You know, the marketing industry isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. But we wouldn’t trade what we do for anything. Not even for an extra Twix bar. With Halloween right around the corner, we thought we’d share the “trickiest” parts of being marketers. And the parts we see as a “treat”.
The “Tricky” Stuff
Oh, where to begin? Probably with the client’s expectations. To be a marketer means you have to also be a magician. You have to take what the client’s given you and magically create:
- More leads
- More sales
- More repeat sales
- More social media followers
- Etc.
And for some businesses, that’s super easy. Because some industries are so trendy, that a single tweet leads to profits. Other businesses are more niche-specific. Or technical. Or haven’t dialed in on a target market yet.
However, the promises you make in your marketing need to universally apply to all of your clients. So for those challenges businesses, you’ll end up working 3 times as hard for half the results. Then you’ll have to convince your client that the progress you made was well worth their investment.
Another challenge is keeping up with the trends. Almost all of us specialize in something. I specialize in email. I can write an email in less than 10 minutes and get dozens of people in my community to respond. Because that’s my interest and talent.
But I had to hire a social media specialist to tackle Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram for me, because try as I might, I cannot get the social media stuff figured out.
If I were working directly with clients, I wouldn’t have the luxury of a Social Media Manager. I’d have to figure the whole thing out on my own. And then figure it out again when the “rules” change 6 months down the road.
Additionally, we never get as much time to work on projects as we should. All businesses need their emails, their postcards, their sales pages completed “yesterday”. You’re familiar with that phrase, right? So as marketers, we’re always playing catch up. And that means we don’t always produce our best work.
Sometimes I wonder what would happen if small businesses really did plan out their marketing content 3-6 months in advance. How much more effective would that content be? Or would it not make any difference at all?
And yet, having said all that…what we do is what we love. Here’s why:
The “Treat” Side
The best part of being a marketer is the people. I absolutely love interacting with small business owners. Because they think differently. They act differently. And they empower me just by being around them.
By nature, most business owners are driven, hard-working, innovative, humble, and passionate. Incredible traits for any human being to have. And nearly all business owners have them. So why wouldn’t I love surrounding myself in all that greatness?
Another thing we enjoy is the creativity it requires. Sure, there are some days when I’m not on my A-game and I wish I could do some mundane work just to give my brain a break. But when you create something you KNOW is going to grab attention and close sales? Ohhh…that is the greatest feeling in the world.
Plus, all marketing is a competition. So having those moments, and knowing it’s not likely anyone else figured out what you did? That’s kind of a rush, too.
Then there’s also the chance to your efforts actually make a difference. Think of all the people who work at jobs that only offer them a small pieces of the picture? Teachers never get to see what becomes of their students because of the hard work they put in. Police officers always have another conflict to resolve. All those people see is the work.
As a marketer, you work hard, but more often than not, you’re there in the moment that your client closes $30K worth of sales on a webinar. Or you see the leads being added to the database. In fact, a lot of your job is to actually track the stats – the results.
It’s super rewarding!
With any career, you’re going to find highs and lows. The real “trick” is to find something that you enjoy far more than the negatives. For me, that’s marketing. And I’m really good at it.
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