My Advice for a Soon-to-Be Marketing Graduate

By Dr. Laura Hills, Blue Pencil Institute, www.bluepencilinstitute.com

Online Marketing Key Can Be Blogs Websites Social Media And EmaiThis week, a marketing student from a local university wrote to me to ask for my thoughts about entering the field. Here’s what I told him. See if you agree:

Marketing is a fast moving train — a field that constantly evolves. What worked yesterday won’t necessarily work today and what worked today may not work tomorrow. So to do well as a marketer, you’ve got to keep your finger on the pulse of what’s going on and be willing and quick to change strategies.

Social media has been a game changer. Not all that long ago you needed loads of money to get people’s attention. Today anyone with an Internet connection who is smart and works at it is in the position to create marketing buzz and scoop up market share. That’s both exciting and scary.

There is creativity in marketing. But marketing relies on being very observant and cool-headed too. Past performance, focus groups, surveys, and other marketing tools can help you predict future outcomes. But these are only predictions. That’s where the creativity comes in. Every now and then someone comes along who breaks all the rules and captures the market. There is science to marketing. But there is also art.

A marketer can never sit on his or her laurels. You’re only as good as your latest effort. Marketing with passion is key to a long and successful career. Care about what you’re marketing, to whom, and why you’re marketing it. Otherwise you’ll spend your life selling more widgets no one needs and not living your passion.

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