The Marketing and Sales Career Cluster is all about influencing people. Usually the goal is to persuade people to buy products or services, but sometimes it’s to move people to engage with a particular mission or cause.
Marketing is a driving force in business growth. It’s used to develop public awareness of a product, gain and retain customers, and increase sales.
Marketing and sales are related, but not the same. Marketing focuses on creating awareness, generating leads and building brand interest, while sales concentrates on converting those leads into actual purchases.
Marketers begin a campaign by learning about the needs and preferences of a targeted audience. Next, they use social media, digital ads, websites, mobile marketing, TV, radio, magazines, and other means to reach out to that audience, and promote the products and services they represent.
The marketing industry has been transformed by digital platforms and continues to quickly integrate new technology as it develops.
Recent developments include the use of analytics to track users’ choices on websites and other media; using AI to personalize ad campaigns and measure their effectiveness; and researching customer experience to better reach an audience. Marketers also leverage social media influencers to reach targeted groups.
Sales workers often follow behind marketing efforts, to persuade people to buy the marketed product or service. They may work in retail stores, or behind the scenes in company sales departments.
Either way, they cultivate a positive relationship with customers and may offer incentives, demonstrate a product’s benefits, or show how to use a product or service.
The major employers in this cluster range from advertising or public relations agencies to corporate marketing departments, non-profits, and government agencies. Organizations may conduct their own marketing or hire advertising agencies to create promotional campaigns.
Quick facts:
- In the U.S., annual spending on advertising and marketing is estimated at more than $450 billion, making the U.S. the world’s largest ad market. Spending on digital advertising far exceeds all other forms of advertising put together.
- Search advertising is one of the fastest-growing types of digital advertising—it’s why you see ads when you use search engines like Google.
- Many consumers want to investigate how their purchasing decisions align with their social and environmental values.
- The future of sales is linked to technology use, such as using phones for purchases, seeking personalized recommendations, or trying out a product on virtual reality.
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