The Ultimate Marketing Course For After Graduation

Do you need a marketing course for after graduation?

The need for a marketing degree is a widely debated topic amongst marketers.

Some favour learning the technical knowledge before graduating.

Others believe a hands-on approach is the way forward.

There’s also the issue that the material on degree programmes doesn’t always keep up with the fast pace of change in marketing.

Whether you’re a marketing graduate, non-marketing graduate or you didn’t go to University, here’s your guide to the ultimate marketing course for after graduation.

Marketing Course For After Graduation

The statistics

In the UK, there are almost 1.47m SMEs with employees. (According to Government Data at the start of 2022).

Here’s how that number breaks down:

  • 1 to 9 employees = 1.19m
  • 10 to 49 employees = 217k

In contrast, there are only 43k businesses in the UK with over 50 employees.

This means that most young, enthusiastic marketers will end up working in smaller organisations.

And whilst smaller organisations may need marketing (and a staff member responsible for marketing) they most certainly won’t have the budget for a whole marketing team or senior hire.

And this means that when you start your career in marketing you may:

  • be the sole marketer in an organisation
  • not have anyone to learn from, or a CMO / Marketing Director to lead you
  • be responsible for leading and directing marketing, even though you’re brand new to the profession!

Scary? Yes!

A great opportunity? Definitely!

But only if you are confident in your ability to deliver everything the organisation needs from a marketing standpoint.

 

How many years does it take to study marketing?

Marketing degrees are typically 3 or 4 years in length.  But Marketing is a profession where the learning never ends.

The best marketers are committed to continuous professional development.

That’s why it’s worth looking at the available options of marketing courses for after graduation.

And there’s a big difference between studying the concepts and applying them in a practical real life business situation.

Professional training can really accelerate your marketing knowledge and capability, the results you deliver for your employer and your career path!

 

Why does a marketing graduate need a marketing course?

Over my 23 year career I’ve interviewed, hired and nurtured hundreds of marketers.  Many came to me straight out of University with marketing degrees.

And here’s the uncomfortable truth about many (not all) marketing degrees :

  • They’re great at theory, not so great at how to apply the theory in real life situations
  • They often use references, texts, examples and case studies that are out of date
  • They may be very communications heavy (not great for the other two critical elements of marketing planning – diagnosis & strategy)
  • They don’t always include industry placements or input from industry experts and those currently working in the profession
  • They may be taught by career academics (who haven’t worked in a marketing role for real)

That’s not to say a degree in marketing isn’t valuable.  If you have a degree, I know that you have the following:

  • The ability to learn and write well
  • The tenacity and perseverance to stick with something for success
  • A keen interest in the profession / marketing subject
  • An understanding of key marketing principles

But like most professions, in marketing you learn more on the job than you do studying for it.

Based on this experience, I’ve designed the ultimate marketing course for after graduation: The SME Marketing Academy.

A friendly, non-judgemental online training course and community of marketers who want to up their marketing game.

The Academy syllabus covers 12 core modules to ensure you have all the pragmatic steps in place to hit the ground running after graduation.

It also has guest lectures and webinars from marketing experts each month – all recorded so you can dip in and out of them as you need to.

Marketing Training For Non-Marketing Graduates

So you have your degree, but it’s not in marketing.

You’re in good company!

Marketing Week’s 2019 Career and Salary Survey, which questioned 4,415 marketers, found that:

  • More than half of marketers (53.8%) say they have not studied a marketing-related academic or professional qualification of any kind.
  • Just 25.7% have a marketing undergraduate degree as their highest qualification, and 16.3% a marketing master’s degree, diploma or doctorate.

If you’re thinking of a career in marketing, or you have already started in a marketing role, you need to talk to your boss about investing in a marketing course for after graduation.

They wouldn’t expect someone in a finance role not to have any training or qualifications, so why treat the marketing discipline any differently?

 

Marketing Training For Those Without a Degree

Perhaps you don’t have a formal qualification or degree, but you’re already gaining experience by being hands on within a business?

The SME Marketing Academy is designed to be accessible for all.

If this is you, now is the time to really put some energy into learning the discipline properly.

I speak to marketers every day, many of whom are members of The Academy, and those without any qualifications often tell me they struggle with imposter syndrome and confidence in what they’re doing.

There is one brilliant way to banish the confidence gremlins for good – get some high quality training under your best so you can approach your marketing role with conviction, knowing you’re doing all the right things.

 

The SME Marketing Academy Syllabus

12 core modules – taking you through the fundamental principles of marketing:

1.  Market Orientation
2.  Intro to Research with Liz Davis
3.  Brand Basics
4.  Proposition Writing
5.  Archetypes & Brands – Part 1 & 2
6.  Other Brand Foundations
7.  Creating Your Brand Pack
8.  Category Creation
9.  Marketing Plan – The Basics
10.  Segmentation & Targeting
11.  Communications Planning
12.  Week One In A New Marketing Role

**Bonus Materials**

**Tips From The Experts**

And a Monthly Q&A / 1-2-1 Clinic with me – where no questions are off limits!

 

Interested in hearing more about The SME Marketing Academy as a marketing course for after graduation?

Find out what Alice had to say about her experience as a member:

 

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The SME Marketing Academy is LIVE!