Does it make sense to pursue Career in Marketing with distance MBA program?

In life, change is the only thing which is constant. Everything around us is changing. Geopolitical landscape, consumer behavior, technology advancements, preferences of consumers for media and so on. In the current dynamic and unpredictable environment companies are finding it difficult to survive and grow. The key aspect for survival is ‘revenue’ and that is generated by Sales and marketing functions. Stronger these functions, stronger is the balance sheet of the company. Hence, Sales and marketing are becoming more crucial in the current environment. Moreover, the strategies to reaching customers are also rapidly changing. People have started using predictive analytics, digital marketing techniques for taking their marketing strategies to a completely different level.

Companies are always on lookout for someone with specialized skills and experience in sales and marketing. We embarked our journey to understand what roles and responsibilities are in arena of marketing management. Here are some of the brief listings for such job descriptions.

Marketing Executive

• Conducting market research for leads.
• Compiling information and data entry of prospect list in enterprise CRM.
• Calling the prospects and briefing them about company’s offerings
• Identifying key stakeholders and decision makers from organizations which can be potential customers
• Taking appointment with customer and assign the leads to the field team
• Follow up with potential customers
• Arranging demo or walk through by coordinating with pre-sales
• Visit a prospect for deal closure
• Participation in product events and exhibitions
• Manage marketing campaigns.
• Periodically visiting key customers

Marketing Manager

• Plan overall communication strategy to create brand awareness.
• Plan and coordinate with agencies to create and run various campaigns for products and services.
• Design and oversee comprehensive marketing strategies for company’s business activities and brands.
• Get market Research and competition data.
• Create product offering by studying competition, market trends and consumer behavior.
• Allocate budget and various resources for projects.
• Plan and create product positioning strategies

Brand Manager

• Develop a roadmap for building brand for the organization
• Work with creative team to design innovative campaigns
• Create brand image and awareness through digital media like social media and online advertisements.
• Plan and guide market research efforts
• Participate in data collection on the field to have first-hand information on some of key target segments
• Plan content strategy for social media platforms
• Provide help for execution and tracking of digital media campaigns.
• Develop creative assets to support different type of consumption like Digital, Web, PR etc.
• Coordinates with various departments like accounts, Sales, Purchase, execution for branding related needs
• Plan and control all year round marketing campaigns
• Analyze industry trends, market competition and identify gaps in the current product portfolio
• Prepare communication brief for brand communication
• Oversee and coordinate with Digital Marketing team or external agency to ensure that all product marketing collaterals in digital or any other form are up to date.

Brand Head – Marketing

• Build and manage the brand marketing function
• Develop Strategies for multi-channel branding and promotional programs
• Manage ATL, BTL, onsite creative and campaign management activities to drive branding
• Develop and manage a robust PR program with market influencers.
• Monitor customer perception and suggest actions to improve it further
• As custodian of brand, ensure consistent expression of the brand through all internal and external touch points
• Develop and execute marketing and promotional calendar to drive traffic and engage the target customers
• Develop measurable marketing programs that are aligned with the business goals.
• Facilitate integration of various departments like marketing, merchandising, product development for key initiatives
• Employ a variety of communications tools for effective communication
• Develop, optimize and monitor brand marketing budget.

Sales and marketing officer

• Handle the Sales & Marketing functional activities.
• Create a sales forecasting
• Implement and track sales pipeline based on the sales plan
• Take actions based on the type of lead cold, warm or hot.
• Take active part in Outdoor Marketing campaigns like exhibitions, road shows
• Track Sales funnel with appropriate parameter like number of leads and conversions
• Visit potential customers and generate leads

Business Development Manager

• Conduct market research to define competition landscape and evaluate customer needs.
• Seek new business opportunities through means like cold calling, networking and social media.
• Set up and coordinate meetings with potential clients
• Create and deliver attractive and precise presentations on various offerings like products/ services.
• Create monthly review reports for sales and other data
• Track the potential customer till the deal is closed
• Represent the company in external events exhibitions or conferences.
• Negotiate various deals and handle customer complaints
• Collaborate with the other teams like accounts, product development etc. to achieve better results.

What we should look for in a distance MBA program in marketing specialization?

Now we have carefully gone through various job profiles available on internet related to marketing. The job designations cited carry different names like brand manager, marketing manager, business development manager etc. However, the core skills needed to perform these jobs effectively are almost same.

A proficient marketing manager would have skills and experience in many areas. Understanding of overall business of the company, understanding of markets, in-depth knowledge of changing consumer behavior, trends in technologies and latest advancements, good handle on digital marketing, understanding of product/services life cycles etc. are some of the key things. Any distance MBA program which covers these things in details with case studies is going to be a good choice.

In the current environment of slowdown, companies are relying more and more on professionals who can bring in the business. To jumpstart or take a leap in a career, it makes perfect sense to acquire the latest skills with distance MBA in marketing and get on to a growth path.