Business Development vs. Marketing

Business Development vs Marketing: Selecting Your Career Path

As students embark upon their professional journeys, many are naturally drawn toward two dynamic, high-impact fields: marketing and business development. While both of these occupations play an essential facet in a company's market growth and development and tend to work in tandem to effectuate the brand’s broader goals, the ideal skill sets, roles, and career trajectories will differ significantly. 

So, how do you determine which career path is tailored to your natural skill sets and interests? And what educational pathways lead to these exciting careers? 

Let's delve into the nuances of marketing vs. business development.

Marketing vs Business Development 

At their essence, the marketing and business development teams share a common big-picture goal—advancing the company’s market position and building up the brand’s image. However, how they seek to achieve this goal will vary considerably, seeing as marketers and business development professionals typically work the problem from a different angle. 

What Is a Marketer? 

Marketers are storytellers and branding strategists—they are the creative architects behind a brand's narrative. Their primary role involves an array of tasks, such as:

• Performing consumer behavior analysis
• Conducting market research
• Identifying market growth opportunities
• Developing pricing strategies
• Planning and executing marketing campaigns
• Creating content for various channels (blogs, white papers, social media, newsletters, videos, etc)
• Utilizing various digital communication channels to connect with the potential customer
• Monitoring and analyzing campaign performance 

As brand development expert David Mahbub notes, marketing goes far deeper than a list of advertising-related tasks: “Marketing is about building relationships with your audience while meeting your promise as a brand. In other words, it is about convincing strangers why they need your brand or product regularly.” 

From overt commercials to social media campaigns, marketers seek to form meaningful connections with audiences. And they accomplish that by shining a spotlight on the brand’s values, mission, voice, and consumer benefits. 

What Skill Sets Are Required for a Marketer? 

Are you still looking for tips on how to become a digital marketer or if you’re suited to follow this career path? To succeed in such an agile environment, marketers need a diverse set of skills, including: 

• Creativity – To stand out in a sea of content and create on-brand messaging that resonates with your target audience, marketers must be creative. From crafting compelling ad copy to developing innovative campaigns, creativity lies at the heart of many marketing tasks.

• Communication skills – Ultimately, effective marketing boils down to how well brands are able to communicate their values and competitive advantages to their consumers. Here, effective verbal and written communication skills are essential.

• Empathy – To build effective campaigns, marketers must possess the ability to understand the consumer by delving deeply into their psyche, exploring their needs, desires, pain points, and motivations. In recent years, there have been several notable instances where brands have damaged their reputation because the marketing team decided to push a campaign that either failed to align with their audience or outright alienated that very audience. 

• Analytical skills – In today’s digital-first medium, more than ever, marketers must be able to dig into and interpret complex data to better understand market trends and  consumer behavior, measure campaign performance, and make informed decisions.  

Marketing Career Opportunities 

The world of marketing is dynamic. And the structure of a marketing department in a major company operates similarly to an orchestra ensemble—with numerous specialists harmoniously working together, ranging from entry-level social media coordinators to executive-level roles like the chief marketing officer.

Naturally, with escalating responsibilities comes a corresponding rise in pay. But, even entry-level roles offer attractive compensation packages, making a career in marketing not just intellectually fulfilling but also financially rewarding.

Take, for example, a marketing manager. Nestled comfortably within the mid-tier of the marketing hierarchy, this position connects strategy and execution. As such, according to U.S. News, the compensation for the role ranges greatly ($100,000–$200,000) depending on the company, industry, and location. 

That said, some of the more common marketing roles include: 

• Entry-level roles 
  • Marketing coordinator
  • Social media specialist
  • Content creator/associate copywriter
  • SEO specialist
  • Digital marketing specialist

• Mid-level roles
  • Marketing analyst
  • Product marketing manager
  • Brand manager
  • Public relations manager
  • Senior copywriter
  • Associate creative director

• Senior-level roles
  • Creative director
  • Marketing director
  • VP of marketing
  • Chief marketing officer (CMO) 

Collegiate Pathways to Marketing 

Pursuing an undergraduate marketing degree is the most clear-cut path for joining this exciting profession. So, what are the marketing degree requirements? For example, at North Central College, the marketing program is designed to provide a comprehensive business education and hands-on experiences. Topics of exploration include: 

• 11-course comprehensive business core
• AMA case competition
• Consumer behavior
• Digital marketing
• Integrated marketing communications
• International marketing
• Marketing research
• Marketing management
• Marketing for social impact
• Principles of marketing
• Professional selling

But the learning journey doesn’t end at the classroom doors. Beyond the campus, North Central College offers students a wealth of programs, expert insight, and hands-on opportunities to apply their learning to real-world scenarios so they can develop the practical skills they’ll rely on as marketing professionals.