Not everyone can boast that in four years he has grown from an ordinary employee to the vice president of a multi-billion dollar company. McLean Donnelly(McLean Donnelly) maybe.
How did he do it?
Since he worked as a designer, one can assume that the secret of his success lies in amazing projects. But this is only part of his strategy.
Quality design, paired with amazing, is what helped Donnelly climb to the top of the career ladder. Not the last role was played by his ability to grow talents, improve his product and constantly improve performance.
As part of his presentation at the Digital Marketing Summit, McLean Donnelly shared his knowledge gained after graduating from the MBA. He identified three areas in which every marketer must grow in order to confidently move to the top of his career. At the same time, it is not necessary to have a business education.
1. Learn math
Even if the last time you studied math was in high school, you can still learn “business math” pretty quickly. Ask an accountant to advise you or take special courses. Here's what you should pay special attention to:
- income statement. If you understand the income statement, you will begin to understand better. Focus on more than just sources of income. By cutting costs, you can also effectively increase profits. For example, at Expedia, Donnelly found that if a customer spends more than X seconds on a support call, the company starts to lose money. Opportunity? Perhaps.
- Statistics. Master the basics of statistics, it's not as hard as it sounds. For example, in Google Analytics you can find conversion rate = number of visitors / number of conversions. Study, ask questions. Once you have mastered these two areas, move on to the next step:
- Models. Formulate a business case before starting work. Then build a model and test your work for ROI.
2. Rely on strategy
With a strong business case behind you, you can be strategic about your tactics. As Michael Porter said:
“The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.”
Too often, marketers focus on what they need to implement. However, sometimes you need to take a step back and figure out what not to do. This approach brings results much faster.
Donnelly suggests following his creative Human Centered Design approach. It is a design and management strategy that involves developing solutions to problems from a human perspective. It is based on four elements:
- Identify an emotional connection. Either one offers opportunities to make emotional connections. Find yours by creating a map. At Shutterstock, Donnelly's team asked clients to describe the emotions they want to experience at every stage of their journey. For example, when placing an order, users want to trust the site, be confident in it, and expect fast delivery.
- Solve user problems. Establish an honest and constructive dialogue with your customers about your company and product. Perfect for this social networks. Do not be afraid of the negative, you need to learn from them.
- Talk to clients. Actually talk. If you don't talk to clients in person, you may not be successful. Pay attention to how their facial expressions change as they talk about different interactions with your brand. Clients cannot remain only data sources.
- Offer a unique experience. How is your brand different from everyone else? To understand this, Donnelly recommends using the Northstar Workshop strategy. Gather all team members in one room and have a free discussion. Such meetings can be held regularly.
3. Inspire the team
It was from this that Donnelly's path to the goal began. He decided to get an MBA in order to more effectively develop talent and manage the organization. At the same time, he always focused on the “commandments” of Dr. Edward Deming (Dr. Edward Deming):
- Break down barriers between departments. Researchers, designers, sales people, and developers must work as a team to anticipate potential problems and effectively improve products and services.
- Reduce the need for inspections putting the quality of the product first. Checks are ineffective, the employees themselves should be responsible for the final product.
- All team members must accept change and implement them in your work.
Use strategy in your work
You noticed that your job is to implement tactics one by one. Take a step back, consult with the team, and start asking questions. Use to choose what not to do, rather than the other way around.
You have read books. You have watched the video.
You are convinced that you are already a marketer.
Now all you have to do is wait for the customers, right?
Unfortunately this doesn't work anymore. Getting into marketing is easy. But here's how to become a good marketer, to which there is a queue of customers?
This is a great game with its own set of rules.
And when you look at the projected growth rate in marketing - a 10% increase by 2026 - you can't afford not to understand these rules.
The growth of the marketing services market may be good news for the economy, but for a novice marketer, this creates problems.
Luckily, there are a few tricks you can use to give yourself an edge over your competition. Use these strategies to build your marketing career and leave the competition behind.
1. Improve your communication skills
And it's important for you to keep up.
71% of marketing executives use six or more types of marketing techniques in their daily lives.
Trying to master even one, let alone six, can be a daunting and downright impossible task for new marketers.
Luckily, there is an easy solution:
Get back to the basics and then dominate them.
No matter what new technology out tomorrow, your basic communication skills are always in demand.
For proof, take a look at the requirements of employers who want to hire new employees for entry-level positions:
More than 80% of employers want to see good written communication skills, and less than 70% want those who can communicate well, talk.
By comparison, less than 60% of respondents listed technical skills as their top attribute. Less than 50% are looking for an employee with computer skills.
This is great news for newbie marketers.
Whether you're just graduating or making a major career change, you can develop your communication skills. And you can do it without spending money, without making a big investment.
These skills will make you better marketers. After all, what is marketing if not communication? And it will make you more in demand in any industry.
But how do you develop communication skills?
The answer is simple and obvious:
To become a better communicator, communicate more. And in particular, write more.
Focus on improving your basic writing skills and then your resume pass the test time.
2. Choose a specialization and make a name
Thanks to significant job growth, marketing opportunities are expanding. But competition is also growing.
And competing with other marketers means you'll run into a wide variety of them.
There is a lot of complexity on paper. If you want to separate yourself from the rest, you need to decide on a specialization.
The three most in-demand specializations in 2017 are digital advertising, content creation, and content strategy development.
Creating content, improving your skills in this - long haul to becoming a digital marketing guru. But the best part about it is that you can start for free.
In fact, you can even convince other marketers to build your reputation. How?
Create content for other people.
In particular, write for other major blogs. This is a great way to get your name out there and get some exposure.
But more importantly, it also gives you a skill that 53% of marketers list as a top priority.
This is probably why so many marketers are such prolific bloggers.
If you want to hone your content skills, you should be one of them too.
Start by guest posting on other blogs like Texterra or Webpromoexperts. You can also just get started with Medium.
Ultimately, no matter how you choose to hone your communication skills, authoritative articles will do more than just help you find your audience and make a name for yourself.
It will also help you build your portfolio.
3. Fill your portfolio
Your skills cannot just grow without practice.
But you won't get many opportunities until you demonstrate that you already have some skills that you need to improve.
But here is a double-edged sword - as long as you have few skills and no experience. No one will give you this experience to gain.
In a 2017 survey, 64.5% of employers indicated they preferred to hire candidates with relevant work experience. This is true for college graduates as well.
So, whether you come from college or another industry, you need experience to gain more experience.
It's frustrating, right?
Luckily, there is a simple solution to break the vicious cycle and make you look pretty impressive.
You can volunteer. In particular, a volunteer in a non-profit organization.
This will help you expand your network and get portfolio work.
It also helps to demonstrate your values to future employers, such as education and animal welfare (an added bonus to karma).
You may even meet other marketers in the process. Radish Labs, creative agency specializing in non-profit organizations regularly promotes creative volunteer activities.
So look for volunteer organizations in your city and offer to help. It's simple, and there is no need to put things off indefinitely.
4. Get networking
In some industries, who you know matters more than what you do. But in digital marketing, it works in tandem.
And if you are an inexperienced marketer, this can be a significant barrier to starting your career.
It's almost a chicken before an egg problem. How do you meet the right people if you don't already know which people are right for you?
After all, according to SilkRoad's 2017 Sources of Hire report, employee referrals still play a role in relation to them.
This is the same vicious circle as the "experience without experience" puzzle described in the previous section. You can't develop your network because you need connections first to be seen as respectable and gain people's trust.
Luckily, the decision to terminate this loop is just as simple:
Log out and look into the offline world to support your online network.
Do you need to meet people in the industry? Attend local meetings and events, make friends.
Of course, one of the main obstacles to this approach is that larger conferences tend to take place in major cities.
But don't worry.
Even if you can't fit a large conference into your schedule, there are still a few options for expanding your network.
You can attend online conferences and webinars and get to know each other there.
This not only cuts down on your shipping costs, but also helps you create local network and find or organize events on your own schedule.
Finally, even if you are unable to attend such events for some reason, join eligible groups on social networks and start communication there.
Here you can quickly find like-minded people and start developing your network of acquaintances.
5. Work with data
Not better way get ahead than develop some of the most in-demand skills in the job market.
And in 2018, that means you need to work with big data.
Statistics and analytics help marketers quantify their audience.
But that's not all that can be done.
Data-driven marketing techniques also help professionals take more effective solutions and acquire new customers.
According to DMA research, from 2016 to 2017, data-driven marketing spending and revenue rose to the highest level.
But despite this significant growth, there is still a shortage of talent in the marketing world.
The amount of data continues to grow, but there is no one to work with them. There is a terrible shortage of analysts in the market.
Here's a 2018 overview of marketers' confidence in their organizations' ability to process data for marketing:
So what does this mean for your career? I can tell you in one word:
Opportunity.
As data becomes critical for marketers and business leaders around the world, there has never been a better time to learn how to analyze it.
And with the advent of multiple e-learning platforms, it's never been easier. Here are a few places where you can delve into this area.
Coursera offers higher education. Typically, courses take four to six weeks.
Many of their courses provide free videos, and the choice for marketing analytics is huge.
And best of all, all of their courses are online and you get certificates upon completion.
Are you looking for a less academic option, or do you need to set up your own schedule? If yes, try Lynda.com
LinkedIn acquired Lynda.com in 2015. Now it's a powerful resource for learning about marketing, SEO, content, design, and more.
Unlike Coursera, the lecture series on Lynda.com consists of videos and tutorials, so you can study entirely at your own pace.
And while you won't have a forum to interact with other students in the course, many of the videos include exercise files to help you practice your skills.
Plus, with LinkedIn integration, you can automatically display your learning path on your profile.
Lynda.com has classes that range from beginner to advanced level. Everything you need to hone your data skills from start to finish is here.
No matter which platform you choose, adding data analytics to your skill set is a great way to make yourself more marketable.
6. Create your branding
Finally, if you want to step out of your competitor's shadow, you need to build your branding, and build it well.
This means that, in addition to guest posting, you need to establish a clear visual identity. Without this, your brand can easily get lost, especially if you use stock images.
Getting lost means your audience is ignoring you. And if your audience ignores you, you will never be able to take your career to the right level.
But gaining control over core marketing concepts and strategies is hard enough. How to develop branding and stand out?
And what distinguishes the visual style of the brand?
Regardless of which channels you use, consistency is key.
If you think this is all too complicated, think again. You can get started by creating a logo in about five minutes.
And there are many services for designing logos and other things on your own. You can sit down and try to figure it out. Choose some corporate colors for yourself - and you can start with that.
Ultimately, whether you use freelance work or not, using the same color palette will already help you stand out and set some tone, style, general form your brand.
Conclusion
The field of marketing is rapidly evolving and experts expect it to continue to grow.
This means you have many options. However, this also means that you have many competitors.
So how can you stand out?
For starters, don't get too hung up on new technologies. Saving for a beginner is difficult and expensive. Instead, focus on developing basic communication skills.
You can then separate yourself from the competition by specializing and communicating. Create content for other industry blogs to build your name.
Building a portfolio is a great way to make your resume more compelling, even if it's unpaid gigs.
Volunteering yours will help find work for your portfolio. In addition, you will change the world and your career.
Networking is still important part work. Your friends may recommend you to someone.
Building an online network can be a difficult task. One way to quickly expand your network is to look at external world and attend industry events.
Candidates with data processing skills are among the most in-demand employees in any industry, including marketing. Develop your analytics skills to increase your career potential.
Branding is not only content. Having a clear and consistent visual identity is the key to success.
Even if you don't have your own designers, you can find good (and cheap) freelancers through platforms like Freelance.ru, Fiverr, Upwork and Freelance.Boutique.
Create your own color palette to ensure your branding stays consistent no matter who is behind the design.
A marketing career can be challenging, but it doesn't have to be overwhelming. Follow these six strategies to take your career to the next level.
What strategies are you already using?
“Greetings, reader of a blog about marketing and the everyday life of a marketer. I will continue the cycle "Course of a young marketer". Agree, career growth is a pleasant and exciting experience and, in principle, the field of activity is not very important here. Actually, marketing is no exception, but a career in marketing has its own characteristics. That's what we're thinking about today. I think the knowledge gained in this article will be very useful.
Most people working in the field of marketing note that our field is filled with challenges, both in terms of development and growth. This is due to the fact that marketing is constantly changing, there are other methods, tools and trends that correspond to the new time. How to stay in this "stream of change"? To do this, you need to have certain qualities.
Key Qualities for a Successful Career in Marketing
In the article about the requirements for a marketer, I already mentioned the key qualities, but they are important when applying for a job, but for career growth, slightly different advantages are needed:
- clarity and conciseness of thought, both written and oral;
- ability to recognize problems;
- ability to develop strategic plan to solve these problems;
- the ability to interpret complex data into simple truths;
- the ability to generate new ideas;
- the ability to organize the process of implementing an idea.
If you have the potential voiced above, then a career path in marketing is undoubtedly open for you. There are many opportunities in marketing to promote yourself, and perhaps this is the only area where your interests, values and style can be applied. It remains only to choose. But where to get experience?
Gain experience for a career in marketing
There are many companies in Russia where there is an opportunity to gain experience and skills in relation to our activities. Sometimes, you don't even need company. The main thing is the desire to gain experience in marketing to build your career.
Method 1. Start small.
Gain experience in your chosen specialty large companies You can get a job as an intern for little money or even for free. Many companies quite successfully practice this form of training of specialists. You won’t get money here, if only for Doshirak and sausages, but you can gain experience, for sure. What is most interesting, such activities can be combined with training (even full-time). It was in this way that I personally went, as I already talked about in the article how to become a marketer.
Method 2. Self-study.
When we arrive for an interview new company, everyone looks at experience and knowledge. And experience doesn't always equate to work experience. And skills and knowledge can be obtained independently. There are several possibilities for this:
- read books on marketing and business;
- study the experience of practicing marketers (blogging is a great power);
- look for and study new marketing tools and promotion methods (no practice, only skills and knowledge);
- watch educational videos and films about marketing;
- do it yourself marketing research;
- train in various types analysis.
If the first two possibilities are quite clear, then the last two, I think, need to be commented on. How can you do your own market research? In fact, there is nothing complicated here. We read several books on this lesson (no more needed) and started. We chose an industry (field, company, specific product) and analyze this market in accordance with the algorithm that we read in the book. Then the next, then another, and so on, until you "get involved."
As for training in any analysis, everything is also simple here. There is a lot of data on the Internet for analytics. For example, you can take the reports of various JSCs, which annually report publicly to their shareholders. Or old data from the early 2000s (there is such data, you just need to search, by the way, this is how the research part of the marketer’s work is acquired). Based on these data, consider the effectiveness of their activities, or build a forecasting model for years to come (you can take past years and predict for the current one, at the same time check the model).
With this attitude, education in the field of marketing is not required. True, there is one minus here - this is motivation, or rather its absence. When you're working, you know if the job isn't done, you won't get paid. This is pure enthusiasm.
After that, they will be much more willing to hire you. And having settled in the desired position, you can safely start a career in marketing, stubbornly continuing to learn and develop. Otherwise, no way.
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