“Marketing is enthusiasm transferred to the customer.” – Gregory Ciotti
Marketing has a stereotype around it that it is simply a few people posting things on social media and drawing/editing stuff for fun. When you take an even slightly deeper look into it you will see that there is so much more surrounding it. You have ads, analytics, website coding/design and more do understand and deal with. On top of that, the skillset needed for marketing is ever-growing with advancements in technology.
Secret Salesperson
Marketing is the inner salesperson for a company. They are the ones that attract the customer for the inbound sales team. It may not be the most noticeable factor but it is one of the most important. Without a good website, social media, or ads you can become virtually impossible to find in a world surrounded by content. You must sell the product so a customer/lead feels compelled to reach out to you or so you get information to form a cold call/email. Simply put you are connecting with people and informing them on how to make their lives better.
Hunger for Learning
When in marketing the hard skills that are needed are extremely diverse. You can go anywhere from being purely analytical and data-driven, to the most creative people out there. One thing about marketing that is so attractive to everyone is that essentially there is a spot for everyone. This can make it quite the competitive position to get into though, you really have to go above and beyond before even getting hired to succeed. If you are wanting to continuously broaden your skillset marketing will be the place to fuel that hunger.
Willingness
You have to think outside of the box in marketing and be willing to take risks. Once you have taken those risks you need to look over and assess the data as well, seeing your mistakes firsthand and growing from them. You must be willing to hear no or fail a million times before you get that one success or yes that will light a fire in you. Throughout all of this, you have to keep yourself motivated and thinking big, it is one of the biggest challenges that marketing has to offer.
The more research I have done the more I have realized that there is a constant push-pull throughout all of marketing, the struggle of trying to keep everyone happy, successful, and following through is a difficult task. I have loved learning about marketing this week and I am grateful for all of the knowledge that I have gained.