In the past, most marketing interview questions were based on a person’s understanding of marketing concepts like “The 4 Ps” and how they could use that information to answer questions about real-life situations.
If you were a marketing student, you probably took classes on topics like branding, marketing strategy, public relations, and advertising. These topics are interesting and cover the history and importance of modern marketing. But (isn’t there always a but?) …
The successful marketer of today does not have to resemble either Don Draper or Donny Deutsch. Why is this happening? Most classically trained marketers lack some skills that are now required in the marketing world. In this post, we’ll explore how marketing has changed and what needs to be included in traditional marketing curriculums. We are announcing our new Inbound Certification program to help marketers and aspiring marketers alike bridge gaps in marketing education.
Smile and Dial for Media Coverage
In other words, Oscar Wilde suggests that it is better to be talked about than not talked about at all. This is something that public relations professionals strive for, which is to get people to talk positively about a brand, company, or product. The goal of public relations has not changed, but the methods used, the media used, and the style of communication have all changed.
Public Relations 101 used to be all about the art and science of press releases and effective pitch emails, but now it’s so much more. Marketers were taught that using many vague words in headlines, such as “unique,” “first ever,” and “launch,” would make reporters want to tell their story in a positive way. They would use press releases, pitch documents, and phone calls to achieve this goal. PR pros were taught that it is better to tailor the release to a few people rather than many. The press releases and pitches were made specifically for the people who would be reading them (assignment editors, producers, and reporters) instead of a larger group of people who could benefit from the news.
PR professionals hold a lot of power because if journalists want to talk to customers, executives, or analysts, the PR professionals are responsible for setting up that interaction. Marketing education needs to focus on how to make the most of these opportunities. Because of this, marketing education developed methods to help PR professionals determine which events would be most beneficial for their executive team to attend based on the audience, as well as pick an appropriate venue, message, and invite list. Marketers are taught to be focused on what is happening inside a business, and journalists rely on them.
Got a Story? Share It With the Many, Not the Few
Much like how things have changed in the sales industry (where buyers can look up customer reviews and other information about a brand with a simple Google search), journalists don’t usually need to go through media relations professionals to get the information they want or need for a story. This could be seen as bad news because it’s harder to control what messages leave your company. However, it’s also an opportunity for marketers to share their news with a wider audience.
21st-century marketers need to be able to develop, edit, format, create, and promote content that effectively communicates the brand’s core messages. In other words, press releases are now about creating a compelling story and then using every available method to promote it. This includes things like your blog, social media, and even events.
Work With Great Designers to Create Your Ads and Logo
Both marketers and consumers alike understand how important it is to have a unique logo. If you’re skeptical, just look at how much of an uproar Gap created when they changed their logo. While marketers are typically trained to develop creative briefs and manage logo design and refinement, they would usually leave the visual storytelling and execution to a designer or agency. The latter would then draft and return the project for feedback.
Two challenges emerged from the tension between marketers and designers. Marketers would develop briefs with a lot of ambitious language and designers would then have to understand it and make it a reality. The design was not often related to key performance indicators. There was a problem with logo designs, advertising executions, and brand standards often being based on subjective metrics, and there was a gap between marketing strategy, execution, and feedback.
This also led to a lot of wasted money, time, and energy because the design often didn’t make sense to the consumer and didn’t have a significant impact on consumer awareness, brand loyalty, or purchase behavior. Marketing courses typically place a strong emphasis on the importance of a strong logo and building your brand through paid advertising. This can often come at the expense of design and user experience insight, which can impact the final product. The design of a company’s logos, brand marks, standards, and advertising are important in shaping how the public perceives the brand, but this is changing and marketers need to be aware of the shift.
Design and Build for a Visual World
A good logo is important, but if that’s all you have in terms of design, your marketing will suffer. Walter Landor, a design expert, noted that brands are created in the mind, not in the factory. He said that it is more important than ever for brands to have visual appeal, be lovable, differentiated, and memorable.
To show how crucial design is in contemporary marketing, 40% of people react more favorably to visual information than to just plain text. Also, on average, publishers who include infographics in their content see a 12% increase in traffic compared to those who don’t. The addition of videos to posts increases the number of inbound links by three times, and engagement increased by 65% one month after the addition of visual content to Facebook timelines for brands.
As a result, marketers need to have an end goal in mind and gather enough knowledge to either execute visual design concepts themselves or have a good understanding of the mediums they are using to give constructive, specific feedback to their user experience and design teams. People who buy your product or service don’t care how much time you spent on the logo or what your CEO thinks of the color blue. Marketers need to be concerned with creating a cohesive, easy-to-use, and likable brand experience in 2013 and beyond. This means taking into account both the ways that potential customers discover and interact with your brand.
Is Marketing for Me?
What does a marketing job entail? It’s a job like any other. First you create a goal, then you break it down into tasks, and finally you execute the tasks.
The majority of marketing jobs available nowdays are in online marketing. In my opinion, traditional offline marketing like radio, TV, newspapers is significantly less popular.
Marketing can be both fun and frustrating.
This quiz is designed to help you decide whether marketing is the right career for you. There are times when you work hard and don’t see any results. Do my coworkers think I’m incompetent? I better check to make sure I’m doing this right.
Other times, you’re getting great results and everyone in your office thinks you’re amazing. Business is going great, and you might not even know why things are going so well.
I find marketing to be one of the most exciting professions there is. It’s a very good combination of 3 main elements:
- Creativity
- Analytics
- Psychology
I call it – The Marketing CAP.
If you are creative and enjoy reading and understanding numbers and people, then 100% marketing is for you.
There are many different types of jobs in the field of marketing, each involving only one of the CAP elements.
We are looking for analytical copywriters, SEO specialists, social media managers, media planners, and ad designers. Online marketing is changing very quickly and specialists who can work in more than one area are in high demand.
Research marketing fields to find the one most appealing to you. Here’s a short list of marketing fields and some of the best blogs out there that give an explicit overview of them:
- Social Media Marketing
- Paid Advertising
- Search Engine Optimization
- Web and Conversion Optimization
- Content Strategy and Marketing
- Copywriting
- Inbound Marketing
- Email Marketing
- Start-up marketing and growth hacking
This is a fairly brief list of fields that are solely related to digital marketing. It should give you some ideas, and you’ll be able to eliminate everything that’s less appealing to you.
Choose Your Field
It’s okay that not everyone is good at everything.
When choosing the field to work in, consider if you would enjoy doing the job. All jobs pay well if you would enjoy doing them. Don’t rank some jobs or services as better than others just because the salary or service fee is higher.
In my opinion, there is an increasing demand for User Experience Optimizers/Analysts in marketing. Data researchers and content creators are in high demand. If you are interested in any of those titles, then go for it!
If you don’t understand what we’re talking about, then take this quiz. It will help you understand more about yourself, and we think it will show you what your marketing career path should be.
Research Job Requirements
What skills are required for marketing positions in companies? The headhunters and HR managers may have different opinions about the job title, skills, and tasks involved in the position.
Different companies might need different skills for their businesses.
I would recommend that you look through their list and make a spreadsheet for yourself.
-The ability to lead and manage a team -Proven experience in the relevant field -The ability to work under pressure -The ability to lead and manage a team -Proven experience in the relevant field -The ability to work under pressure
I typically see that companies looking for multi-talented workers with a variety of skills tend to be smaller and more specialized. This doesn’t mean that the salary is that great. Usually isn’t.
Choose a field you are passionate about and job postings that reflect your desired responsibilities.
For example, SEO specialists shouldn’t design graphics for the content. A copywriter or social media manager should have some understanding of graphics design.
Get Some Courses
You can get courses online that will help you gain the skills and experience required for the job you want.
There exist a few free entry-level marketing courses. This is a good start to getting the basics covered. Additionally, you can browse YouTube with relevant keywords. Although I always prefer courses such as Udemy offers.
Why?
Udemy offers an easy way to consume online courses because it packages the material nicely and it is easy to use compared to browsing YouTube. Do Youtube as an extra.
If you have a LinkedIn account, you can upgrade to a 30-day trial of Premium and get access to the Lynda.com course marketplace. You can then cancel your LinkedIn Premium trial at any time and still get access to the courses.
If you don’t have a LinkedIn account already, THEN FOR THE LOVE OF GOD go create one.
If you want to be successful in our modern society, you must have this.
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