I remember being introduced as the keynote speaker for an ad agency conference in San Francisco. They introduced me as a leading “expert” in my field. When I took the podium, I kindly asked them to no longer call me an expert, because “ex” means former and “spurt” is a drip under pressure. That was funny then. But not now.
Today, I ask my marketing team and those introducing me for podcasts or speaking engagements to please refrain from using the word “expert” for other reasons. I think it has become meaningless. There are way too many self-proclaimed experts.
Especially in the marketing and branding world. Most everyone thinks they are an expert. Just ask them. Or, simply look at their social posts and service offerings.
The Glut of Marketing “Professionals”
According to a recent study, there are more than 50 Million solopreneurs in the United States. A significant portion of them are likely operating in the marketing field due to the accessibility of digital marketing tools and the high demand for freelance marketing services. On top of that, there are over 600,000 marketing professionals and 500,000 advertising, promotions, and marketing managers. Can there really be that many people that genuinely know marketing to the degree it is worth investing in them to improve your business? There is a current glut of marketing professionals today, which makes finding a good one very challenging. It makes finding a genuine authority nearly impossible.
Transformational Media Shift Created Talent Silos
The over-abundance of marketing “professionals” has occurred for many different reasons, the most significant being the global transformation from traditional media to digital media. This paradigm shift has resulted in a growing demand for digital marketing services, which in and of itself has multiple subspecialties within its ranks. Diverse digital marketing channels such as social media, content marketing, SEO, PPC, email, conversion optimization and influencer marketing have opened up a wide range of specialties and subspecialties within marketing, allowing people to call themselves “experts” in many different micro-niche areas.
These micro-niche areas within the digital marketing space have created a marketing industry landscape full of silos where self-proclaimed marketing experts bury themselves to carve out their piece of the pie. Sure, there are some legit talents in each silo, but they are the exception and sifting through them all is a monumental challenge.
Moreover, many micro-niche players just want to check their box on your project and go on to the next box, never having a clue as to how something fits in to an overall brand strategy. In many instances, I’ve learned they don’t even care if, or how, it fits in. This creates a very tumultuous, and many times, ineffective work flow and end result.
And who quarterbacks these silo dwellers? Who assesses real talent, then legitimately brings them all together to create a successful team to guide your brand alignment or marketing initiatives? As an entrepreneur, is that you or do you have a large enough budget to hire a proven branding agency? If you do, will you be a large enough client to command attention or will you be stuck with the incompetent talent at the bottom, essentially going back to sifting through the silos on your own?
Information Accessibility Makes Everyone a Pro
The second reason there are so many self-proclaimed marketing pros is the accessibility to Information. The internet provides vast resources for self-education, enabling anyone to learn marketing skills independently and position themselves as experts in their niche, so they claim. If they don’t know the answer, they can Google it rather quickly to sound like an expert, at least enough to trick entrepreneurs into hiring them. I am not claiming they do this to intentionally deceive the client, but they have certainly deceived themselves into thinking they are experts.
And now, AI makes everyone a writer. With a good prompt engineer, AI can make you a great writer, and no client will ever know that you created their marketing content in 30 seconds even though you bill by the hour. AI is drastically changing the marketing development process and will ultimately yield many benefits if you provide it the correct input. Once again however, easy access makes everyone a pro.
Marketing Career Excitement
Another reason for the over-abundance of marketing experts is the pure excitement of the marketing world. The demand for business school degrees in marketing began accelerating in 2000 when the term “branding” started catching on and the internet was preparing for take off. These two events plus the propensity for socially gregarious types to gravitate towards a “fun” job generated significant interest in the marketing discipline, especially among women. Today’s best numbers show 65% of the marketing professionals in the field are female and 35% their male counterparts.
Marketing IS a fun industry and rather exciting career, but fun and excitement don’t necessarily make one fit for leading entrepreneurs in the direction of their business.
Anyone Can Play
You can’t fake being a pro football player or race car driver. You can’t hide and pretend to be a successful engineer or heart surgeon. But you CAN fake being a marketing professional. Millions do.
The U.S. has a thriving entrepreneurial culture that encourages individuals to branch out and offer their expertise. I love that free enterprise spirit! In marketing, however, it causes a huge problem because anyone with a cell phone can have AI generate a quick graphic, snap a photo, add some words, and call themselves a marketing “expert.” In other words, there is no barrier to entry, start-up costs are nil, and there is no degree or accreditation required.
The average business person cannot readily discern the difference in one marketing person from the next, and that education can be expensive. Heading down the path with the wrong marketing “expert” can turn your brand off and be an enormous drain on all of your resources, especially lost time and opportunity costs. False starts are more expensive than you might imagine.
How This Impacts Your Business
As an entrepreneur, you are constantly in search of best-in-class talent to either work for your company or serve as counsel to you in your quest for success. Historically, the word marketing has been an all-inclusive term that covered anything to do with the promotions, sales, or the image of your organization. As you can see, it is now far more than that, yet you still have to make the right choices You still need a quarterback.
It is no longer advisable to simply search out a “marketing” person to help you with your marketing needs. Even a CMO, Chief Marketing Officer, does not always cover the certain levels of expertise and direction that you may require. It all depends on your situation, your market, and your goals. There is no one silver bullet.
Recently a client came to me saying he had been on a quest to find a CMO because his business had stagnated and was not getting the return on the advertising spend they had previously experienced. This owner asked me to help him find the right CMO to grow his business, when in all actuality, the last thing he needed was a CMO. He needed to change the name of his company, which he did not want to do. He never hired that CMO, but he did change his name to achieve brand alignment, and has now grown his business 40% year over year for three years.
Thanks For The Wisdom, But What Do I Do Next?
I have the utmost respect for those who can make millions being a “marketer” or influencer on their cell phones. I am insanely envious of that type of talent and ability to complete all of your work from your lap with almost zero investment. If you are in that space, or want to be, there are certainly a lot of talented solopreneurs who are digital players that can catapult your growth. Just make sure they remain in alignment with your brand strategy and core values.
If you are not in that space, you must be diligent in selecting someone to guide you and your business strategy. Think about this; even in 2000, before the digital media world blew up, only about 2% of the top talents in the marketing and branding strategy world were truly brilliant and capable of giving you precise counsel. These people were both gifted and experienced. They were REAL experts. The rest were support staff. Do you think that percentage has changed?
In preparing to launch my self-proclaimed “Philanthropic Knowledge Transfer” via my new book, Brand ON! and my new podcast series, The Brand ON! Show, I hired three different teams of “marketing” professionals. I went 0 for 3 at the plate and struck out, firing two in 30 days and one in 60 days. Throughout the process, I was siloed to death. Today’s marketplace is chocked full of people claiming to be one form of marketing expert or another, and most are not. I could go on forever about those experiences but will summarize by saying I thank God I finally have the right team.
To assess your own brand alignment, or find someone who can help you, start by reading my book Brand ON! The Hidden Power of Brand Alignment. You will be far better prepared to start your journey. Plus, there are two powerful tools included free with the book, The BrainDrain℠ and The Alignment Checklist, which will give you a jump start and place to collaborate with prospective professionals who can give you the best guidance. Invest the time to understand what your brand could look like in perfect alignment and why you need to work with the right partner to get you there. Endeavor to find someone who has the obvious capabilities and proven track record to be in the Top 2% of brand strategy talent. And please, don’t let the term“expert” fool you.
If you are ready to amp up the power of brand alignment, get more information at https://brandoncolemanjr.com
And don’t forget to tune in to The Brand ON! Show, a podcast we drop every Tuesday morning.