Hope your week is off to a roaring start! Mine? Eh. Let’s just say…
Pet peeves filled my day. Thank you for asking. Pet peeves that involve the definition and understanding of the everyday marketing gal.
{disclaimer: I may get slightly ranty as I’m uber-protective of my fellow ladies in marketing.}
The marketing professional’s job has evolved. In more ways than one can imagine. Why? Because that friendly term “traditional marketing” has started to slowly move out and be permanently replaced with a few more…updated…terms:
Step 1, take your pick: internet // digital // online
Step 2, place word #1 next to one of these guys: marketing // strategy // planning
Why? Because marketing professionals aren’t sitting around just typing out sentences to fit a concept that will appear in a magazine or on the radio and television. Nothing shocking here…I hope. If it is, get thee to a professional ASAP.
As a result of the evolution, the online marketing person needs to be equipped with the necessary skills. Sure, writing will always be a requirement, but what else? Let me name a few that are often forgotten:
+Critical thinking and Data analysis
A big part of our job is to uncover the answers to those mysterious questions of how, where, when, what, and why. Enough said.
+ basic HTML (which then sometimes leads to advanced HTML)
I get it. I can hear the programmers whining: “That’s not coding!” Blah. Blah. Blah. It might not be the fancy, shmancy lingo you use for application development, but let me tell you, when a digital marketer is between an SEO update and a hard place, HTML skillz are a must.
+Excel magic
We live in this realm of sheets and cells. Why? We crave organization. We require reporting. And this is done ever so perfectly (sort of) with Excel. Knowing shortcuts, formulas and equations helps.
+Server lingo and processes
Yep. A need to know. One, because we are Type A and need to know. Two, because of permanent redirects within the .htaccess file, file uploads, robots.txt files, etc etc etc. Never in a million years when I was studying marketing did I think I would be touching all that I do. And now? No way I could do a good job without it.
+Web design basics
You want people to convert, right? Well, first dig into your Critical thinking and Data analysis to figure out where and how people are converting. Next? Design that landing page that will force that audience to convert. A/B test the shit out of it. And then you will be able to, again, critically think and analyze that data again to start your correlation. (No one said it was fast…)
+Web development and basic page creation
This is putting that stellar web design basics to work (with possibly the help of a rockstar designer) and adding those SEO html finishing touches that make the page a work of online art.
Why did I toss around the term gal? I’m getting to that…
All of the above items are requirements. The baseline. What you need in order to just get the job done. Simple. Items that go above and beyond are great (and quite honestly, still requirements in my book). And the trouble with that? When a gal sits across from a mister (or let’s just say someone in development, design, or even any other profession – I suppose this could also include other females. Sorry ladies!) and starts to outline what she needs or requires, a blank look can often appear. They might be surprised…or they might wonder if she knows what she’s really talking about – if she can act upon those outlined tasks. Um, yeah. We actually can. And we do.
We are not fluffy. We don’t sit around, twiddling our thumbs, waiting for the next writing assignment.
We are engaged in the conversation, creating concepts, drafting copy, tracking sources, endlessly testing and researching, documenting data and delivering results. We are eager about continuing education and on the heels of the next best thing – only to possibly consider if this would fit into a new or existing strategy.
We test. We overthink. We work hard. We love what we do.
[Ah, I feel better.]So, if you ever hear one of your lady friends say she has a career in marketing, don’t discount it. The marketing gal works hard to turn strategic dreams into a tangible reality.
