A Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) in Marketing online program from Lamar University prepares graduates for an assortment of careers in the field. Students in the program study traditional marketing strategy as well as emerging, innovative methods of audience engagement and brand development.
Comprehensive foundational business studies provide students the breadth of knowledge needed to apply marketing skills to any business environment. This background is key to developing versatility in a marketing career, as there are many unique roles and paths for marketers to pursue. Successful marketers incorporate multiple strategies and tools into their professional efforts.
Here are five types of modern marketing that graduates can specialize in or integrate into diverse marketing strategies and roles:
1. Relationship Marketing
Relationship marketing can be both an intentional marketing method and an overarching marketing ethos, strategy and goal. Relationship marketing has become a focus of professionals for numerous reasons.
The business world is increasingly customer-centric with intensive competition and high consumer expectations. The modern consumer requires personalized marketing experiences and responds decreasingly to traditional outbound, push marketing. Many consumers choose to support brands that align with their values and beliefs. In fact, value-alignment has become essential for developing a brand’s reputation.
Given all of this, many of today’s brands strive to connect with customers in authentic ways through relationship marketing. As Hubspot explains, relationship marketing “focuses on cultivating deeper, more meaningful relationships with customers to ensure long-term brand loyalty.”
Conversions and quick sales take a back seat to existing and potential customers becoming loyal fans and de facto brand ambassadors. People want to support the brands they love and trust. Relationship marketing nurtures this, fostering an organic community surrounding a brand. This two-way, customer-centric approach to marketing underlies many modern marketing methods, strategies and professional roles.
2. Cause Marketing
Cause marketing builds on the importance of relationship marketing and brand/customer value alignment. It involves choosing a cause (social, environmental, etc.) that concerns both the brand and customer. The brand then supports that cause by donating a portion of profits to a related charity.
Companies may tie cause marketing to a specific campaign or product launch, or it may be woven deeper into the fabric of a company. For instance, footwear brand Toms is known for its impact-oriented business model. Toms invests a third of its profits into what the company calls “grassroots good,” focusing on driving positive change through cash grants and partnerships with community organizations.
3. Content Marketing
The marketing landscape has largely shifted to the digital realm, expanding personalized, inbound marketing possibilities. As web solutions notes, content marketing is essential to inbound marketing. Content marketers create quality, enriching and personalized content of various types for their target audience and distribute that content via free digital channels.
Engaging the customer through their interests can attract that customer in a positive, organic way, building brand awareness and further engagement. Customers are drawn into brand discovery on their own terms through this type of inbound marketing.
4. Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing has become a big player in the digital marketing field. It engages people where they spend their time and, increasingly, where they start and end their buying journeys. Social media platforms can also provide marketers with beneficial resources in terms of market research, analytics, campaign targeting and post automation.
Social media platforms are excellent for relationship marketing efforts because social media facilitates direct personal engagement and connection with customers. It also allows for constant, mass attention through multimedia content marketing and the potential for exponential exposure via viral sharing.
Plus, marketers can use influencer marketing within social media for what is essentially brand ambassador marketing on both a large- and small-scale. Marketers can further combine content marketing, influencer marketing and word-of-mouth marketing by encouraging, sharing and celebrating user-generated content. This integration can build loyal followership, relationships and organic brand awareness.
5. Experiential, Events and Field Marketing
People spend more time than ever connecting via social media. However, they still yearn for authentic experiences and in-person, face-to-face connection, especially after years of pandemic-induced isolation.
Marketers may engage customers through hands-on experiences with products and services at trade shows, conferences and festivals. Networking events provide an excellent environment for creating partnerships and B2B leads. Volunteer opportunities for employees connect a brand and its community while also supporting causes and customer value alignment.
There are myriad channels for marketing in the digital era and at least as many effective marketing methods. Through studying the numerous strategies, techniques, and technologies driving innovation in the field, a BBA degree in marketing can help marketers master these channels and methods. Through exploration of diverse roles in modern marketing, marketing grads can find a rewarding career path that best suits their interests and aspirations.
Learn more about Lamar University’s online Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing program.
