What is Marketing?
What is Marketing?
Marketing consists of individual and organizational activities that facilitate and expedite satisfying exchange relationships in a dynamic environment through the creation, distribution, promotion, and pricing of goods, services, and ideas. An understanding of marketing is important for success in all business fields and occupations. Rapid technological innovations continue to change human needs and provide goods and services to consumers at an affordable price. Marketers are instrumental in achieving such tasks. Career opportunities in marketing are virtually unlimited. Marketing is critical for the survival of any business because it is the major revenue-generating function in the firm. All organizations — from regular businesses to nonprofit organizations such as churches or charities — must engage in marketing activities and need highly qualified marketing professionals. That need is reflected in the high starting salaries and opportunities for rapid career advancement available to marketing graduates.
Advertising is one of the career areas open to you as a marketing professional
Many organizations employ advertising specialists. Advertising agencies are the largest employers; however, manufacturers, retailers, banks, radio and television stations, hospitals, and insurance agencies all have advertising departments. Creativity, artistic talent, and good communication skills (written and verbal) are a few of the attributes needed for a successful career in advertising. Because the industry is so competitive, it is very difficult to enter. Compensation for entry-level positions in advertising is generally lower than other entry-level positions, but increases substantially as one moves into management. In addition to experience, account manager positions will generally require a MBA degree.
Interactive marketing is another career area open to you as a marketing professional. As a result of technological capabilities and lifestyle market opportunities, interactive marketing has enjoyed substantial expansion. Although precise figures are difficult to pinpoint, interactive marketing has grown at a rate of at least 10% annually in recent years. The marketing positions in interactive marketing generally involve three facets: planning marketing activities, marketing research, and market analysis. Underlying most interactive marketing programs is the use of a computerized database containing data related to customer/prospect information, transaction records, and media tracking information. Graduating students with skills and interest in both marketing and data processing are likely to find excellent career opportunities in interactive marketing.
Another area open is sales. There are more opportunities in sales than in any other area of marketing. Sales positions vary greatly among companies. Some selling positions focus more on providing...