How to Succeed as a Marketing Generalist

If you are an entrepreneur or a creator, you’ve probably heard the term marketing generalist. If you’re a marketing professional, you may be considering a career as one. Marketing generalists bring a breadth of experience to the table and can contribute a unique perspective that specialists simply don’t have. Marketing Week even reported that more and more companies are turning to marketing generalists instead of specialists. But what do marketing generalists do, and how are they relevant to your business?

Marketing Generalists Explained

A marketing generalist has experience and expertise across multiple marketing channels, whereas specialists only have experience in one type of marketing. This wide range of experience gives generalists more insight into how various marketing efforts can work together to support broader marketing objectives. Generalists can be more strategic this way and work to accomplish more long-term goals.

Entrepreneurs and Creators as Marketing Generalists

Entrepreneurs and creators often make the best marketing generalists because they have to handle all the marketing needs for their small businesses. They’re in charge of content creation, social media, email marketing, etc., so they must juggle various tasks. They often have to teach themselves about these tasks so they can do them as effectively as possible. In effect, they become marketing generalists.

The Challenges of Functioning as a Marketing Generalist

Marketing generalists can bring incredible perspective and insight to marketing objectives. They also get tons of marketing tasks done. But challenges may arise if they don’t receive the proper support.

Challenges marketing generalists face include:

Struggling to Maintain Productivity. Because there are so many tasks to keep track of, it can be difficult to stay productive. Counteract this by listing tasks in order of urgency and importance, and make sure to update your list often.
Overworked with Too Little Time. Without the proper support or enough time to finish their tasks, marketing generalists may feel overworked. When this happens, some tasks may fall behind. Avoid this pitfall by asking for support whenever necessary and having a clear understanding of what your current capacity is.
Lack of Specialization. One of the most common challenges for a marketing generalist is a need for more specialization in one or more areas. While a wealth of information is available for free online, sometimes it may be necessary to enlist the help of a professional in that specialty.
Burnout from Mundane Duties. Marketing generalists can experience burnout from mundane tasks, making focusing on larger marketing objectives more difficult. Prioritizing tasks by urgency and importance can help here as well.

Tips and Tricks to Succeed in Marketing as an Entrepreneur

If you’re an entrepreneur just starting out, most marketing tasks likely fall on you, making you a marketing generalist. Here are some tips and tricks to succeed:

Develop a Strategic Mindset. Do this by keeping your overarching marketing objectives in mind at all times. Consider your business needs and what a good marketing campaign can reasonably accomplish. From there, analyze the various resources and marketing avenues available and create an action plan.
Become a Master of Organization. Organization is key when you’re a one-person marketing team, so find a method that works for you. Keep track of deadlines, content calendars, and analytics so you can work as effectively as possible.
Implement a Proactive Approach. A proactive approach pushes you to anticipate and plan for future changes in the market and allows you to stay ahead of the competition. Change is one of the only constants in business, so take the time to map out how your industry will likely change in the next six months, a year, and even five years. From there, you can develop a strategic approach to help you stay ahead of competitors.
Keep Up with Industry Trends. Just as it’s important to look to the future when planning a marketing strategy, it’s also essential to keep up with current industry trends. You can do this by signing up for newsletters from industry professional organizations or competitors. Keeping up with industry trends allows you to stay relevant and present your company as an expert.
Utilize Automation. Marketing automation takes over the task of sending out monotonous and repetitive marketing materials like email campaigns, social media posts, and ad campaigns. Many online platforms will offer free or low-cost trials of their products, so you can see which works best before you buy. Once you automate the more repetitive items on your to-do list, you’ll have more time to focus on the big-picture details.
Seek Professional Support. Sometimes, expertise from a specialist is necessary. You can use their expertise on a task-by-task basis, for a specified time, or even as a new part of the marketing team.

Ensuring Success as a Marketing Generalist

The most successful marketing generalists can use their broad experience to accomplish the business’s marketing goals.

To succeed as a marketing generalist:

Know the Goals. Differentiating between short and long-term goals will help you prioritize and focus on completing the right marketing tasks.
Dissect Tasks Necessary to Reach Goals. Many marketing tasks are large and complex. You can be more productive and better understand where you stand by breaking them down into more manageable pieces.
Recognize What You Can Handle. Having a clear idea of your current capacity will prevent burnout and ensure you get work done. Make adjustments to your workload as necessary to make sure that marketing efforts stay on track.
Determine What to Outsource. Once you determine what tasks you can handle, decide what to outsource. The best tasks to outsource are those that need the expertise of a specialist or are easily defined and explained. You can delegate these tasks to other team members or outsource them.

When to Seek Professional Marketing Assistance

If you’re handling everything on your own, it can be difficult to know when to seek professional marketing assistance. Assistance from a professional can help you put out highly effective marketing materials that help you reach your objectives more quickly.

Seek professional marketing assistance when:

You Need Specialized Help. If a task or project requires expertise in a field you’re not familiar with, you may want to consider seeking professional help.
When Your Workload is Overwhelming. If you find that you’re getting to the end of your workday without accomplishing all the tasks on your list, it may be time to outsource. Tasks can fall by the wayside this way, and you can easily lose track of the bigger picture. You’re also more likely to experience burnout.
When You Need to Free Up Time. If more important tasks aren’t getting done because of smaller items on your to-do list, it’s probably time to seek professional assistance. A marketing professional can take these tasks off your plate, so you can focus on higher-level tasks.
When You Want to Grow Your Business. If you’ve arrived at the point in your business’s journey where you feel you’re ready to grow, now’s the time to reach out to a professional. Marketing professionals have experience growing companies in a variety of industries and can help you navigate the process.

Let MYMA Help

We know you’ve got what it takes to be an effective marketing generalist for your business, but when that task list gets too long, or you need specialized expertise, My Marketing Assistant is here to help. We can take one marketing task off your plate per day and turn it around to you in 24-48 hours, freeing up your time to focus on the big picture. Contact us today to learn more.