Marketing is an essential component of business management and commerce. It involves targeting products to other companies (B2B marketing) or directly to consumers (B2C marketing). Sales and marketing are two distinct business functions that both have an impact on lead generation and revenue. Sales refers to all activities that lead to the sale of goods and services, while marketing is the process of getting people interested in the goods and services being sold.
It's important to note that marketing is different from advertising. While both belong to the communications departments of most schools, they are generally treated as separate specializations. Marketing is defined as the process or technique of promoting, selling, and distributing a product or service. As such, marketing teams work together to create campaigns and programs that grow the business.
Market researchers provide information to marketers on how to position the right products at the right price for customers who need them. A marketing generalist oversees all aspects of marketing, including email campaigns, content planning, product announcements, and social media accounts. Email marketers should collaborate with all marketing teams to ensure their email strategy is consistent with the organization's overall messaging. This role also represents marketing in cross-functional team meetings, supports the sales team, and measures the success of marketing programs.
Product marketing managers ensure that customers understand the value of a company's product and drive customer demand and product adoption. Communications marketers work to improve a company's visibility in the market for customers, the public, the media, and sometimes investors. Content marketing teams create content such as blog posts (inbound marketing) which digital marketing teams actively promote in banner ads (outbound marketing). Due to limited resources, many organizations employ generalists instead of multiple specialized marketing teams.
This creates a high demand for professionals who can work as generalists in the field of marketing.