And while they might not like your ideas for branding or plans for the future of your company, it’s your job to bring them on board.Amidst all those high-profile meetings, branding exercises, marketing campaigns and brainstorming sessions, you’re going to need to chat to those from other parts of your business. More than this, you’ll have to work on the same wavelength if you want to push through your ideas.
So, what should you do to get the others in your business on your side?
Market yourself
What kind of a marketer are you if you can’t even convince those in your office that you’re the Don Draper of content creation?
Your first task for gaining the trust in your peers is to market yourself as a viable brand in your office. Make sure you’re the first person to voice an idea, know everyone’s name in your workplace and try to spend quality time with your boss – essentially, you have to schmooze with the best of them to gain respect.
Also be sure to stay clean and natty looking. Like those boozing, cruising, schmoozing Mad Men, you have to look the part if you want to lead your brand.
Know other fields
A quality marketer has to talk the talk and walk the walk – and blag their way through anything.
But if you want to really key into a business, try gaining a Master in Business Administration from a university, allowing you to understand the ins and outs of financing your ideas. While it can be hard work on top of a marketing degree, being able to conjure up accounts and understand the human resources side of your business can make marketing and trust all the easier.
Experiment on co-workers
Have a look around your office – there’s Margaret, the 50-year-old receptionist who likes sewing; Clara, the loud mouthed twenty-something in IT; Matt, the shy 30-year-old who seems to lurk by the printer all day; and tons more.
What use are they to you? They’re all representative of differing demographics, allowing you to test out phrases, gimmicks and brand ideas on your readymade audience.
Your fellow co-workers will instantly take a shine to you with this method, and management will see that you’re bringing your team closer together.
Incorporate Incorporated
Like some kind of marketing maniac, it’s tempting to bend the rest of the company to your will. You’ll insist that your slogan is THE slogan, your demographic THE most important – but nobody will like you.
Cooperation is the key to good business relations, ensuring everyone in your office gets on. But this is especially the case in marketing, where creative thinking and production makes teamwork an absolute necessity.
More than just accepting the help of others, try to merge their great ideas with your great ideas to create one massive idea. It might seem like an obvious suggestion, but marketing meetings are so filled with high maintenance personalities that it’s impossible to get a word in edgeways.
Show that you can work in a team and you’ll be welcome in any meeting.
