In this blog post I will share with you what I love and hate about marketing. I have over 10 years of work experience in the field of marketing. This field, like any other fields, has both good and bad sides. I hope that the information that I will share in this blog post will be very useful for people interested in marketing careers and entrepreneurs who are considering doing marketing for their own business instead of hiring a marketing agency.
Why Marketing Matters
So why does marketing matter anyway?
The first reason why marketing matters is because in today’s world you cannot have a successful business without good marketing. Even if you have amazing products, unless you also do really good marketing campaigns nobody will find out about your products and buy them. Also, there are many examples of mediocre products that have become very popular because they have been marketed very well. Therefore marketing is the key to business success.
The second reason why marketing maters is because the marketing function is the heartbeat of every modern business. The most common business functions are: finance, strategy, operations, human resources, product development etc. However, modern businesses revolve around the marketing function because the marketing function is the closest to the consumer.
Marketers spend a lot of time trying to understand the target market of the company, and what people in the target market need and want. Then marketers share that knowledge with the product development team that works on creating products, the finance team that works on pricing products, the strategy team that works on creating the strategy for the business, etc. Therefore marketing is the most central business function.
What I Love About Marketing
1. Marketing Requires Both Creative And Analytical Skills
The first thing that I love about marketing is the fact that it requires both creative and analytical skills. In order to be a good marketer you need to create engaging content for your audience. Also, you need to understand the numbers and why some campaigns did better than others. So, the thing that I love the most about marketing is that marketers get to work on both creative stuff and analytics. Not many other business fields require both of those skills.
2. Marketing Is A Very Dynamic Field
The second thing that I love about marketing is the fact that it is a very dynamic and ever changing field. So, let me give you an example. When I was in college I had a cell phone with buttons on it, it didn’t even have a touch screen! I was one of the few people in my class who had a cell phone back then. And, I graduated from college in 2006 which is not that long ago, right?
When I was learning marketing in college mobile marketing didn’t even exist. Today mobile marketing is everywhere and it is very important. You cannot be a successful marketer today without doing mobile marketing. Over the 15 years since I graduated college marketing has changed so dramatically while all other business functions (finance, human resources, etc.) have largely stayed the same. I am really excited to see how marketing will evolve in the future.
3 Marketing Is A Very Broad Field
The third thing that I love about marketing is the fact that it is a very broad field with many different areas. First you have the divide between digital marketing and traditional marketing. Then within digital marketing you have many different channels, such as social, email, SEO etc. Then there is content marketing which is about developing engaging content. Influencer marketing which is about which is about being an influencer or working with influencers. Affiliate marketing which is about developing a network of affiliates for your brand. There are so many other areas within marketing. It is a lot of fun being a marketer because during your career you can work in many different areas while still staying within the same field of marketing.
4. Marketing Is Global
The forth thing that I love about marketing is the fact that it is a very global profession. I have worked with people from all over the world during my career as a marketer. In the last three years since I have been running my digital marketing agency I have worked with clients from 30 different countries. I love being exposed to such diversity and learning about our world by working with people for different backgrounds and cultures. This is especially important for me because I come from a very small country. My country has only two million people, which is roughly one quarter of New York City. So, you can fit four of my countries in NYC! I love the fact that as a digital marketer the world is my market and I am not limited to just working in my local community.
5. Marketing Is A Growing Field
The fifth thing that I love about marketing is the fact that it is a growing field with many career opportunities. The fast growth of the marketing field has created a big shortage of people with the right marketing skills. Therefore, you can always find many career opportunities in marketing if this is what you want to pursue. However, the key is to always stay up to date with changes in the marketing world and to constantly upgrade your skill set as the field changes.
What I Hate About Marketing
1. Marketing in on 24/7
The first thing that I hate about marketing is the fact that marketing in on 24/7, so you never get a break if you are a marketer because the internet never sleeps. This can be very draining and challenging for some people. Especially if you are one of those people who wants to disconnect and forget about work for a while.
As a marketer you always have to be connected and monitor what is going on. If there is something interesting going on you have to respond right away or otherwise it will be too late. Therefore, if you are a marketer you can travel a lot because all your work can be done on a computer, but you have to make sure you always have good access to the internet.
2. It Is Hard To Keep Up With Marketing
The second thing that I don’t like about marketing is the fact that it is very hard to keep up with all the new trends, all the new technology and all the new best practices in the field. It is really hard to always be in the know when it comes to marketing.
For example the Google Analytics Certificate, which is a very popular certificate in the marketing field, is only valid for two years. That means that you have to re-take the test and get re-certified every two years. This is the case with many other certificates that are popular in the marketing field. Therefore, if you are a marketer you have to always keep up with changes in the field, which can be challenging to do and requires a lot of effort.
3. Data Overload In Marketing
The third thing that I don’t like about marketing is the data overload. There is so much data available to marketers today that it is overwhelming. We have data about the customers, demographics data, purchasing behavior data, data about social media, data about website visits, etc. When you open Google Analytics or Facebook Insights you see so much data there that your head starts to hurt! So, we are bombarded with so much data every day and we have to determine which data points mean something and which data points are just noise. This can be very confusing at times and it is something that I don’t enjoy about being a marketer.
4. It Is Hard To Measure The Offline Impact Of Digital Marketing
The forth thing that I don’t like about marketing is the fact that it is very hard to measure the offline impact of digital marketing. What does that mean? Well, me and my team promote our clients on the internet and many people find out about our clients through the activities that we do online. However, it is really hard to attribute any offline sales to the online marketing efforts of me and my team. Many times we don’t get any credit for offline sales that have happened as a result of our efforts.
I hope you enjoyed reading this blog post and that you found it helpful. I have also created a YouTube video about what I love and hate about marketing. Click here to watch the video.
