“Make it work? Naaaah, just make it pretty.”
May 14th, 2008 Rachel]Oooooh how we loathe these words. “Could you make this pretty?” “Just…pretty it up?” Marketing being equated to on-call graphic design janitor is a disaster…for all involved.
Sure, most of us tend to be pretty reasonable at it. Slide deck magic can be a regular request. Gimme that, I’ll make sure you have the correct typeface/colors/logo on every slide.
But as MarketingProfs’ Laura Patterson points out, that’s not everything. And it certainly isn’t where Marketing is going to have the greatest impact. Sure, your communications guru is going to breathe easier tonight knowing that Helvetica Neue instead of Helvetica showed up on Slide #16. But…are you really getting the most out of your marketing department then? Yeeeeeeeah…no.
Marketing is about…customers.
Yes, marketing is about promotions. But it’s also about…metrics. Follow-up.
Marketing is about strategy.
Marketing is a lot more listening than talking.
Marketing is successful when the sales team pats you on the back instead of giving you the stink eye.
It’s about not being afraid to fail and take risks with your writing, ideas, designs - but also being receptive to feedback, and flexible enough to iterate until you’ve really got it.
The “make it pretty” part? We do that because (hopefully) we just really like it. And appreciate documents and presentations that represent the company to it’s fullest. But if you limit your marketing department if you think this is all they can do. If you’ve brought the right people on board, they should be passionate about your space (or at least hungry to learn everything they possibly can so they live and breathe it anyway) and an important voice for the overall business.
We don’t proclaim to know everything, but we’re more than just the fairies of “pretty”.
Ahh, the impulse publish…as soon as I hit the button my brain flipped in the other direction - so what can a marketing professional do to get more than just “pretty” tasks?
- Take initiative. Seriously - if you see something that needs fixing or an area where you can make a difference, own it. Stop waiting for permission.
- Engage the people who are giving you said tasks. Voice your interest in other areas, your views on things, and your ideas. If you’re not saying it, no one can hear it.
- Be patient. You’re probably going to have to prove yourself. There’s an opportunity right around the corner for you to step up and show how truly well rounded and unbelievably valuable you are. Be on the look out and in the meantime provide more than just “deliverables”.
Okay - done now. For reals.
