3 Things I Wish I Knew Before Becoming a Marketing Specialist

When I started my first job as a Marketing Specialist I was excited to finally be working in the field I studied. The idea of a salaried position in marketing made me feel like I was finally advancing in my career. However, there are 3 main things I wish I knew before I became a marketing specialist and now I’m sharing them with you.

1) You Will Wear Many Hats

Being the Marketing Specialist for a business is no small order. The reason is because there are many subtitles beneath the umbrella title of Marketing Specialist. You’re a content creator, web designer, graphic designer, editor, copywriter, social media manager…I could go on. Now I’m not saying before I became a marketing specialist that I didn’t expect to have some responsibilities in these areas, but it’s not a “some.” These are all your titles unless you work somewhere with a large marketing department. My advice is to go with it. I’ve always been down with the fast-paced, hands in multiple buckets at one-time type of work. It keeps me busy and engaged in the company and what I’m doing. It lets me know the company inside and out better than most of the people that work there. At first, it can seem overwhelming, but just set the boundaries of what works for you as the marketing specialist and take it one day at a time. Set goals for campaigns and launches and let that be known to your co-workers and managers. This will A, inform them of your marketing plans and goals for the business and B) let them know to hold off on too many small requests while you’re working on important marketing components for the company. Take it all in stride and know that your work is being recognized.

2) Your Input Impacts the Entire Business

It’s understood that as a Marketing Specialist you’re responsible for how consumers view your company. From the posts you make on social media to the visuals you create for the campaign running, the image of the business is your responsibility. For that reason, it’s also important to realize that your input impacts the entire business. If you change a color, a font, a phrase, even down to punctuation, know that the entire company now has to follow those guidelines at your suggestion and implementation. I know…the pressure right! But remember, you studied this. Your eyes are meant to see certain design aspects that will appeal to the consumer. You know the research behind why millennials buy a certain brand of clothes versus Gen Z who would prefer to buy from another brand. Give yourself some credit and trust that you know your stuff! Just be prepared for the entire company to come looking to you when a decision needs to be made and be prepared to you can explain why.

3) The Learning Never Stops

Don’t think that since you’re finally a Marketing Specialist your growth stops there. The world of marketing is always changing and evolving and you need to keep up with it if you want to maintain what you’ve earned. I’ll admit. Once I landed my first marketing job I thought I knew pretty much all I needed to market a business. Wrong. As I said, things are always changing which means there’s always something new to learn. To help you out there are plenty of free online courses that keep you up-to-date on the latest marketing trends. They’re also helpful with refreshing some of the marketing knowledge you might have learned back in Freshman year. HubSpot Academy, Coursera, Udemy, Google, all of these places offer free online marketing classes. Some of the courses are as short as 2 hours. The cool thing about these classes is that some of them give you certificates once you complete the course. These can be included on your resume and added to your LinkedIn to display your marketing knowledge. Bonus!

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Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash

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