Disciplines of Marketing - SMS First Year's Guide #4

Written by SMS

SMS First Year's Guide Issue #4

EDIT: The infographic reads MKTG2112 under Marketing Research. It should read MKTG2113.

A common assumption students make is that marketing is a homogenous industry. In actual fact, it is composed of many divisions, where companies often designate employees to one area of marketing. In job applications and interviews, you might be asked which areas you enjoy or might be interested in working in, so it’s good to have a preliminary understanding prior.

For this week’s edition of the SMS First Year Guide, we’ll be running through some key disciplines in Marketing that may interest you. For reference, we have also included the UoS code so if you find a particular area of interest, you can study it!

Have you ever stopped and stared at a billboard or a social media post to find out what it’s trying to communicate to you? If so, then you have definitely caught a persuasive advertisement ‼️. Without this area of marketing, it would be very hard for consumers to identify what products and services are being offered.

During this period of time especially, many businesses are switching to online forms of advertising such as the use of social media, and a lot of us are quite familiar with many of these tools!

ʀᴏʟᴇꜱ ɪɴᴄʟᴜᴅᴇ: Art director, Web Designer, Creative director

 Market researchers identify opportunities and problems for a company, working in-house or inside agencies. Companies, such as Roy Morgan and Nielsen, conduct qualitative and quantitative market research for companies and report on industry trends. If you are curious about consumer behaviour and enjoy deep-diving into analytical research then a career in market research may be for you!

ʀᴏʟᴇꜱ ɪɴᴄʟᴜᴅᴇ: Market research analyst, Data analyst, Brand manager

 Valuable content delivered to consumers by businesses doesn’t only provide the information required for making purchase decisions, but it helps build a meaningful relationship between the consumers and business. If you want to have a look at some companies that really do a good job with their content marketing, some examples include Neil Patel, QuickSprout and Hubspot.

ʀᴏʟᴇꜱ ɪɴᴄʟᴜᴅᴇ: Content creator, Managing editor, Audience director, Channel manager

 Many students find this area of marketing exciting as they get to use platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Google Adwords (just to name a few) to promote products and/or services! Working in digital marketing often involves creating content across many platforms such as social media, email, websites, as well as being able to understand analytics behind these platforms.

ʀᴏʟᴇꜱ ɪɴᴄʟᴜᴅᴇ: Content specialist, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) specialist, Account manager, E-Commerce manager, Social media manager

 If you have technological experience and are interested in methods within digital marketing, this is a suitable marketing avenue to pursue! Pursuing a role in Search Marketing is involved with maximising consumer traffic to your company’s website via search engines such as Bing and Google. Many students can engage in this role by learning skills such as Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) - a technique that makes a particular website appear at the top of search results.

ʀᴏʟᴇꜱ ɪɴᴄʟᴜᴅᴇ: SEO Specialist, SEO Manager, SEO Director, Content Manager

 As a Product Marketer, you would oversee the sales and data of a certain product. This role would be concerned with aspects such as the demand for the product, reviews of the product and usage of the product and ways to benefit this. An opportunity to find out more about Product Marketing is @GA x EVENT , our upcoming collaboration with @General Assembly to hear from industry experts.

ʀᴏʟᴇꜱ ɪɴᴄʟᴜᴅᴇ: General Manager, Entrepreneur, Brand Manager

 Undoubtedly, branding plays such a huge role in all of our lives . A lot of us make purchasing decisions based on the brands we prefer. We may even ignore the costs, quality and product itself if the brand has a greater impact. To work effectively in this area of marketing, skills such as attention to detail, creativity, teamwork and communication would be preferable.

ʀᴏʟᴇꜱ ɪɴᴄʟᴜᴅᴇ: Brand Manager, Product Manager, Product Development Manager

 Marketing communications is all about utilising different marketing channels that you might use day-to-day like TV, radio, print etc. to come up with an integrated strategy to reach a desired market. Parent companies, such as Unilever, require brand managers to be familiar with different marketing channels in order to effectively promote their brands like Dove, Lipton and OMO.

ʀᴏʟᴇꜱ ɪɴᴄʟᴜᴅᴇ: Marketing director, PR agency account supervisor, Creative director, Brand managers

 Do you enjoy managing people and creating marketing strategies that are followed by a whole team? An appealing aspect of Marketing Strategy is your ability to create new and exciting campaigns that can be brainstormed with a team of like-minded individuals. As a part of your role as a Marketing Strategist, you would also need to establish brand consistency across all marketing programs for the firm.

ʀᴏʟᴇꜱ ɪɴᴄʟᴜᴅᴇ: Market researcher, Marketing Consultant, Field Marketing Manager

Keep in mind these are just some of the common areas in marketing, however, there are many different names when it comes to categorising the branches in marketing. We hope that this has helped you understand the world of marketing to become more prepared when applying for jobs or internships!

SMS