Marketing Major
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About the Major
Whether students want to develop core skills in selling and sales management (by following a professional sales track) or learn how to gather and analyze customer intelligence using market research and consumer analytics (by following a digital marketing track), Elon’s marketing department offers an engaging curriculum with hands-on learning.
Jobs in Marketing
- Marketing associate/researcher
- Purchasing agent
- Sales consultant
- Account representative
- Brand manager
- Product developer
Past Elon Marketing Internships
- AT&T
- Bank of America
- Cleveland Clinic
- PepsiCo
- Wayfair
Related Majors
Turning ideas into career confidence
For Joe Byrd, choosing Elon University was about finding an environment that bridges broad business fundamentals with practical, real-world application. As the son of an Elon professor, Byrd grew up witnessing how the university’s active, mentorship-focused community shaped student growth.
“I had seen the way students connected with my dad and the way he interacted with students,” said Byrd, who graduated with a double major in marketing and finance in 2023. “And I thought, ‘Well, if this is the Elon way, I would love to be here.’”
That environment — marked by small class sizes, direct access to faculty and campus traditions like weekly College Coffee — provided the ideal foundation for Byrd to sharpen his professional skill set. He developed his communication and strategy skills on the Elon Sales Team, competing at regional and national sales competitions. In these settings, team members conduct in-depth research on specific products and pitch them directly to buyers.
You’re being an actual salesperson in that moment, so it’s all the research you’ve done before, it’s knowing how to tell a compelling story. What the marketing major allowed me to do is understand business really broadly but then also just cultivate the skill of crafting a really compelling message.
Beyond classroom learning and sales competitions, Byrd worked to give other students early exposure to essential career capabilities. During his senior year, he helped recharter Elon’s chapter of Pi Sigma Epsilon, a national co-ed professional fraternity for sales, marketing, and management.
“What got me excited about rechartering Pi Sigma Epsilon was that we were going to be a business fraternity that was focused on soft skills — giving a quick pitch about yourself or learning how to introduce yourself or learning how to speak in public or tell a compelling pitch for a product,” Byrd said. “As a business fraternity, we wanted to essentially give people confidence.”
Having seen how early skill development gave competitors an edge, Byrd encourages new marketing students to maximize every experiential opportunity at Elon, from student organizations to direct faculty mentorship.
“Especially in this year of work, I would say probably the most important thing I’ve done is getting to know people, networking with people,” Byrd said. “That was a skill I really picked up at Elon, and it’s been serving me well so far.”
Today, he applies those lessons as a cloud security consultant at Zscaler, where success relies on team collaboration and tailored communication.
“That way when I’m reaching out and talking to them, I’m not just presenting a general solution — I’m showing an understanding,” he said.
Did You Know?
- Elon’s Accelerated 3+1 program gives marketing majors the opportunity to earn a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration as well as a Master of Science in Business Analytics in just four years. The majority of undergraduate coursework is completed in the first three years, with graduate coursework in the fourth year.
- The marketing major’s digital marketing track teaches students how to integrate marketing communications within a broad realm of avenues and how to digitize that information and analyze the results based on data.
- The professional sales track gives students access to specialized training that focuses on sales concepts combined with real-world sales techniques. The courses allow students to improve communication and selling/persuasion skills, which today’s employers across all professions seek in their new hires.
- There are plenty of opportunities for marketing majors to get hands-on experience. They can engage in sales role-play simulations using technology in the Chandler Family Professional Sales Center; participate in national sales competitions or market research projects for local organizations; and join the Elon chapter of the American Marketing Association; Women in Sales; and/or the marketing/sales fraternity Pi Sigma Epsilon. Students are also required to complete at least one internship for academic credit.