July 8th, 2006 by admin

This statement might sound cold and calculated, but I’ll say it anyway.  If you want to get promoted within a large corporation, the last thing you want to do is get so good at your job that the higher ups believe no one else can do it.  As marketers rise through the ranks, they need to show proficiency in all aspects of marketing.  They need to show that they are awesome generalists not specialists.

The age old saying is that a specialist knows more and more about less and less until eventually they know absolutely everything about nothing.  On the other hand a generalist knows less and less about more and more until eventually they know nothing about everything.  The ideal is to err on the side of the generalist.  A chief Marketing Officer needs to know a little about everything in all levels of the organization.

So, back to getting promoted -  Say you are an SEO Marketing Manager and you have a goal of being VP of Marketing for the organization.  During your routine review do not focus on all of your SEO accomplishments.  Don’t get me wrong.  You need to show you are kicking ass in your position, but do not dwell on it.  Instead try to show how your accomplishments relate to other functions in the department.

When talking to superiors within the marketing department keep the conversation high level.  Talk about marketing issues outside of SEO or explain how these issues relate.  Likewise, when talking to superiors from other departments try to show your cross-functional knowledge.

If you do so, you will show that you are able to operate on a high level.  If you don’t, you will be pigeonholed as a SEO Geek and your only promotional opportunity will be to eventual become Director of SEO Marketing.  A powerless title whose only dominion is very land you were trying to escape.