Marketing by the numbers

If you’re fascinated by human behavior or you have a knack for capturing someone’s attention, you might want to consider a career in marketing. An added bonus is that the jobs of market research analysts and marketing specialists are among the hottest careers both in San Diego and nationally.

According to UC San Diego Extension’s recent “Emerging Careers for 2016” report, which detailed the most in-demand jobs with the highest growth potential for recent college grads, marketing research analysts and marketing specialists ranked as the second on the list in San Diego and seventh nationally. These jobs are expected to grow by more than 18 percent by 2024 on a national basis and have a median a salary of $60,300.

While the demand continues to grow for marketing professionals who can convince customers to buy a product or service, the skill sets needed are changing as the world becomes more digital by the day.

Market research analysts, for instance, spend their time studying data that might help a company connect with customers. This data could be anything from demographic databases to charts analyzing consumers’ shopping habits. While marketing specialists are experts in crafting messages and choosing the right promotional strategies, with an increasing focus on social media campaigns.

Lauren Alexander, executive vice president of Underground Elephant, a digital marketing firm in downtown San Diego, has seen this evolution first hand.

“Data analysis is so much more in demand, and I work with software developers much more than I do with so-called creative types,” she said.

That evolution has given rise to new types of jobs, Alexander said.

“A new job we have at Underground Elephant is a creative-development coordinator,” she said. “These jobs develop new ideas and then research their viability. It is a hybrid between creative and strategy.”

Because of the need to use both sides of the brain in modern-day marketing, Alexander recommended paying attention in math class, even if you don’t think you’ll ever use it.

“I’m shocked at how much of my life is becoming that stat class that I didn’t pay attention to in college,” she said.

The top emerging careers locally mirrored the national list but highlighted the San Diego region’s growing strength in cyber security, digital marketing and health care IT.

For a free copy of the report, visit http://extension.ucsd.edu/about/images/emergingCareers2016.pdf.