Marilyn Goodman, Marketing Instructor & Department Coordinator City College of San Francisco 50 Phelan Avenue C106 San Francisco, CA 94112 Office: Cloud 106 Phone: (415) 452-5916 Email: mgoodman@ccsf.edu
There is no bigger difference than the difference between being good and being great. It’s easy to go from being mediocre to being good, but going from good to great? That’s a huge jump. If greatness could be boiled down to a few characteristics and copied, everyone would be great, and we all know that is not the case. However, while there is always an undeniable “X Factor” that can’t be duplicated, great marketers do have many of the same traits in common.
Empathy - Good marketers know who the target audience is. Great digital marketers understand what they love, what they hate, what makes them scared and what motivates them.
Passion - Good digital marketers enjoy their jobs. Great marketers eat, sleep and breathe them. They wake up thinking about how to make campaigns better, and they go to sleep thinking about what else they can learn tomorrow.
A Creative + Analytical Mindset - Good marketers are creative. Great digital marketers understand that creativity is only the first step in a successful campaign. Every successful campaign is a combination of great inspiration backed by real data and insights.
Fearlessness - Good marketers try out new tactics. Great marketers create the new tactics. It’s hard to be fearless. Being comfortable is easy, but you will never become great by being comfortable. Great digital marketers disrupt.
Leadership - Good marketers are liked by their team. Great marketers are trusted and respected. If you are going to be fearless with your plans, you better have a team who believes in you. Great marketers have the ability to excite, motivate and rally a team.
Flexibility - Good digital marketers create amazing campaign plans. Great digital marketers know that nothing ever goes according to plan. They are able to roll with the punches and make smart decisions on the fly without affecting campaign performance.
Follow-Through - Good marketers can create an amazing strategy but often pass it off to a team to execute the details. Great marketers know they aren't above anything. No matter if they’re a Specialist or a Director, great marketers know that it takes a village to launch a successful campaign. If someone on their team is overwhelmed, they step in to help. They back up their promises, and they get it done.
Vision - Good marketers can tell a story. Great marketers know why the story matters. They ask why. They understand the problems they are trying to solve and have the vision to create a plan to solve them.
When it comes down to it, being great isn't easy. However, people aren't born great; they become great with a lot of work. If you feel like you are good at what you do but not great, think about where you could improve. Be confident, work hard, think before you act, and always worry more about the why rather than the what.