Major decision guide
Marketing vs Communications
Marketing is built around a commercial objective — understanding a market, positioning a product, and measuring whether spending moved a number. Communications is built around the message and the audience, spanning journalism, public relations, and media in contexts that are often not commercial at all.
How each major is officially classified
Both definitions below are the official U.S. Department of Education (NCES) CIP 2020 descriptions — not CampusPin summaries.
CIP 52.1401
Marketing
Official title: Marketing/Marketing Management, General · Family: business, management, marketing, and related support services
A program that generally prepares individuals to undertake and manage the process of developing consumer audiences and moving products from producers to consumers. Includes instruction in buyer behavior and dynamics, principle of marketing research, demand analysis, cost-volume and profit relationships, pricing theory, marketing campaign and strategic planning, market segments, advertising methods, sales operations and management, consumer relations, retailing, and applications to specific products and markets.
CIP 09.0100
Communications
Official title: Communication, General · Family: communication, journalism, and related programs
A program that focuses on the comprehensive study of communication, and that spans the study of mass communication/media studies, old and new media technologies, social and political applications, and speech communication and rhetoric. Includes instruction in interpersonal, group, organizational, and intercultural communication; theories of communication; critical thinking, argumentation, and persuasion; written communication; printed, electronic, and digital media; rhetorical tradition and criticism; media, society, and culture; consequences and effects of mass media; media social science and criticism; and quantitative and qualitative methods of inquiry.
What you actually study
Marketing
- Marketing principles and the 4 Ps
- Consumer behavior and decision-making
- Digital marketing (SEO, paid search, paid social, email)
- Marketing research and analytics
- Brand management and positioning
- Advertising and integrated communications
- Sales fundamentals
Communications
- Public speaking and persuasive communication
- Mass communication theory
- Public relations and crisis communication
- Journalism and reporting fundamentals
- Digital and social media
- Media ethics and law
- Media writing across formats
Where each major leads
The federal CIP–SOC crosswalk maps each academic program to the occupations it is designed to feed. Comparing the two lists shows where Marketing and Communications converge and where they part. Every wage below is the BLS 2024 national median for that occupation — not an outcome for the major, and not a starting salary.
Mapped to both (2)
Occupations the federal crosswalk associates with both programs.
$123,480 annual median (2024)
Typically enters with: Bachelor's degree. Employment is projected to grow 4.2% 2024–2034.
$66,490 annual median (2024)
Typically enters with: Bachelor's degree. Employment is projected to grow 4.3% 2024–2034.
Mapped to Marketing only (5)
The crosswalk associates these with Marketing but not with Communications. Graduates of either major are still hired into many of them.
Advertising and Promotions Managers
$126,960 annual median (2024)
Typically enters with: Bachelor's degree. Employment is projected to decline 2.2% 2024–2034.
$161,030 annual median (2024)
Typically enters with: Bachelor's degree. Employment is projected to grow 6.6% 2024–2034.
$138,060 annual median (2024)
Typically enters with: Bachelor's degree. Employment is projected to grow 4.7% 2024–2034.
Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists
$76,950 annual median (2024)
Typically enters with: Bachelor's degree. Employment is projected to grow 6.7% 2024–2034.
Business Teachers, Postsecondary
$97,270 annual median (2024)
Typically enters with: Doctoral or professional degree. Employment is projected to grow 5.7% 2024–2034.
Mapped to Communications only (7)
The crosswalk associates these with Communications but not with Marketing. Graduates of either major are still hired into many of them.
$138,520 annual median (2024)
Typically enters with: Bachelor's degree. Employment is projected to grow 5.0% 2024–2034.
Communications Teachers, Postsecondary
$77,800 annual median (2024)
Typically enters with: Doctoral or professional degree. Employment is projected to grow 2.1% 2024–2034.
Broadcast Announcers and Radio Disc Jockeys
$45,680 annual median (2024)
Typically enters with: Bachelor's degree. Employment is projected to decline 5.5% 2024–2034.
News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists
$60,280 annual median (2024)
Typically enters with: Bachelor's degree. Employment is projected to decline 3.9% 2024–2034.
$69,780 annual median (2024)
Typically enters with: Bachelor's degree. Employment is projected to grow 4.8% 2024–2034.
$75,260 annual median (2024)
Typically enters with: Bachelor's degree. Employment is projected to grow 0.6% 2024–2034.
$72,270 annual median (2024)
Typically enters with: Bachelor's degree. Employment is projected to grow 3.6% 2024–2034.
A major does not restrict you to these occupations, and plenty of graduates work outside them. The mapping describes what each program is built to prepare you for.
Which one tends to suit which student
This part is CampusPin’s judgement, not a measurement. Neither major is better; they suit different temperaments.
Marketing may fit if…
You like the measurable side: segmentation, campaign analytics, pricing, and being able to show what the work produced.
Communications may fit if…
You care about the craft of the message itself — writing, storytelling, reputation, and how information moves through media and institutions.
Commonly misunderstood
The overlap between these two is narrower than the course catalogs suggest. In the federal crosswalk the only occupations they share are fundraising roles; advertising and marketing-management roles map to marketing alone, while journalism, editing, and public-relations roles map to communications alone.
What to ask each department
Curricula vary far more between institutions than between these two majors. These questions surface the differences that actually matter for this choice.
- 1How quantitative is the marketing program? Analytics-heavy programs and creative-heavy ones lead to different first jobs.
- 2Does the communications degree let me concentrate (public relations, journalism, media studies), and when do I have to choose?
- 3What internships do students in each major typically hold by junior year?
- 4Is the marketing major housed in a business school, and does that bring accreditation or recruiting advantages?
How this comparison was built
The occupation lists come from the official NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk, which maps each academic program to the occupations it prepares students for. CampusPin intersects the two programs’ lists to show the shared and distinct destinations; the grouping is arithmetic on a federal dataset, not an editorial ranking.
Wages, projected employment change, and typical entry-level education come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and are attached to the occupation, not to the major. A median is the midpoint for everyone in that occupation nationally, including people with decades of experience, so it is not a starting salary and not a promise.
The “which one tends to suit which student” and “what to ask” sections are editorial judgement, labelled as such. CampusPin does not rank majors and takes no position on which is worth more.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the difference between a Marketing and a Communications major?
- Marketing is built around a commercial objective — understanding a market, positioning a product, and measuring whether spending moved a number. Communications is built around the message and the audience, spanning journalism, public relations, and media in contexts that are often not commercial at all.
- Do Marketing and Communications lead to the same jobs?
- Partly. The federal CIP–SOC crosswalk maps both programs to 2 of the same occupations — including Fundraising Managers, Fundraisers. It also maps 5 occupations to Marketing that it does not map to Communications, and 7 to Communications that it does not map to Marketing. A degree is not a restriction — graduates work outside these lists routinely — but the mapping shows where each program is designed to lead.
- Which pays more, Marketing or Communications?
- CampusPin does not publish a "higher-paying major" answer, because the data does not support one. BLS reports median wages by OCCUPATION, not by college major, and both of these majors lead to a range of occupations that overlap. The per-occupation medians on this page are the honest version of that question: compare the specific roles you are actually interested in, and remember that pay varies widely by employer, region, and experience.
- Is there anything commonly misunderstood about choosing between Marketing and Communications?
- The overlap between these two is narrower than the course catalogs suggest. In the federal crosswalk the only occupations they share are fundraising roles; advertising and marketing-management roles map to marketing alone, while journalism, editing, and public-relations roles map to communications alone.
Read the full major guides
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Data sources & methodology
Academic classifications, occupation mappings, and wage figures for Marketing and Communications come from federal datasets committed to this site.
Sources used across this page
Not every source informs every figure. Each data point draws on the source appropriate to it see the relevant section and the data dictionary for field-level provenance.
NCES Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP 2020)
Official academic program taxonomy: the code, title, and definition shown for each major.
NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 Crosswalk
The federal mapping from academic programs to occupations. Determines which occupations each major is shown as leading to.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook
Median annual wage, projected employment change, and typical entry-level education for every occupation named.
IPEDS / NCES College Navigator
Federal enrollment, admissions, tuition, retention, and program data. Released annually with a 1–2 year lag.
Where a value is unavailable it is shown as unavailable, never as 0, free, or a negative judgment. Always confirm final details with the institution before applying.
Suggested citation
CampusPin. Marketing vs Communications: How to Choose a Major. Retrieved from https://campuspin.com/compare-majors/marketing-vs-communications