A Day in the Life of a Marketing Strategist
This is a guest blog from our Expert Marketing Writer, Jillian. If you were to research a marketing strategist job description on Google, you would find one common characteristic: goal-oriented. Sure, you need experience and project management skills. You also need to navigate branding and storytelling. But, without goals and objectives, it’s almost impossible to create a cohesive marketing strategy that drives ROI. Marketing strategists have to stay focused on the bigger picture in order to deliver and exceed sales and marketing goals. The digital marketing landscape is evolving at a drastic rate. In 2019, digital ad spend worldwide surpassed $333.25 billion and is expected to increase to $517.51 billion by 2023. Meaning, there’s a growing need to discover new ways to connect and build relationships with consumers on their preferred platforms. That’s where I come into play as a marketing strategist. I have to interpret consumer needs and turn them into a cohesive plan that my team can deliver on. Every sales and marketing team needs a marketing strategist who can step back and not only build a plan full of tactics but also monitor every stage of the execution. As a result, the strategy turns into a pipeline full of leads that exceeds revenue goals. It’s a win-win for both teams. As a digital marketing strategist in the finance industry, every day is different. I have the opportunity to expand on my own marketing skills, while also directly contributing to my company’s market share growth. Pretty cool, right? What Does a Digital Marketing Strategist Do? I’ve worked in marketing for roughly 6 years and my role as a marketing strategist has been the most challenging, yet rewarding. I have to be innovative, proactive, and direct in order to identify what marketing tactics my team needs to execute on in order to build the strategy and further promote the brand. A sales and marketing strategist combines all relevant marketing channels—from content development, email, paid media, and more—into one plan that is used to steer a brand. I have to be a storyteller for consumers and an advocate for sales teams. It’s a science in order to combine all elements into a plan that moves marketing efforts forward. To give you a better idea of what a marketing strategist does, let’s dive a little deeper into my day-to-day. Morning: Lead Generation and Analytics Go Hand-in-Hand A large component of a marketing strategist’s career is the ability to interpret analytics and translate them into a strategy. However, before I can even think about reading charts, I need a coffee. Who’s with me? Once I’ve settled in, I log into Google Analytics and analyze yesterday’s performance. I first looked into my brand’s website traffic and which source resulted in the most website visits. Personally, I’m trying to increase our organic reach and not pay for every click. My main goal is to increase our organic reach by 30% by the end of 2020, and with the launch of a new website and resource center, I expect to exceed this. Source: Google Analytics Next, I dig into what’s important to our sales teams: Leads. How many leads did we get? What sources did they come from? How many are qualified? Because I have multiple campaigns going on at the same time—from paid search and sponsored LinkedIn ads to webinars—I need to analyze which channel is the most effective for earning new leads and driving traffic. After that, I compare the YTD performance to last year to catch any dramatic decreases or increases. Source: Google Analytics After I have a handle on the daily metrics, I start working on any ongoing projects and approvals. Afternoon: Prioritizing the Big Picture As a brand and project owner, part of the role as a marketing strategist includes executing projects from start to finish. All of these projects—whether digital or content development—correlate to the larger strategy and have a purpose for my team. For example, how will my promotional strategy for an upcoming recruitment webinar earn us more leads? Why are clients jumping out of my email journey and how can I re-engage them? With these projects in mind, I hold daily strategy sessions with our creative team and other digital channel owners to optimize our assets and performance. This could mean anything from avoiding creative wear-out or A/B testing different graphics. Alongside these strategy sessions with the marketing team, I meet with key decision-makers from sales. I need to not only understand their process and needs but also innovate new ways marketing can provide a solution. If sales conversions are down, how can I create a more qualified lead flow? If we have too many leads, how can I automate the communication process? For the rest of my day, it’s going between meetings, tactics, and approving creative assets to ensure each project hits the deadline. Evenings: Where Motivation Never Stops If you think my day seems full enough, I don’t stop when the clock hits 6:00 PM. Instead, I head home and re-open my computer to start my part-time job as a Quality Assistant Editor and Expert Content Writer at Express Writers. I’ve been writing since I was young enough to hold a pencil and my evenings with Express Writers have become my own personal therapy. I love the feeling of not only writing something that connects with readers but also being able to coach others like myself to improve their own craft. So, from 8:00 PM – 11:00 PM, I write, edit, and review writing pieces that will be posted throughout various websites and blog platforms. 4 Characteristics of a Marketing Strategist Super Star If becoming a marketing strategist consultant sounds up your alley, there are a few key traits you need to master in order to pursue this career path. 1. Know the Ins and Outs of Multiple Marketing Channels You need to be fluent in various outbound and inbound marketing channels like social media, email, and branding strategies. Beyond that, exude a jack-of-all-trades … Read more
