Our next zodiac sign is Taurus: birthdays between April 20 – May 20.
Taurus is an earth sign with the following strengths: reliable, patient, practical, devoted, responsible and stable. Many of these are strengths that businesses are looking for in a marketing agency, or any partnership for that matter. We’ll also take a look at Taurus’ weaknesses: stubborn, possessive and uncompromising. Some of these are no-no’s in marketing, yet some may be useful in small quantities.
Reliability in Marketing
Let’s face it, being reliable is a must in ANY business. What does reliability in marketing look like? Meeting deadlines and staying within budget. If you foresee an over-budget project or missing a deadline, reliability is communicating that in a timely manner. Being available when a client needs you gives them the ability to rely on you. We sometimes say that there’s no such thing as a “marketing emergency,” but when a client’s website goes down, reliability is being there to help them get it back up and running, as quickly as possible, with no qualms. This also goes for a new launch. If a client has an aggressive deadline, reliability will reach that deadline—every time.
Patience in Marketing
From personal relationships to business, patience can be useful in many aspects of life.. It’s especially useful in the marketing world, where campaigns are often more about visibility and recognition and can take weeks or even months to yield results. In the case of a website SEO campaign or a digital advertising campaign, patience is needed to analyze. The more data you have to analyze, the better you will be able to project, extrapolate and adjust your ads accordingly. Consider websites themselves and the large amount of time you need to invest in them, especially if your content is extensive. Patience will pay off with large websites, because you want to make sure to spend the time needed to stay organized. If you fail to do this, the project can become a disaster!
Responsibility in Marketing
First and foremost, marketers have a responsibility to our clients. We have a responsibility to ensure that we remain true to their brand when executing campaigns. We have a responsibility to deliver our projects on time and within budget. But we also have a great responsibility, as any business does, to the planet and to do what we can to work in a way that is respectful to our resources. We do simple things, like work from home when we can, or cancel all those magazine subscriptions that often go unread. We don’t print emails when we don’t need to and we use digital notebooks as often as possible (sometimes you just have to write on paper, but we do so consciously!). We turn off our monitors, computers and lights when we leave the office.
Avoid: Being Uncompromising in Marketing
Now, there are times when you need to stand your ground and defend a great idea. And then there are times when you just have to let go! All of us marketers think that we know what’s best for the client (and frankly, we often do), but if they just can’t live with something that you think is great, you have to let go. If you don’t, the client may end up unhappy, unable to get that one little detail off their mind or the timeline may be extended and you’ll miss your deadline. Either way, use your business brain over your creative brain and be professional when you surrender.
As marketers, we work with a variety of businesses, so we encounter many business situations – soft skills like those described above are necessary. We are constantly developing these skills so that we can better serve our clients in this creative, strategic space. Get in touch with us if you need our expertise in design or branding!
