What It Takes To Be A Great Marketer

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Over the last twenty years, I've had the privilege of leading marketing for several successful startups. The intelligence and determination it takes to muscle your way from the seed funding phase to the acquisition or mid-market phase is nothing short of herculean. But that's not exactly what I want to talk to you about today. I want to talk to you about what I believe it takes to be a great marketer right now.

I am blessed to be part of a career development organization, the ANA Education Foundation where I get a chance to mentor aspiring marketers and speak to university students about topics like branding, positioning and campaign strategy. This is actually strange for me because I did not get into marketing by following the traditional path of getting my degree, landing my first job, and then climbing the corporate ladder.

From inexperienced newbie to seasoned executive

As I mentioned, my story is anything but typical. In fact, you may say that it's backwards compared to most marketers. After leaving the Air Force, I got a job as a defense contractor in Washington, D.C. Two years later, I moved back home to start a business, which was acquired four years later. My company was my classroom . It’s where I learned about business and startups. With no degree, I next landed a job as a salesperson. Later, I talked my way into my first job in marketing and never looked back. As things began to take off for me, I started taking classes and pursuing a degree.

Some would say I white-knuckled my way into the field. For me, it felt like building blocks - one layer at a time. Doing it this way is not for the faint of heart. I remember a day early on when I was standing in the kitchen talking to a relative of mine, explaining to him that I was made to be a marketer. "But, you have a wife and a family. What makes you think you can just go and do that?" he said. "You have no formal skills, no degree and no experience in marketing." 20 years later, my instinct was right. Today, I have the marketing skills, the degree and the experience.

What it takes to be great at marketing

As someone who turned a passion for marketing into a successful twenty-year career, I'd like to suggest what I think it takes to be great at marketing:

1. Love the craft.

Marketing is difficult. It requires mastering a large number of disciplines (including business strategy, sales, communication, psychology, art, data and technology) and continuously learning new skills. The active word is: dedication. Without it, you won't be effective, and you won’t last very long in your roles. Sustaining dedication over decades requires a passion for the profession.

2. Do the work.

As I mentioned, marketing requires that you develop many different skillsets and bring a variety of experience to the job. There is no substitute for the time spent (10,000 hours?) completing day-to-day projects, developing strategies, launching campaigns and testing new messages and approaches.

3. Be resourceful.

Having spent any amount of time in the role, you will quickly realize that there is never enough time, resources or budget to do all that needs to be done. This is where operational creativity, imagination and collaboration come into play. Entrepreneurs are known to have the ability to build something out of nothing. This kind of resourcefulness is a must for marketers as well.

4. Learn from your mistakes.

As they say, you learn more from your failures than you learn from your successes. I believe this is the case because the mistakes I made in my career have compelled me to find new ways of doing things, and my resistance to failing again has caused me to become more thoughtful in my approach. For example, I recall vividly the time in 2004 when I spent $40,000 on a billboard advertising my business, only to realize how difficult it is for commuters to remember website addresses 30 minutes later once they've arrived at work. I will never do that again!

5. Stay on top of the trends.

Marketers are required to understand the market (which includes their customers and their industry), and the thing is, the market is constantly changing. This is why it's essential to have a habit of following the latest studies, analysis, news, tools and social media movements. Marketers are expected to bring not only skills and experience to the job, but also new ideas and effective business strategies. This stems from an understanding of market trends.

6. Seek out new frameworks.

In marketing, there are variables (like trends) and constants (like human psychology). Proven frameworks offer insight into the essential elements that make up a given problem and provide us with an ideal, repeatable system for solving it. Shortcuts (in the form of frameworks) allow marketers to be more effective in their roles and build confidence with stakeholders, knowing that you are bringing expert approaches to business challenges.

7. Improve your communication skills and storytelling.

Communication is a pillar of marketing. In fact, it is why I chose to pursue a degree in communication to reinforce my early business experience. Famed NYU professor Scott Galloway says that storytelling is the most important skill anyone can develop in an AI era." As an expert storyteller, Lisa Cron proclaims in her book, 'Story or Die,' "Our brains are wired for story." Companies depend on marketing's ability to persuade with words and pictures. The better communicator you are, the better your results.

8. Focus on results.

There is nothing more frustrating to a CEO or CFO than a philosophical marketer. Companies exist to make money, and as the great Peter Drucker said, "The purpose of marketing is to create a customer." Without results, there is no justification for investing in marketing. To truly understand what is happening in any campaign or test you run, you must care about and understand the data associated with it. In my career, I’ve noticed the marketers I hired for my teams tended to either be creatively bent or analytically bent. As marketers elevate to higher and higher roles, both proficiencies are required in order to succeed.

9. Seek out mentors and community.

Finding mentors and a community of marketers to learn alongside has been one of the most important things I've done in my career. Excelling as a marketer today is tough. But I find that it's faster and much easier to grow with guidance and the support of a community.

The way forward

There is no doubt that over the last few years, marketers have faced headwinds as CMO tenures have dropped, our leadership positions have been questioned, AI has threatened some roles and investment in marketing has been increasingly scrutinized. Some of you reading this may be at a crossroads in your career, wondering if you have what it takes to get to the next level or the will to continue on or try something else. I hope the insights from my experience provide some clarity and are helpful to you and your career.

Thank you ?? for your attention this week! Find more great articles and one-on-one interviews with top experts at aaronhassen.com