While I believe human resources, technology, and management are changing, marketing is changing more quickly.
If you continue hiring as you did in 2000, you could have "okay" success. But if you're still doing marketing as you did in 2000, it's over.
It's less about changing methods or tactics.
It's more about a radical shift in thinking.
You could still use print ads successfully. But how you think about them and where they fit in your marketing strategy has changed drastically.
That's why I believe the top skill for future marketers is contrarian optimism.
"Cynicism is easy. Mimicry is easy. Optimistic contrarians are the rarest breed." – Naval Ravikant.
An optimistic contrarian can relearn and build from foundations to think critically.
"A contrarian isn't one who always objects—that's a conformist of a different sort. A contrarian reasons independently from the ground up and resists pressure to conform." – Naval Ravikant.
There's much pressure to conform, stick your flag in the ground, and never pick it back up. But with new platforms emerging and shifts in buyer mentality, you need to be able to reason independently to get the best result.
While this skill is great for all areas of life, I find it crucial to effective marketing. You're likely to conform to "best practices" and fail to think for yourself without it.
So, how do you become more of an optimistic contrarian?
Understand the fundamentals. You cannot reason from the ground up if you fail to grasp the basics.
So, what are the fundamentals?
- Mental models (i.e., the four Ps of marketing)
- Frameworks (i.e., hook, body, reward for writing)
- Theories (i.e., why long copy sells for high consideration products)
While I know little about the fundamentals, I am at least making an effort to learn and research them. That's the first step.
The second step is to overcome the fear of making mistakes. When you take a different path or approach, there is an inherent risk.
Even if it fails, it's safer to do what's always been done. That's why we conform rather than reason from the ground up and make an independent decision that could clash with the status quo.
How do you overcome that fear? Through action.
Do it once, and get through it. Then do it again. Soon, thinking for yourself and avoiding confirmation will be second nature.
It's not easier to become an optimistic contrarian, but I believe it's a skill that will reward you tenfold in the future.
What skill do you think marketers should focus on for the future?
🧠 + ❤️ // JO