What is a marketing degree?
Businesses are built with the aim of selling a product or service. As per the definition, marketing can be referred to as “the process of promotion and sale of products or services”. In a marketing degree, students will acquire in-depth knowledge in areas like public relations, business-to-business (B2B) marketing, key concepts of finance and marketing, and macroeconomics.

Reasons to Study Marketing Degree Abroad

  • Taking up a master’s degree in marketing abroad offers you the chance to pursue your higher studies in an international and culturally diverse setting

  • If you are pursuing a marketing degree from a reputed university abroad, chances are that they offer high-quality education. One of the major factors contributing to students’ choice of studying abroad is the impeccable quality of faculty that universities abroad offer.

  • Studying abroad provides you with the opportunity to interact with like-minded people from different cultures and walks of life. This plays an important role in helping you form a strong network of professionals, which further helps you in your career.

  • If you study marketing abroad, the likeliness of you getting a job in a globally-acclaimed organisation increases. Studying abroad helps you to look at business situations from an international perspective.

Marketing degree vs. Advertising degree

  • Course Structure: A marketing degree syllabus essentially entails subjects like marketing research, sales management, market analysis and principles of marketing. On the other hand, the coursework of an advertising degree is focused on media planning, copywriting, account management, principles of advertising and interactive designing.  

  • Job Areas: Marketing professionals are employed by organisations to assume roles like product manager, brand manager, sales manager, etc. With an advertising degree in hand, professionals can either opt to work on the creative front or the administrative front. On the creative front, job roles available for advertising graduates are photographer, copywriter, graphic designer, etc. If you want to work in the management side of the organisation, then you can assume the role of creative director, account manager, or media buyer.

  • Course-focus: An integral part of a marketing degree is relationship-building, since the marketing efforts are aimed at creating an impact with the promotion of products or services. On the other hand, in an advertising degree, students don’t necessarily have to understand the concept of relationship-building in detail.

Both the courses, however, have a tinge of the other inculcated in the course structure.

Recommended Marketing Degrees

  • Digital Marketing: In a digital marketing degree, students are equipped with skills pertaining to search engine optimization, market research, brand management, digital marketing analytics and paid search. With the entry of marketing on the online platform, digital marketing has become a popular course of study. Due to the wide range of course areas covered in the syllabus, digital marketing graduates have an array of roles to choose from.

  • Marketing Management: This course is all about applying your theoretical knowledge in the practical sphere. A marketing management degree will help you understand the concepts of buyer behaviour, marketing trends, market research, strategical marketing and brand management in detail.

  • Marketing Communications: This study course is focused at helping students get a deeper understanding of marketing components like direct marketing, public relations, sales promotion, social media and advertising. Apart from the core subjects, students are also given basic training on areas such as multicultural marketing and creative strategy.

  • Social Media Marketing: A degree in social media marketing helps students understand the intricacies of the marketing technique. The course is focused at making students well-versed in creating effective social media strategies, understanding how to implement strategies efficiently, carrying out social media campaigns in a way that it addresses the target audience and analysing social media trends. 

Pre-requisites for studying marketing abroad

The entry requirements for a marketing degree may vary depending on the university, country and degree level. However, the basic criteria for pursuing a postgraduate marketing degree is as follows:

  • Bachelor’s degree, preferably in the relevant field;

  • Entrance test scores;

  • Language-proficiency test score;

  • Relevant work experience is preferred.

Scholarship/funding opportunities

  • University scholarships: More and more universities today are offering scholarships to students. Ranging from student-specific scholarships to merit-based scholarships, the decision of awarding these scholarships lies with the university, who carefully screen the applications before making the call.

  • Bank-approved education loans: Many private and government-owned banks offer education loans to students who want to study abroad on the basis of their academic merit and current financial status. The only downside of opting for funding from banks is the high interest rates.

  • Non-banking Financial Corporations (NBFCs): There are NBFCs in India that offer education loans to students who want to study abroad at affordable interest rates. Some of the NBFCs are Credila, Avanse, Auxilo, Incred, etc.

Career opportunities after pursuing marketing degree abroad

You can assume the following roles after completing your marketing major, depending on your specialisation:

  • Brand Manager: The job role of a brand manager requires them to create a brand’s positioning and image, in a way that it impacts the target audience positively. Their responsibilities also include developing the brand’s profit and loss report and devise branding strategies that are dedicated to the brand development of a particular product or service.

  • Marketing Assistant: As a marketing assistant, your job responsibilities would include – optimising organisation’s profits, devising marketing plans and develop strategies for sales.

  • Media Planner: Media planners are the executors of advertising plans based on the marketing goals set for the particular service or product. They then direct their marketing efforts in identifying the most effective marketing platforms for the product or service and execute their action plans accordingly.

  • Public Relations Representative: A Public Relations Representative is responsible for maintaining an organisation’s image in the media and in front of external stakeholders. Their expertise is integral to the firm’s marketing efforts as they ensure that the company’s projected image is in line with the desired image.

  • Social Media Manager: They are responsible for curating and managing the content to be published over social media platforms and devising strategies for the company’s social media campaigns.