Everyone has their area of expertise, and it is impossible to excel at everything you try. That isn’t up for debate.
What is on the table to discuss: weaponized incompetence.
I’m sure you’ve seen this phrase tossed around on social media, typically in reels or posts where partners point out how their significant other is “bad” at a chore in order to never be assigned that chore again.
Weaponized incompetence extends beyond home life. It affects the workplace, too. Two areas in particular where incompetence typically rears itself in agency life are:
- Marketing 101 Basics
- Effective Communication
While you don’t need to be an expert in digital advertising, a coding pro, or a social media guru (that’s our job!), understanding the basics of marketing is always a smart business decision. In the long run, it will help save you:
- Money: Unfortunately, some companies use big words to seem more relevant. Understanding the basics can help you read between the lines and find partners that are providing valuable services and weed out the ones who are trying to sell extra sh*t you don’t need.
- Time: Do you really want to sit through two (or three or four) meetings rehashing the same marketing concept or platform? Probably not.
Plus, understanding the basics goes hand-in-hand with more effective communication with your marketing team or agency.
“If you’re not regularly getting better at your digital toolbox, you’re actually getting worse.” – Seth Godin
To make sure that everyone is speaking the same marketing language, it’s important to:
- Define your agency relationship and expectations. Some agencies thrive on being a vendor (i.e., you tell them exactly what you want), while others prefer a relationship-based partnership (i.e., collaborating with the agency team to generate new strategies and ideas).
- Be open to new business ideas. If you want a relationship-based partnership, your marketing agency should have a seat at your decision-making table.
- Understand that “perfect” isn’t possible, and micromanagement kills creativity. Try to embrace testing and experimenting to reduce personal biases and optimize for content your audience actually engages with.
- Ask questions if you need clarification on terminology! We want to catch you up to speed on the latest terms and trends. Tbh, we GEEK OUT over getting the chance to explain marketing concepts or ideas. We are also happy to guide you through finding reputable partners. And collaborating with your expertise and unique business understanding helps get projects to the finish line.
As marketers, we work hard to analyze the latest trends, find better ways to optimize platforms, and become the guinea pig for new digital tools before implementing them with client accounts. We then use our knowledge to provide options for clients. We want to empower them to make the best decision for their business.
At the end of the day, we are your marketing guide but we aren’t the owner. And throwing up your hands at the first sign of a marketing question isn’t a healthy way to run a company. Using tools from your team, being resourceful, and developing knowledge-based communication and collaboration efforts with your marketing team will provide greater results and long term success.
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