As we prepare to wrap up another year (already???), many of my marketing peers are turning their thoughts to what 2016 — and the years beyond — will hold for their careers.
Not so long ago, staying relevant in the marketing world was a pretty easy task. As long as you kept an eye on your demographics and adjusted your print, radio, and TV ads accordingly, you were doing just fine.
These days, not so much. Marketers are right up there with the IT crowd when it comes to the demands of keeping pace with an ever-changing ecosystem.
Plus, we’re functioning in a much more fluid environment. We change jobs much more frequently than in the past — either by choice or by necessity — and with each new opportunity come new challenges that we have to be ready for.
So when my friends at The Ladders asked for my input on their latest infographic, “How to Avoid Becoming a Marketing Dinosaur,” I was delighted to chime in.
“1. What is your educational background in, and how do you feel your degree has aged as your career has progressed?”
With a B.A. double-major in German/Political Science and a Master’s of International Affairs, I’m about as non-traditional as you can get when it comes to marketers’ backgrounds! But there is one important thread that ties my degree to what I’m doing now: writing. The skills I honed writing theses on the impact of German unification on the European Union are the same skills I rely on today to translate a baffling marketing landscape into simple, actionable advice for today’s content marketing professional.
“2. If you could give one piece of advice to a new marketer looking to stay relevant in an ever-changing industry what would it be?”
Go to marketing conferences. Pay your own way if you have to. There’s just no substitute for a live event that brings top experts together to share the latest insights — and by “latest,” I mean “as of five minutes ago.” And you might learn just as much from your fellow attendees as you do from the speakers.
Here’s some more excellent marketing career advice from my friends at The Ladders:
Your Turn: How do you stay relevant when it comes to your content marketing skills?
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