It's college graduation
season! Graduation caps are
flying through the air,
names are being
mispronounced, and awkward
questions about future careers
are being asked. What's
missing? A crash course when it
comes to what marketing
students actually need to know to
enter the real
world of marketing.
Unfortunately, featuring your
fancy new diploma with the words
"B.S. in Marketing" does
more for fantastic graduation photos
than it does for fantastic
post-grad jobs. The sad truth is that
most marketing students aren't
adequately prepared for the real
world.
To all you current and future
marketing students, here's a list of
20 things, under the umbrella of
five key categories, of what you
actually need to know before
entering the professional
marketing world. The list is a
collection of advice from current
members of the HubSpot marketing
team -- including full-time
marketing professionals who have
graduated in years past as well
as marketing interns who are
graduating this year or in the
future.
Academics
1) Don't be afraid of numbers.
I can't tell you how many students
I've come across who tell me
they avoid taking any classes that
involve quantitative analysis or
statistics. News flash: marketers need
statistics .
You need to be prepared to analyze
everything you do. Don't use
the excuse that you plan on being
a "social media marketer."
When I was on the social media
team at HubSpot, and I spent
every single day looking at and
interpreting charts and graphs.
You need to be able to look at a
spreadsheet of numbers, make the
proper calculations, and analyze
what they mean.
Otherwise, you're wasting a whole
lot of time making decisions
without proof that they work
and/or benefit your business in
some way. So pay attention in your
stats class.
2) Don't obsess over the 4 P's or
C's of
marketing.
Whether your marketing courses
preach the P's or C's of
Marketing, it doesn't matter.
While they can help introduce you
to the core concepts of marketing,
the chances of you
brainstorming how you meet price,
product, place, and promotion
in the a real-life marketing
situation is unrealistic. You need to
be thinking about much more, which
will come in later parts of
this list.
3) Don't think your classroom
experience
mimics an actual job.
Simulate "real-life"
scenarios as much as you want, but you
won't actually learn to make
important decisions in tight time
frames until you're managing real
dollars, working to uphold a
real company's reputation, and
investing your energy in real
projects.
You can't practice it either. You
have to be there and do it a few
times, and then you'll learn. Use
internships as an opportunity to
do this, which takes us to our
next section.
Experience
4) Having an internship on your
resume
isn't "impressive."
You had a summer internship at a
marketing agency last
summer? Great! So did everybody
else. The fact that you had an
internship isn't impressive, it's
what you did while you
were there that is (or isn't).
Students have accepted this false
notion that even if you're just
answering phones, the fact that
you had some big company's
name on your resume will get you a
job. It might get you in the
door for an interview, but if you
can't share the benefit you
provided to the company, you won't
be seen as a valuable
resource.
5) Having the multiple marketing
internships isn't
"impressive."
Okay, so we've already established
that it's not just about
having an internship; it's what
you do there. A subcomponent
of having great internship
experiences is gaining diverse
experiences and perspectives.
If you're interested in marketing,
don't just apply to internships
at marketing agencies every
summer. Switch it up and test your
skills in different marketing
environments, such as at a company
that executes its marketing
in-house.
That way, you're staying true to
your ultimate goal while also
using your talents in different
types of environments. Another
great thing about this is you'll
learn which type of marketing job
you're best suited for.
6) Having endless extracurricular
activities doesn't make you an
"expert."
I get it -- you love being
involved in every organization you can
possibly be a part of. You think
putting it all on your resume will
show your great versatility and
extensive experience.
But all it really does is confuse
recruiters.
I've heard employers say they get
turned off by students who
seem too involved because they
don't show any one true strength
they can bring to the table.
Instead of being an expert in one area,
they just have their toes dipped
in a bunch.
Employers are looking for
something unique that you can do, not
that you have tried everything --
that's what marketing
teams are for. If you've
participated in a lot of different
activities in college, narrow down
the few that you can actually
say you've learned from, excelled
at, and helped you grow.
7) Having a standard resume
doesn't
exemplify modern marketing.
Is your career advisor handing you
a template for your resume to
adhere to? Ignore it.
Marketing is changing. Buyer behavior
is changing. That means
your entrance into this evolving
industry should be changing, too.
Create your own resume template.
One that highlights your
uniqueness and is set up to show,
not tell, what your value is.
While paper resumes will always
hold their own value, you also
need to be present where marketing
employers are looking. In
fact, 89% of all recruiters report
having hired
someone through LinkedIn,
according to Herd Wisdom .
Beyond LinkedIn, think about other
unique ways to present your
experience: infographics, tweets,
slideshares, or even ebooks
( which is what I did).
Marketing
8) Marketing moves fast.
Chances are, whatever your
professor taught you your freshman
year of college no longer applies.
Need an answer to a pressing
marketing problem? You won't find
it in that years-old textbook.
Effective marketing isn't about
looking up the answer, it's about
creating the answer. For example,
social media wasn't taught in
a classroom until recently, yet
it's been around for years. Nobody
taught professional marketers
already in the business how to "do
social media"; they had to
figure it out on their own.
That's your future: figuring out
marketing. Forever.
9) Marketing isn't about pretty
pictures
and viral videos.
Effective marketing campaigns
focus on creating content that
benefits your audience. You can't
spend your marketing career
creating humorous videos for the
sake of bringing attention to
your brand. You need to be
prepared to think critically and
analyze the needs of your target
audience. What do they want?
What are they confused about? How
can you best serve them
while serving your business?
Answer one of these questions
correctly, and your content will
naturally become viral.
10) Marketing is not just about
branding
or awareness -- it's about making
money.
Gone are the days of going to the
marketing department for
happy messages and to Sales for
revenue -- today, the two must
work together.
We keep talking about how
everything you do should benefit your
company, but haven't said what
that benefit is. The benefit is
simple: revenue. What is the
return on investment of that email
send? That tweet? That press
release? Each of these efforts
should be positioned to represent
your company culture, but they
need to fit into the sales cycle. They
need to have a monetary
value.
11) Marketing doesn't have to be
evil.
The negative connotation
surrounding "marketer,""public
relations professional," etc.
is pretty pervasive. But that
doesn't mean it's okay to act out
these
stereotypes. Don't lose your
morals and ethics when you
graduate -- they need to be
omnipresent in your marketing
career. And yes, it is possible to
create marketing that people
actually like.
12) Marketing is more than big
brands
and agencies.
Yes, you can work at a marketing
agency. And yes, you could
work for a big brand like Nissan
or Pepsi. But there are SO many
more options. What about working
in-house at technology
company? A small business? A
hospital? Just because your
professors only talk about the
campaigns big brands have
executed, doesn't mean those are
the only marketing jobs out
there.
13) Marketing is a balance of art,
science,
and tech.
Many marketing curriculums focus
on the art. You craft
advertising campaigns, brainstorm
billboards, and storyboard
commercials. In modern marketing,
this art is critical in
visualizing calls-to-actions,
writing landing page copy, and
launching products.
But marketing is more than that.
On the science front, we
already discussed the importance
of a data-driven mentality in
point one. Beyond that, you need
to embrace the infusion of
technology in marketing.
In an article by Marketing
Magazine, Jamie Kenny writes, "On
the one hand, new technology
offers marketing fresh and more
efficient routes to market, along
with exciting prospects such as
the capability for personalised,
one-to-one marketing at scale.
On the other hand, the marketing
department is having to learn
new skills, take on
responsibilities and build other relationships
within the organisation."
As an emerging marketer, being
tech savvy can help differentiate
you from the crowd.
Personal
14) Don't be afraid to be wrong.
How many times have you said,
"I thought the same exact
thing ... but didn't say
anything." '
Well, if you ever get to that
point, it's too late. If you have an
idea or opinion on something being
discussed at an internship or
on at your first job, speak up!
Experience helps create proper
judgment, not ideas. Anyone is
capable of thinking of the next big
thing; it's just a matter of not
being afraid to share it.
15) Grow thick skin.
As a marketer, you'll have to deal
with complaining customers,
social media bashers, unresponsive
sales reps, frustrating
clients, the list goes on and on
... and through it all, you have to
bite your tongue and let them feel
like they are always right.
If you get too emotional over how
people treat you, you won't last
in the business. Take all negative
feedback as constructive
criticism, and spin it into
something positive. I failed at this
big time when I was interning at
HubSpot -- but I learned from
my mistakes.
16) Be your own best case study.
Prove your skills by marketing
yourself . Don't wait for someone
else to give you the opportunity.
There's a number of ways to
accomplish this:
Write content -- on your own blog
or for an existing
blog -- demonstrating your
knowledge and writing
ability.
Build your social media reach.
Start conversations on
Twitter or leverage LinkedIn to
connect with other
professionals.
Demonstrate your passion for
marketing by properly marketing
yourself. If you can't market
yourself, how will you market for
others?
17) Never burn bridges.
You know that annoying teacher's
pet who never stops talking in
class next to you? She may end up
being your manager one day.
Or your co-worker. Or the woman
who gets to decide if a
company hires you.
You never know where people may
end up. In fact, last year I
received a LinkedIn message from a
young man who wasn't the
nicest to me in high school. All
of a sudden he was a total
sweetheart and asking for a job
referral -- you can imagine my
response was, well, nonexistent.
18) Network with everyone .
Yes, you've heard this before. But
the important part of
networking is doing it with
everyone. If you decide you want
to work at XX company, don't only
find ways to talk to people
from XX company. Maybe that random
stranger in the corner
from Y company will one day be an
employee at XX company,
and then you'll be bummed you
missed the opportunity to tell
that person why you rock.
Point is, you never know who could
end up helping you out the
future. Get to know as many people
as you can.
Miscellaneous
19) Get familiar with HTML/CSS.
You don't need to be a full-on
engineer, but you do need to
understand the basics. What
happens when your web designer
goes on vacation? What happens
when you need to make a quick
fix on your website? Or even just
need to talk to your web
designer?
You don't want to sound like a
complete doh-doh head.
Understand how coding works and be
prepared to make little
tweaks. If you end up in a product
marketing role, this will be
even more critical.
20) Understand the difference
between
B2B and B2C.
I'm surprised I was never exposed
to such basic acronyms at
school, but most businesses are
classified this way. B2B =
business-to-business. B2C =
business-to-consumer. Look up the
difference; it'll teach you a lot
about different forms of
marketing, and possibly where you
want to work one day.
From the marketing team at
HubSpot, we hope you found this
list beneficial in planning your
marketing career. Cheers to you!
