What Can You Do with a Marketing Degree? 11 Job Paths

Marketing is all about finding creative ways to share your enthusiasm for a particular product, company, experience, or concept. With a marketing degree, you’ll likely learn marketing strategies that have been proven most effective in multiplying that enthusiasm across audiences, with the ultimate goal of using those techniques to impact a company’s bottom line.

This versatile skill set is applicable to just about every industry that participates in the economy, including business, technology, education, real estate, food, publishing, beauty, fashion, and more. In this article, we’ll talk through some common marketing degree jobs available across industries.

6 jobs you can get with a marketing degree

Securing a job in marketing can offer some degree of career stability. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, advertising, promotions, and marketing managers in the US earned a median annual salary of $138,730 as of May 2022, and the industry is expected to grow at an average rate of 6 percent (faster than average) between 2022 and 2032 [1].

Of course, you may not expect to receive that salary immediately after receiving your bachelor's degree in marketing. More commonly, recent graduates will enter the field on the assistant or coordinator level, depending on internship or other job experience. Here are some common entry-level marketing degree jobs that can put you on the path toward growth.

(All salary data reflects US annual average as of January 2024, according to Glassdoor.)

Learn more: What Salaries Can You Earn with a Marketing Degree?

1. Marketing assistant

Average salary: $50,082 [2]

Common growth roles:

• Marketing coordinator: $55,818 [3]

• Marketing manager: $89,722 [4]

Marketing assistant is a common position for recent graduates looking to gain entry-level experience. It’s more of a general marketing position, allowing employees to interact with various aspects of a marketing department.

In this role, a person might help ensure a marketing department runs smoothly, working with upper management on tasks like maintaining schedules, conducting market research, organizing performance reports, and contributing to marketing campaigns led by other team members.

Marketing assistants draw heavily on communication, interpersonal, organizational, and time management skills. On the job, you can anticipate sharpening your creative and analytical skills as they relate to ideating, executing, and assessing campaigns.

Learn more: Career Advice: How to Become a Marketing Manager

2. Brand Assistant

Average salary: $57,769 [5]

Common growth roles:

• Brand coordinator:  $58,972 [6]

• Brand manager: $97,009 [7]

A brand assistant, or assistant brand manager, will have a greater focus on a company’s overall positioning in the marketplace than on individual product launches or campaigns.

In this role, a person might work with upper management on brand image with responsibilities such as monitoring market trends, analyzing competitors, assisting on brand strategies, assessing brand loyalty, and coordinating communications between the brand team and stakeholders.

Brand assistants often rely on their communication, research, organizational, and creative skills. They’ll further hone their strategic planning skills as they develop and bring to life a brand’s public image through campaigns, events, and communications geared toward the consumer.

Learn more: 13 Key Marketing Skills to Boost Your Resume

3. Social media coordinator

Average salary: $50,364 [8]

Common growth role:

• Social media marketer:  $51,508 [9]

• Social media manager: $60,546 [10]

Social media coordinators focus their marketing efforts on social media, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, or LinkedIn. The specific social media platforms you work on will depend on the company, brand, or client you are working with and their specific target audience and business goals.

In this role, a person might help with tasks such as developing social media strategy, creating content and scheduling posts, monitoring analytics and tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) such as engagement and reach, conducting audience research, and staying current on social media trends. They may also work with influencers on campaigns or interact with consumers directly on their social media pages.

Social media coordinators regularly use their interpersonal, creative, and analytical skills, and will become involved with more robust social media marketing campaigns as they get more comfortable speaking as a brand.

Learn more: Social Media Jobs: 6 Roles to Explore

4. Event marketing assistant

Average salary: $49,794 [11]

Common growth roles:

• Event marketing coordinator: $55,792 [12]

• Event marketing manager: $78,883 [13]

Event marketing assistants primarily work on showcasing a brand’s persona through promotional events such as launch parties, hosted panels, luncheons, or interactive experiences. Depending on the position, these events might be public-facing or client-facing, and either in-person or virtual.

In this entry-level role, an event marketing assistant might help upper management with planning and coordinating various aspects of events, liaising with vendors, booking venues, and analyzing an event’s success.

Event marketing assistants benefit from strong communication and organizational skills, as well as a detail-oriented approach. As they grow in their career, they’ll rely on interpersonal skills and creativity to produce memorable branded moments.

5. Assistant Media Planner

Average salary: $57,980 [14]

Common growth roles:

• Media buyer: $76,924 [15]

• Media planner: $77,043 [16]

Assistant media planners work with media planners and media buyers to help decide the media formats—for example, print, video, or audio—that feel most relevant to a brand’s target audience and how to use those formats to achieve business goals. They may also be called media assistants.

In this role, a person might have responsibilities such as conducting market research, monitoring media plans, coordinating with media partners, tracking campaign performance, and staying current on the latest media practices. On the marketing side, assistant media planners will typically focus on unpaid media, however in working with media buyers—commonly in advertising—they may also gain exposure to paid campaigns.

Assistant media planners call upon research, communication, and organizational skills, and will hone interpersonal skills as they work with more business partners and clients.

6. Product marketing assistant

Average salary: $66,718 [17]

Common growth roles:

• Product marketing associate: $76,796 [18]

• Product marketing manager: $121,200 [19]

Product marketing assistants specialize in marketing specific products or services to a consumer. They’ll often work with product managers (the people involved with a product’s development) and sales teams to optimize messaging. 

A person in this role might handle marketing assets, research target audiences, help write promotional copy, and track consumer interactions with and reactions to the product. They’ll focus on aligning the public reception of a product with the company’s intention in introducing it.

Product marketing assistants benefit from organizational and communication skills. As they progress through their careers, they may develop stronger analytical and creative skills.

5 mid-level marketing degree jobs

Once you start working in a marketing department, you may find yourself gravitating toward certain tasks or teams. Regardless of where you choose to begin your marketing career, you can always adjust your path as you see fit.

Many of the marketing skills and techniques you’ll be implementing in various roles are transferable to other areas of the field. Additionally, many entry-level positions can prepare you for higher level roles in alternate lanes.

Here are five mid-level marketing degree jobs that you might consider after gaining initial experience:

1. Market research analyst (or market researcher): $70,035 [20]

2. Marketing analyst: $75,240 [21]

3. Digital marketing manager: $85,912 [22]

4. Email marketing manager: $82,825 [23]

5. Search engine optimization (SEO) marketing manager: $89,128 [24]

6. E-commerce marketing manager: $88,765 [25]

Other marketing degree jobs

Oftentimes, marketing degrees will require core classes that can help you get an entry-level position outside of marketing. If you earned a marketing degree, you may also find opportunities in adjacent fields, like business, sales, advertising, or public relations.

To help expand your career horizon, focus on skills rather than individual tasks. Read job descriptions carefully, highlight commonalities, and consider how you’ve demonstrated those applicable skills.

Here are a few non-marketing and marketing-adjacent positions you might want to explore:

• Product manager

• Sales manager

• Public relations manager

• Account manager

• Fundraiser

Learn more: Is a Marketing Degree Worth It?

Getting started with a career in marketing

If you are ready to launch a marketing career, earning an online marketing degree from the University of London might be one place to start. If you’re ready to gain new skills in the field of marketing, consider a Digital Marketing specialization from the University of Illinois, or develop job-ready skills through the Meta Social Media Marketing Professional Certificate, all available on Coursera.

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