How To Stand Out In a Crazy Marketing Environment
My fellow marketers, we need to address the elephant in the room. Or rather, the influencers in our space. It seems today, anyone with a catchy @handle, some followers, and a Canva account is calling themself a Marketing Expert, Guru, etc. Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be an Influencer Marketer bashing rant. I prefer to do that while drinking wine with my colleagues over Zoom. And just to be clear: Influencers have a truly specialized skill set. We marketers have a varied skill set built on years of experience. So, as you look for a new role in marketing or try to woo a new client, you will need to differentiate what we do versus what they do. Here are five ways to show and prove your marketing expertise.
BTW – This list isn’t just for my fellow marketers. If you are a business owner looking to fill a high-level marketing role, these are things you need to be looking for in a Chief Marketing Officer.
1. We Got Skillz
Let’s start here. Influencer marketers have established credibility and a significant following in a particular niche and leverage their authority to promote products or services. Marketing experts possess a skill set that covers a broad range of marketing channels, methods, and strategies. We know how to utilize market research, create advertising, and manage public relations. I mean, who here hasn’t had to roll up their sleeves and set up a display at a convention because the vendor did it wrong? You have to make your new employer or potential client aware of all the tools in your toolbox.
2. The Brand is the Brand
It’s not about who we are as marketers. We focus on building and promoting the brand itself rather than relying on individual personalities. Personalities come and go, but a strong brand withstands leadership, staff, and industry changes (Uh, Apple, anyone?) We create campaigns that appeal to a broader audience and use various media channels like TV, radio, print, and outdoor advertising. Of course, a social media presence is essential (Duh!). But we know it’s just a channel, not a one-stop solution.
3. We Know Why 2 + 2 = 4
For us, analytics isn’t a word just to be thrown around to convey expertise. We use analytical tools to measure campaign effectiveness, understand consumer behavior, and make strategic adjustments for optimal results. We take this information to build a foundation for a sound marketing strategy. Analytics lets us know why something worked or didn’t work. It’s another tool in our toolbox. Don’t be afraid to pull out that tool and show it off.
4. Squad Goals
Experienced marketers know what we know and what we don’t know. So, the ability to build and lead a team is crucial. Even if the role you’re looking at, or the one you have, requires you to be a one-woman band, one day, that will change. Understanding what each role on a marketing team does is as important as knowing how to perform it at the highest level. We are experts at collaborating up and down the corporate structure. We have never been the center of the corporate universe, so the ability to listen and lead is in our DNA.
5. It’s Just You and Me, Babe
We know building and maintaining a strong brand is more important than the dopamine spike we get from clicks and likes. We use strategies such as brand storytelling and narrative development to establish and maintain a brand's identity. We sprinkle in short-term strategies and campaigns along the way to maintain growth and learn from our audience, but we understand that brand building takes time. We’re not catching a check and moving on to the next hot new thing. We’re in this for the long haul.
Being a marketing expert isn’t about knowing it all or being “old school.” And it’s not an “Us vs Them” approach to influencer marketing. But it’s okay to accentuate and celebrate our experience and the path we’ve walked, crawled, and occasionally ran along to get to this place in our careers.
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Until next time, keep it Dope!
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