Essential advice from 46 marketing experts

We asked marketing experts across various industries what advice they’d give their younger selves about the sector. Here’s what they said…

 

1. Eve Brill, Head of Product Marketing, Farfetch: Find a senior person in your company or industry who believes in you and supports you. Work on fostering this relationship because their career growth will open up opportunities for you too. 

 

2. Koral Ibrahim, Founder & Managing Director, The Ready House: Stay patient. Realise your core skills. And use them. Be honest with what you're bad at, and never be afraid to express your opinion. Oh, and one more thing, always bring a notepad. 

 

3. Alex Wares, Executive Director, Transmission: Your degree doesn't matter. If you are able to see beyond the immediate, spot the angles, understand non verbal communcation and act effectively using initiative without too much direction then you'll go far.

 

4. David Magliano, Marketing Director, Be the Business: Don't wait to be told. Take the initiative. Better to ask for forgiveness than permission. 

 

5. Paul Fletcher, Head of Marketing, Coutts: No bullshit. 

 

6. Dan Keegan, Ecommerce Digital Marketing, Wool and the Gang: Bullshit more.

 

7. Alexandra Stratton, Brand Marketing & Partnerships Manager, ISAWITFIRST.com: There’s no such thing as an original idea, everything is based on something else that has sparked that idea. The more you explore, the more you’ll be inspired to produce amazing work.

 

8. Harry Hugo, Co-Founder, The Goat Agency: Not everything you think is right or wrong is true. You target different verticals who aren’t always representative of you, so verification and validation of your market is what matters in your communications.

 

9. Peter Cunningham, Marketing Director, buyapowa: Be obsessive about details: we have all had the email that went out with a broken link at least once in our careers. In digital, if it can go wrong it will, unless you check and double check.

10. Sean Ford, Senior Marketing Executive, Cancer Research UK:  Good marketeers come from all different backgrounds. My team is full of Biology, Geography and English grads to name a few. Entry level recruiters are often far more interested in your enthusiasm and passion for the position. 

 

11. Simon Franklin, UK Marketing & PR Manager, Acast: Consume everything. Really push yourself to devour content outside of what you would usually read, watch or listen to. By doing this, you're getting a view into different people's interests, passions and how they communicate. 

 

12. Alex Fallowfield, Head of Digital, Eyeko: Stay for the drinks!

 

13. Danielle Ward, SEO Content Assistant, Ticketmaster:  When writing content, it's important to consider what the user is actually looking for. 20% of search traffic is commercial and 80% is informational. By ensuring you are targeting both informational queries and transactional, you will increase your audience and convert more users. 

 

14. Rachel Kerr, Senior Copywriter, Bamboo Nine: Nobody sees the world exactly as you do, so use that to your advantage. Be yourself, work hard, and follow your passions – you never know what the future holds! 

 

15. Gemma Hymanson, Digital Marketing Manager, The Walt Disney Company: Take advantage of opportunities that come your way! Volunteer for employee resource groups, charity programmes or any 'extracurricular' projects. It is a great way to show how proactive and driven you are, as well as extending your network- which can prove invaluable.

 

16. John JB Russel, Digital Marketing Consultant, Digital Marketing Mentors: Learn the basics well, really learn them and understand them. Don’t try and move up too quickly and take time to be the best at what you do. It takes effort and focus to be great at what you do.

 

17. Yasemin Demetriou, UK Growth Marketing Manager, AgriWebb: Always back up your creative ideas with past data wherever possible - it's the fastest way to gain respect from those less convinced by marketing in the business.

 

18. Ashley Evans, Sales Enablement Director, Transmissions Agency: Find someone very clever in your business that you can latch onto and learn as much as possible. That will give you the tools to be an asset and the money will inevitably follow.

 

19. Jamie Love, CEO & Founder, Monumental Marketing: In an interview it's really easy to spot the difference between a candidate who knows the theory and one who also knows how to apply it. Application of knowledge goes far in the world of marketing! 

 

20. Will Roberts, Co-Founder, Radioactive Talent: Don't get emotionally attached to any particular platform. Amazing results one quarter may not be replicable on the same platform with the same tactics in the next. 

 

 21. Azza Abdulla, Marketing Executive, Macmillan International Higher Education: Make your campaigns inclusive and accessible; ethical marketing is the future.

 

22. Jeremy Bell, Marketing Executive, IWSR:  Welcome every opportunity, go to every conference, try a variety of marketing areas so you can figure out which direction to go in.

 

23. Patrick Morrison, Marketing Analyst, leap9: Develop a deep understanding of the personality of your brand and to be consistent in all of your output. Consistency for me has been proven to be hugely important as it's reassuring to your consumers and shows you know what you're doing!

 

24. Kim Nguyen, Head of Marketing & PR, Brandpie: The way people consume information is constantly changing, and the way we as marketers share that information needs to constantly change as well. Push the envelope, try new things, treat every campaign as a learning opportunity.

 

25. Kitty Harris, Account Manager, Talent Tin: The best thing that you can do for your marketing career is to stay up-to-date and never settle. Marketing is such a new and ever-expanding industry that is constantly changing and moving forward. Read online blogs and thought-leader articles, attend industry events and always endeavour to try alternative methods and new approaches.

 

26. Caroline Mann, Director of Creative and Marketing Promotion, The Edit Pool: Your USP is YOU! So make sure you’re marketing the benefit of working with you & your team. 

 

27. Rachel Jackson, Marketing Director, The Giving Machine: Be genuine. If you don't believe in what you are saying nor will your audience.

28. Natalee Mitten, Social Media Marketing Associate, MIG Medical Installations Ltd: Graduates looking to work in marketing shouldn’t feel they have to have a related degree to work in the industry. As long as you can demonstrate that you have a passion e.g promoting societies at uni, running events in your spare time, or using other languages to engage with customers, you can apply those experiences to the role you want.

 

29. Sarah Rose Reichert, Global Digital and Social Media Marketing Manager:  Work to provide a multidimensional, authentic experience that’s individualised towards your target user’s needs, goals and desires.

 

30. Paresh Thakare, Business Development Management, Tata Consultancy Services: There is a shift towards newer digital channels, thus a marketer should understand them well, be it Alexa or Facebook. Effective use of these channels will be significantly more important in coming times.

 

31. Stephen Jeske, Senior Content Strategist, MarketMuse: Working in a startup is extremely rewarding, both professionally and personally. The best opportunity is one where (a) the company has a great product/service, (b) the team is supportive and (c) you have opportunity to learn new skills. 

 

32. Aaron Duckmanton, Head of Marketing, Grabyo: Take the time to understand each process, platform and technology - you don't have to be a master of everything, but knowing and understanding how it all fits together is important.

 

33. Jasmine Gurney, Senior Marketing Executive, FanFinders: Find out what you're best at doing early on, and keep on that path. See it, seize it and do anything you can to become a pro in that field. Get in there, and get in early.

 

34. Cristiano Winckler, Head of Performance & Digital Marketing, Somebody Digital:  Never stop learning. 

 

35. Paul Lumley, Marketing & Ecommerce Director, Larsson and Jennings: Don't be afraid to ask questions, the greatest tool to a marketeer is insight.

 

36. Ellie Sharpe, Head of Marketing, Communications and New Business, Architecture Initiative: Get to know people, build your network and if possible find a mentor. That’s where the best opportunities for growth in your current role and success throughout your career will come from. Network, network, network.

 

37. Karolina Dyrda, Marketing Executive, Kent County Council: Employers naturally prefer for you to have experience in the field. If you can join a Marketing Team within a more general position (such as administration) you will likely get the opportunity to progress. 

 

38. Callum McCahon, Strategy Director, BornSocial: You have to get stuck in. Don't wait until you've found a job. Get down to events, write a blog, share an opinion on the work that's out there. Show you care.

 

39. Lauren Stopps, HE Senior Content Marketing Officer, St George’s University of London: Don't underestimate knowledge you've gained from other jobs, courses or even previous careers. A lot of marketing is about intuition, insight and managing risks. There's a multitude of times in your life when you've done all these things; draw on them.

 

40. Katie Rooke, Sales and Marketing Assistant, Combined Academic Publishers Ltd: Don’t be afraid to be creative. Employers will value you if you show a willingness to think outside of the box and come up with innovative, new marketing ideas to sell your product.

 

41. ​​Ellen Pope, Editor and Founder, Chatting Food Magazine: There is a place for every personality type in Marketing and Communications. Don't underestimate the power of introverts and data lovers - they become the core of any Comms Team. Find your style and own it. 

 

42. ​Charlotte Sheridan, Director, The Small Biz Expert:  No one knows all the answers. There is no big mystery - just ideas, and very solid testing.

 

43. Emma Swycher, Customer Marketing Manager, itsu: Think of a business that you love or campaigns you’ve admired and hit the brands up! Reaching out direct to them can ensure you stand out from the crowd.

 

44. Jessica Allen, Content Marketing, Ravelin: You need to care about your own personal 'brand' - how people think of you and your work ethic -  as this will make a huge difference to how willing people are to work with you. . 

 

45. Anna Hernaman, Co-Founder and Influencer Marketing Director, Peared: Be as likeable as possible. This is not to say be a push over, but if you have greaat ideas and communicate these with kindness and grace, it would be hard to say no!

 

46. Hester Grainger, Co-Founder, HUDIA: Just say yes!

 

Hopefully you feel ready to kickstart your marketing career. If you're interesting in marketing, or want to work in startups, check out some roles here!