Ranjan K Baruah
The pandemic situation has brought many questions for us but it is also bringing opportunities. We are not talking about COVID 19 or pandemic but an option which is demanded in present time. Wherever we see newspapers we could see one popular word when it comes to jobs and placement. ‘Wanted marketing persons’ or ‘urgently needed people for marketing’ are common in the advertisement of various newspapers. Now we might be wondering what it is all about. Well, the management process through which goods and services move from concept to the customer can be called as marketing management. It includes the coordination of different elements. With the growth of the market and various companies business is booming everywhere. Marketing is a business discipline which is focused on the application of marketing techniques and administrating organizations marketing resources.
Marketing is not just selling but it is also focused on many other things. Sometimes there might be goods which we can see and sometimes it might be related to services and other things. Marketing does not mean only big companies or corporations. Even small businesses or entrepreneurs also need to know about marketing if they want to enhance their business and become successful in future. According to American Marketing Association (AMA) marketing is “the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.” The term marketing applies not only to private business firms but also to almost all other organizations such as government, social service institutions, NGO’s etc. From a societal point of view, marketing is the link between a society’s material requirements and its economic patterns of response. Marketing satisfies these needs and wants through exchange processes and building long term relationships.
Anyone can choose to be in the field of marketing. . Though no formal educational qualification is required, most organisations prefer graduates specially with MBA degrees as their marketing executives. Most Business schools teach sales and marketing management as a part of the MBA curriculum. Graduates can join MBA courses or other specialized marketing courses. There are also Post Graduate Diploma Courses related to marketing. Sales and marketing are more or less the same but there are some differences. Besides MBA programmes, BBA (Bachelor in Business Administration) or BBM (Bachelor in Business Management) degree holders can also have openings in the field of marketing.
Apart from qualification the most important essentials to become successful in the field of marketing is to have some of the skills. Good communication skills, leadership quality, ability to motivate and work as part of a team, ability to understand and solve problems are the needed attributes. Marketing professionals need to travel around places. Apart from direct marketing there are many other indirect marketing. Marketing can be through phones, online, etc. Tech savvy people can be easily successful when it comes to online marketing. Marketing and Sales Management is one of the most sought after careers, and ample job opportunities are available in this field with the emerging number of multinational and national companies. Small companies, big corporate, government and non government organizations, consultancies, public relation agencies all offer a wide range of opportunities for marketing professionals. Advertising, sales, management, creative writing for product promotion etc are the areas of work involved.
Some of the courses in this field are like MBA in Marketing, MBA Sales and Marketing, M.Com in Marketing, Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing Management, Diploma in Marketing Management, etc. Entrepreneurs can learn the necessities of marketing to spread their business around the globe. Aspirants who are willing to take up marketing as their career need to keep them informed for a better future. As mentioned earlier, as there is growth in the business in the north eastern region hence there would be more demand for marketing and young people with knowledge and experience will flourish in this field.
Due to the pandemic situation there were changes in the way we do marketing and more have moved to digital marketing but the situation will not change much and the demand for marketing would continue. There would be change in the marketing process or reach out but marketing shall remain as one of the most demanded career options for the young people.
(Ranjan K Baruah is a career mentor and skill trainer and can be reach at bkranjan@gmail.com)