MajorsMajor
Marketing: what you'd study and do
From public data · Every number cited
The short answer
Marketing is the study of how a business finds the people who'd want what it sells, gets their attention and wins them over: research, branding, pricing, advertising and the numbers that show what worked. Students take business basics plus consumer behavior, market research and digital marketing. It leads to jobs like market research analyst and public relations specialist, and, after years of experience, marketing manager.
Try the job first
These lessons let you do a real task from the work. Those marked “Asks if you liked it” let you say so afterwards, and your answers collect in one place.
- What marketing does13 minFreeAsks if you liked it
- How a sale happens12 minFreeAsks if you liked it
- Who it's for14 min(members-only)(included in your membership)Asks if you liked it
- Measuring what works14 min(members-only)(included in your membership)Asks if you liked it
- Commission and quotas14 min(members-only)(included in your membership)Asks if you liked it
- The big deal14 min(members-only)(included in your membership)Asks if you liked it
- What does a customer cost?14 min(members-only)(included in your membership)
See what you've answered so far in Your major match.
What you'd study
Every college's program is a little different. These are the kinds of classes most of them have.
Business basics
Every college differs, but most marketing programs start with the same business classes: accounting, economics, statistics or business analytics, finance, management and business law, plus a math class. Many add public speaking.
The marketing classes
Then come the marketing classes: why people buy (consumer behavior), market research with surveys and data, brands, pricing, advertising and social media, digital marketing and analytics, and selling. The US government's description of the major lists buyer behavior, marketing research, pricing, campaign planning, advertising, sales management and retailing.
Learning by doing
Internships are common, and BLS says one can help you get hired as an analyst. Class projects often have you research a real product or plan a campaign.
Jobs it leads to
Median pay means half the people in the job earn more and half earn less. Pay also changes with the place, the employer and experience.
Market research analysts
A day at work
You find out what people want and whether they'll buy. You design surveys, dig into data about customers and competitors' prices, measure how well an ad or a campaign worked, and turn it all into charts and reports a team can act on. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) counts marketing specialists in this group too, and expects about 82,000 openings a year
, with growth of 7% from 2025 to 2035, which it calls much faster than average. - Median pay
- $78,760
/year - Expected job growth
- 7%
The usual start
Usually a bachelor's degree in market research or a related business, communications or social science field. BLS says an internship while in school may help you get hired as an analyst.
Numbers from bls.gov ·2025
Public relations specialists
A day at work
You look after how the public sees a company. You write press releases, answer reporters' questions, post on the company's website and social media, and coach leaders before they speak. It's a slower-growing field: BLS expects growth of 2%
from 2025 to 2035, slower than average, and about 23,000 openings a year . - Median pay
- $74,750
/year - Expected job growth
- 2%
The usual start
Usually a bachelor's degree in public relations or another communications field, social science or business.
Numbers from bls.gov ·2025
Advertising, promotions, and marketing managers
A day at work
You lead the marketing team. You decide who the product is for, plan campaigns, help set prices, run the budget, start research and hire and guide the team. BLS says these managers usually worked first in a related job, such as sales representative, market research analyst or public relations specialist, so the pay reflects years of experience, not just a degree. In May 2025 the middle pay was $166,790
/year for marketing managers and $133,660 /year for advertising and promotions managers. BLS expects marketing managers to grow 7% and the much smaller group of advertising and promotions managers to shrink 4% , with about 36,300 openings a year for all of them together. - Median pay
- $165,780
/year - Expected job growth
- 6%
The usual start
A bachelor's degree, often in marketing or a related field such as communications, plus work experience in advertising, marketing, promotions or sales. Some employers prefer a master's degree.
Numbers from bls.gov ·2025
How to read the growth numbers
BLS expects all US jobs together to grow 3.5%
The pay on each card is the median: half of the workers earn more and half earn less. Pay changes a lot by place, company and experience.
Pay isn't everything
Much of it is screen work. Among market research analysts and marketing specialists who answered the work survey of O*NET, the US Labor Department's database of jobs, 75%
People who tend to enjoy it are curious about why people buy, and like both numbers and words. BLS lists analytical skills, communication, creativity and attention to detail among the qualities that matter.
Deadlines come often. BLS says managers' work may be stressful, especially near deadlines, and 64%
No license is needed. Certifications are optional; BLS calls them voluntary for market research analysts, and some employers of PR specialists prefer one.
After graduating
The New York Fed looked at people who majored in marketing, using Census survey data for 2024. Among full-time workers with only a bachelor's degree, the middle pay was $60,000
These are national middles: they say nothing about one college or one person, and pay is only one thing to weigh next to how the work feels day to day.
The College Scorecard, from the US Department of Education, shows what graduates of each college's marketing and related programs earned a few years later. Read it with its own warnings: it counts only students who got federal grants or loans, it leaves out graduates who didn't work that year or went back to school, and pay soon after college may not show pay later on. Results also vary a lot from college to college. You can look up any college at collegescorecard.ed.gov.
- Marketing, early career: $60,000
- All majors, early career: $58,000
- Marketing, mid-career: $100,000
- All majors, mid-career: $87,000
Dollars per year.
Median pay of full-time workers with only a bachelor's degree, 2024, New York Fed. Context, not a ranking.
Sources:newyorkfed.org ·2024
You don't need this major to work here
You don't need this exact major. BLS says market research analysts come from business, communications and social science, public relations specialists from communications, social science and business, and marketing managers usually worked first in a related job, such as sales. Experience helps: BLS mentions internships, and volunteering to help an organization with its market research.
Related majors
Also related: Communications, advertising or public relations, Business administration, Psychology, Information systems or business analytics, Economics.
Common questions
- Is marketing just making ads?
No. Ads are one part. Marketing also covers research, pricing, deciding who a product is for and checking what worked. The US government's description of the major lists buyer behavior, marketing research, pricing, advertising, sales management and retailing.
- Do I need to be good at math?
You'll use numbers often: survey results, budgets, prices and how a campaign did. Programs usually include statistics and analytics classes. BLS lists analytical skills and attention to detail for market research analysts, next to communication and creativity.
- Is social media marketing a real job?
It's part of many marketing jobs. BLS counts marketing specialists together with market research analysts, and posting on a company's social media is one of the tasks O*NET lists for public relations specialists. There's no separate official count for it.
- What's the difference between marketing and sales?
Marketing gets many people interested and makes buying easy. Sales works with one customer at a time to close the deal. They work closely, and BLS says marketing managers usually worked first in a related job, sales among them.
- Which college is best for marketing?
We don't rank colleges. The College Scorecard lets you look up any college's marketing program; read its warnings about who's counted.
- What do these jobs pay?
BLS's median was $78,760
/year bls.gov ·2025 for market research analysts and $74,750 /year bls.gov ·2025 for public relations specialists in May 2025. Half earn more and half earn less, and pay changes a lot by place, company and experience. Pay is one thing to weigh; how the work feels day to day is another.