1. Every Marketer is a Copywriter

If I said that every marketer who has access to a CMS was a developer you'd tell me that being a developer requires the ability to code, and is an entirely different skillset from marketing. And you'd be right. So why does giving a marketer a keyboard make them a copywriter? It doesn't.

Copywriting is a skill. It requires research, thought, analysis, and the ability to persuade. It's not just words, it's the right words at the right time for the right audience. Yes, marketers should know how to write, but writing a blog post or case study doesn't make someone a copywriter.

2. Every Marketer is a Project Manager

See #1... I'm mostly kidding although there are some similarities here in terms of the specificity within the skills required to do a good job as a project manager. The bigger a project and the more cross-functional it is, the more you need someone to keep the trains moving and feelings from getting hurt.

A good project manager will connect the dots between stakeholders, translate requirements, keep comms clear, and make sure the work gets done on time. Most importantly, a good project manager will make sure that your makers are actually making. I once worked with a designer who spent 50% of her time PMing and no one could understand why the work was taking so long. PMs save the day! I believe in PMs so much that If I were starting a new creative team tomorrow, I'd start here.

3. Every Company is a Media Company

At some point in the last few years it felt like every B2B or creator on the planet started a podcast (yes, I see the irony...). That was step one in the media company playbook. Step two was the YouTube channel but when the leads didn't roll in the strategy was abandoned and it turned out that being a media company "didn't work".

Nah, it works but it's a mindset shift. You have to actively decide to shift priorities and reallocate resources to support creating content that your audience actually wants to consume (vs the stuff you want them to see). Creating media is about the audience, not about you. Until you understand that you're not a media company.  

4. Your Brand Doesn't Matter

I know I'm biased but on what planet can someone actually believe this? Sure, there was a time when your product could do the heavy lifting for you but things have changed. Between AI, no code, and global access to talent, technology has never been easier to create. That killer feature you just launched, your competitors are launching it next quarter. You're not gonna keep dropping your price so how do you get people to care? Brand!

Your POV, your values, your visual identity, your content, and your story are going to be what set you apart. Focusing on your brand, infusing it into your product and hiring process and customer service and every other non-obvious area is what will take your company to the next level. It doesn't mean you can have a bad product (it still needs to be good) but I don't think there's anything more important than brand right now.

5. Agencies are Better than In-House Teams

Believe it or not, this section actually has nothing to do with agencies. I think they're great and they serve an important purpose within your Marketing org. Statements like this come from having no idea how busy your in-house team is.

There isn't a creative on the planet that dedicated 10,000+ hours just to resize ads, build landing pages, or make podcast interview shorts. They want the big, exciting projects but what ends up happening is that the in-house team gets stuck doing the busy work and as soon as a fun new project emerges it gets outsourced. It's the worst feeling in the world and takes away important opportunities from the people who understand your brand best.

6. Your CMO Understands Marketing

A few months ago, I attended Exit Five's Drive event. Peter Mahoney, CCO at GoTo spoke and said something interesting, "Don't become a CMO if you want to do marketing." It caught a lot of people off guard but anyone who's spent a bunch of time with a CMO understood.

The further up the chain you go the further away you are from the craft. Instead of building campaigns, you're building strategies, finding money, and convincing the CEO that you need another six months. A good CMO will continue to do some marketing work but shouting about AI doesn't make them a marketer.

7. Your Brand Team Should Sit in Marketing

Marketing is the obvious place for a Brand Team but obvious doesn't mean right. I think it's been this way because for too long brand was a synonym for design and that energy was directed at ads, tv, out of home, and event collateral (historically, all marketing functions).

Well not only does brand matter but it's also bigger than just Marketing. I want to see Brand sit next to departments like Finance, Legal, and Ops—groups that drive the entire company. If you believe that brand should be a part of every customer touchpoint like I do, then they can't be beholden to a group that is only responsible for one part of the customer journey.

8. B2B Marketing is Super Complex

B2B is such a funny concept to me because we made it up. It's just a group of people and the job is to understand what motivates them to create an approach that will stand out. 

Sure, there are considerations like buying committees, budgets, and timelines but we're still just talking about groups of people. The CFO wants to generate revenue, the CRO wants to increase deal sizes, the CMO wants to create awareness. These things aren't secrets and they're willing to pay for someone who can help.

Understand your audience, get ahead of the objections, be proactive and you'll be just fine. B2B may take more time but we love to overcomplicate it.

Speaking of bad takes, "we're allergic to process" is near the top of the list. Like a good PM, a good process will make the work so much better, and step one of any good process is intake. Does your team have an intake system? And no, Slack DMs and email don't count.

I mean an actual, trackable system that's hooked up to your project management tool (you have one of those, right?), that provides transparency for the stakeholders and the makers, and that creates accountability because there's a clear SLA provided. I mean that kind of intake system.

If the answer is no (or kinda), let's talk. I have some availability in early December and would love to get you set up for next year.