NEWSFLASH

unicorns are dead

To all the marketers, social media managers and content creators out there, constantly being fed ‘unicorn’ job descriptions… we feel you.   

The job descriptions where you’re expected to wear all the hats. The Strategy and Planning hat, as well as the Editor hat. The Paid Ads hat. The job descriptions that say you need to know all the planning tools, the Adobe tools, all the data tools… all the tools, tools, tools. Plus, obviously you need to have at least five years of experience and a degree under your belt.  

If you’re thinking of joining a small marketing team that tries to do it all in house with little outsourcing, know these jobs set you up for failure. You’ll be swapping the hats, day in day out, trying your hardest to reach your objectives and to prove to your manager you really know what you’re doing. And then you’ll doubt yourself… do you really know what you’re doing? You thought you were relatively good at [insert skill] hat. Queue the downward spiral. Sooner than later, you find yourself with less time to wear all the hats because now you’re spending most of your day on Seek.com trying to find a new job!  

Most people have one or two strong skills, and the rest is periphery knowledge that helps them make informed decisions and guide others. You need to find a job that really allows these one or two skills to shine. A role that allows you to lean on others for the other stuff where you know what you want done, but you’re not the expert. And to any employers with smaller budgets reading this – you’d be best to stop looking for unicorns and think about making your marketing budget work harder by choosing just a few tried and tested tactics and getting specialists to complete the work, while your marketing manager works on the strategy and planning.  

Any role description asking for candidates to have mastered all the skills and all the tools indicates the manager doesn’t really understand what’s involved and chances are, they’re also in over their heads. There'll be little support or guidance due to a lack of knowledge on the manager’s end and strategic objectives won’t be met because the marketing manager/paid ads specialist/graphic designer/social media manager/content writer/communications specialist is simply exhausted trying to keep ahead of all the trends and do the impossible.   

If you’re looking at applying for one of these roles, we implore you to keep looking for a role with less hats. If you’re in one of these roles, get in touch with us to see if we can lighten your load and wear a couple of those hats for you – your six jobs for the price of one and a half. You get a dedicated creative team that have honed their craft, working together on your brand, without all the overheads of permanent staff, but with all the dedication.   

We’re here to help support marketing teams do their jobs and do their jobs well, helping them to shine… and ultimately, we’re here to help businesses reach their key objectives and keep their team happy and engaged!  

So, what’s the key takeaway for the marketers out there already overwhelmed by the year ahead?  

Think about the things you do day to day that take you waaaaay longer than you know they should because you’re not tapping into your core competencies, and do your best to find the budget to outsource those tasks. Not only will you look like a superstar, kicking goals and reaching targets, focusing on what you do best... but you'll also be healthier, happier and better prepared to tackle the ever changing landscape that we all love.

Spread the word.