Dear young marketer,

Photo by Tim Gouw on Unsplash

I’m by no means an expert or leader in the marketing field. But I’ve been working as a marketer for nearly a decade. I want to share some tips and information with you that I really could have used when I was first getting started.

If you feel like you’re totally full of shit and slapping stuff together in a sort of organized chaos, you’re doing it right. Even the marketing manager you’re reporting to probably still feels this way.

One of the most interesting things someone told me early in my career was — they pointed out a billboard, or an ad for a big company. They said, “you see that ad, someone in your same position probably put that together.” As a young marketer, we often assume that big companies, like Apple or Coca-Cola, are run by magical robots, but the fact is, there is someone at that company who is doing exactly what you’re doing, but they are just putting their work in front of more eyeballs.

If you are waiting for feedback from your boss or the superiors at your company or your client, don’t wait around. Keep creating new work, develop new solutions, test new concepts, or move on to another project. Sitting around isn’t helping you grow and it isn’t contributing to your goals.

If you want to be the best marketer you can possibly be, don’t spend too much time reading about marketing. Just start marketing. Take what you’ve consumed on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, or on blogs and learn from what you like best. Create content like that, but for your brand or client. Look at the world around you and take note of what grabs your attention (or captivates you).

If you feel annoyed or at odds with your supervisor, become their friend. Too often at early stages of my career I thought of my bosses as untouchable, divine beings. They are just people who probably have more experience than you. You’ll be much happier at your job once you realize this.

If you get stuck on one aspect of a project, don’t beat your head against the wall. Just take a step back and try a completely different solution. Or take a break and work on something else. When you come back to that project, you may have a better solution than before.

If you’re discouraged by someone else’s success, or you feel like you’re lagging behind in your career, you’re probably…