Marketing Courses overview
Marketing refers to activities concerning the buying and selling of goods and services. It refers to sales, advertising and questions of how products are delivered. It is an essential component of the modern world, as all businesses require the ability to be heard in a world saturated with more branding and products than ever. Postgraduate students of marketing learn to hone their skills in this craft, making them more effective salespeople and advertisers.
Marketing practice has been around for as long as business and civilisation. The Ancient Greek and Roman agoras were saturated with salespeople attesting to the quality of their goods. During the industrial revolution producers could simply sell all they had, but there came a point where a sales-oriented approach was necessary. The 1960s saw emerging theories of consumer needs and how to meet them; it was here that modern marketing was born.
Students entering this discipline for the first time or expanding upon their existing career will find themselves inundated with practical knowledge. For as long as businesses continue to exist, so too will marketing professionals.
Is marketing for me?
Marketing is for entrepreneurs and business owners wishing to grow their brand as much as it is for people fascinated by the psychology behind consumption. Students looking to analyse patterns of behaviour to meet the needs of people worldwide could make great marketing professionals.
Study pathway
Postgraduate degrees are available up to master level. Dedicated PhD level marketing courses are unavailable, but the subject can be taken as part of a broader program such as the PhD (Economics, Finance and Marketing) offered by RMIT.
Graduate certificate courses in marketing offer students with the chance to become acquainted with the fundamentals of marketing practice. Courses like those offered by Deakin University cover basic consumer behaviour, international marketing and marketing communications. This course and others generally take six months to complete, or a year if undergone part time.
The Graduate Diploma of Marketing is designed to lead into a Master of Marketing, but still functions as a solid knowledge base on its own. The University of Sydney’s program is an ideal way to bolster knowledge of marketing as applied to business. Students wishing to take their studies in a more research-oriented direction can do so with programs like the Diploma in Business (Research) (Marketing) from Queensland University of Technology. These sorts of programs allow students to contribute to the field in a meaningful yet time efficient way. No matter the path taken, students can expect to complete theses courses in a year if taken full time.
Master level marketing courses are for becoming immersed in theory before learning its real-world applications. Swinburne University of Technology’s Master of Marketing (Professional) grants students the opportunity to exercise this knowledge in a professional context as well as academic one. Others allow students to delve into a specific branch of marketing, like the Master of Advertising from RMIT.
Employment options
Market research analyst
Understanding any given market is crucial to the success of any business. After all, if a company can’t understand its customers then how can it expect to know they’ll want their product or service? Huge international firms like Edelman and Kelton Global require an abundance of market research analysts.
Public relations officer
Marketing graduates wishing to use their knowledge in maintaining their company’s reputation and image would be at home as a public relations officer. This position utilises all modern tools of communication and therefore requires a degree of technological proficiency. All manner of companies and public services require PR officers, from the Australian Army and Navy to non-profits like Benetas.
Social media manager
The world is mirrored in social media, so its management is of crucial importance to any company wanting to be visible to the world. Marketing companies like Atlas Agency employ social media managers to improve and curate the digital profiles of their clients and the agency itself.
Specialisations
The versatility of a postgraduate marketing degree is reflected in the scope of its specialisations. The following are just a few examples of these: