After pushing yourself to attend a marketing event last Friday, one of your new connections suggested you focus on your professional development. Intrigued and eager to learn more, you nodded in agreement but didn’t seize the opportunity to ask where or how you should start. That’s when you realized it was finally time to take control of your marketing career. If you’ve thought about investing in yourself and your professional development, don’t wait, the time is now.
Since marketing is constantly evolving, continuous learning and investing in professional development will help you get ahead and stay there. So, what is professional development? According to Business News Daily, professional development is enhancing or acquiring skills so you can excel in your current role or land a new one. You can think of it like improving what you do or adding new talents to advance your career to continue doing what drives you.
Attending the networking event was a good start as industry mixers and networking events are an excellent opportunity to learn from the experiences of others, gain new perspectives and change the way you think. In a profession where things change quickly, interacting and building relationships within your profession is vital. According to an article on Medium by Begum Avci, networking is essential to professional development.
Learning to communicate effectively and network might help you establish a connection with someone who happens to hold the key to a door you have been trying to open. Try to attend as many networking events as possible. The more events you attend, the more comfortable you will be communicating with peers.
Another thing you can do to invest in your professional development in marketing, is to set time aside to read Canadian magazines like Applied Arts, Direct Marketing News, Marketing Magazine, Strategy Magazine, and Ad News. You could also visit websites like Marketing News Canada, or Campaign in Canada, to name a few. Try to absorb what you read and learn while taking the time to understand the ideas.
If you read a blog on a successful ad campaign, don’t stop there, visit websites like adsoftheworld.com, to see the executions for social media, print, out-of-home, and television commercials. It’s a great way to see the concept and get an idea of how the campaign came together.
Do your research, sign up for courses, and attend webinars offered by professional organizations. For example, the Canadian Marketing Association (CMA), offers the Chartered Marketer program which will update your marketing skills and knowledge with the latest trends, technology, and strategies so you can become a more well rounded marketer.
Marketing and advertising are about more than pretty pictures and headlines; it’s about searching for a unique selling point and using it creatively to entice customers to reach into their pockets and choose your product or service over the competitors.
Since you get training at work, you might be wondering, “What’s the difference between training and professional development?” Tami Meyer's article on Business News Daily says the difference between training and professional development is that training is provided so you understand how to handle tasks in your current role, while professional development teaches you to apply new knowledge and skills when you need it, now or in the future.
In an article published on Success, Bryan Lindenberger says the knowledge gained from professional development can also provide you with the strength and confidence to meet challenges within and outside the organization. If you don’t invest in continuous learning to keep up with technological advancements, new techniques, or the latest strategies, you may outlive your usefulness.
While everyone’s journey is different, devoting time to professional development is a step every aspiring marketer should take. Whether you choose to invest in yourself or not, could be the difference between being unemployed, being good or being great.
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