, either working in-house for one specific brand, or choosing your hours as a freelance writer.

Graduates with a digital marketing degree might or marketing degree apprenticeships go into tech roles such as UX designer or web content manager, while a business and marketing degree can be helpful for getting started as a business adviser or event manager, so degree apprenticeships marketing might be a good thing to look into.

Marketing focuses on understanding consumer behaviour and their purchase patterns to better communicate with the target audience, which is also covered by a marketing psychology degree too. The practice of marketing has changed considerably over the last few decades, although the theory has remained the same. Marketing combines business and psychology to build relationships between companies and consumers (the people that they are trying to reach).

Also, it involves the analysis of the strengths and weakness of organisations, as well as the study of threats that can arise within a company – and the effects these threats may and can have.

What A Levels do I need?

Typically, universities do not ask for specific A-level grades from their prospective candidates, although similar A-levels paired with good grades won’t harm an individual’s application. A-levels such as; business, economics, finance, accounting, communications and psychology won’t harm an applicant’s chance of admission. However, it is advised that students check with their universities and their chosen courses to understand what they need to obtain to get onto the course in terms of UCAS entry points and relevant A-levels.

You can also see our Marketing personal statement examples; these will help you to gain an insight into what you need for your personal statement.

What are my study options?

Marketing works well paired with other subject areas, meaning many institutions will offer the chance to study a joint degree, alongside the likes of; advertising, accounting, public relations, business and finance, students should conduct research to understand the difference between the degree programmes before making a decision, as the content of the course may vary considerably depending on the module involved, which is why choosing the right university and course is important as students will be able to tailor their choices differently at each different institute.

Studying a joint degree course offers the opportunity to explore deeper into two subject areas, and open up more career prospects in the future, maybe even a masters degree in marketing.

A degree in Marketing tends to be three years to graduate the course unless an individual chooses to take a sandwich course where students spend a year working in industry or gaining work experience through a placement. If a student starts a sandwich course, the total degree programme length will be four years due to this placement year. Is having a placement good for your degree is a commonly asked question, as it delays your graduation by a year, although there any many benefits, so it’s the student’s responsibility to research the benefits of a placement before making any decisions.

Candidates will study core modules such as consumer behaviour, digital marketing and market research as well as be able to choose optional modules to tailor their degree to an area of their choice. Most degrees allow students to choose these optional modules in the second and third year.

Programmes available in this area include Bachelors of Arts (BA) and Bachelors of Science (BSc) degrees such as; Business Management, Consumer Behaviour and Marketing, Marketing, and Business Economics with Marketing.

What should I expect from studying Marketing?

Particular universities may require students to complete a work placement during their second or third year and can be completed as an assessment, or to allow individuals to gain valuable experience in the career sector. This work experience may even prove successful as students can be offered marketing degree jobs based on their performance once they graduate.

Students who are part of a combined programme will study modules concerning both areas, either connected or separately, for example, a BSc in Marketing and Management may include modules such as; Managing People and Organisations, Managing Customer Service or Marketing for Organisations.

How will I be assessed?

Assessment for this course tends to be through coursework, examinations and presentations. Students may also be involved in group work with other students and conduct presentations or briefs submitted to them from their tutor.

What skills will I learn from studying Marketing?

Students who attend university will gain numerous sets of transferable skills that will prove useful in all aspects of life, and in particular employment. These skills include time management and organisation skills from the practice of working towards deadlines, completing coursework and social skills from working with others and conducting presentations.

Why study Marketing?

Marketing degrees are ideal for those interested in psychology, social studies or business, or those interested in advertising and products. Individuals will learn to understand consumer behaviour patterns, and what makes an organisation or product successful.

Marketing prepares candidates for an array of careers, as this degree aims to build a solid foundation of skills in business, marketing and press communications (PR). Marketing is a stable career sector as adverts, products and services will need selling to consumers until the end of time.

What happens after I graduate?

The business side of marketing is easier to enter than the media side, and this is mostly due to the competitive aspect of the industry. Marketing graduates find employment in a range of different marketing roles, from huge graduate employers to websites, PR firms and small local businesses.

Will it help me get a job?

There is a selection of employment options available for students after graduation, and most positions include a business or organisation or marketing firms.

What types of jobs can I get from studying Marketing?

Particular job prospects include; advertising artist, advertising planner/executive, market research, media planner, copywriter, buyer, event management, accounting or PR.

What can I study after Marketing?

An exciting range of Masters qualifications; of Arts (MA) and Masters of Science (MSc) degrees are available for students who wish to continue their studies after they graduate. Master’s degrees include; public relations, food consumer marketing, marketing management, branding and identity, and creative advertising.

Famous Marketing studies alumni

Kevin Costner, Oscar, Emmy and Golden Globe Winner is notoriously known for his roles in Man of Steel, JFK, and The Bodyguard holds a BA in Marketing and Finance degree from California State University.