I was once asked by a group of university students for advice on pursuing a career in marketing communications. Beyond studying, embracing creativity and landing a job at an agency, what did I feel was a valuable lesson for success?
“Get out of your bubble.”
The idea is simple. As communicators, it’s important for us to understand the diversity of different markets and audiences—to engage with vibrant communities that are different from our own status-quo. The more experiences we have—the more alternatives we understand—the more valuable we will be as marketers. (I’d argue that we’re more enlightened as humans, too, …but I digress.)
I am going to add to that advice. Don’t just be open to the idea—we need to make a point of breaking out of our bubble on a regular basis. In fact, you should probably schedule it just to be 100% sure you don’t fall into a routine.
I stepped out of my own bubble last month. I spent 21 intense days with 23 smart people who rattled the boundaries of the world I am immersed in daily; a world I thought was already pretty diverse. The ages ranged from 19 to 50, with the majority being below 30. It was a mix of men and women from different social and educational backgrounds.
If I am to believe my current bubble, social media—digital literacy in general—is desired and embraced by everyone, especially young adults.
Pop.
I was the only one who had a blog, knew HTML, or had an active Twitter account. I was the only one who was on Foursquare (I became the campus mayor in a few days). Two people had Instagram accounts, but wanted to switch to SnapChat because it’s “safer and temporary” [sigh…]. Even though we were all advancing our careers, people were more interested in connecting on Facebook than LinkedIn (they didn’t realize there was a difference). In fact, a few in this group were unaware of LinkedIn. Everyone knew YouTube; no one knew Slideshare. I was the only one who had ever knowingly watched a TED talk. No one wanted to do a Google Hangout, even though that would have been very, very helpful during our time together.
No one understood a business plan or marketing strategy, let alone how to define a good plan from a pipe dream. (To be fair, I didn’t expect them to. It wasn’t that kind of work session.) Many had business ideas, though, and it seemed everyone in this group knew what it took to be a billionaire, even though none have reached the first million.
I share this to show that everyone has their bubble, even those of us who are aware of bubbles.
In my bubble of brands, business, communications and customer experiences, it’s easy to imagine the whole world engages on Social Media and understands the basics of business strategy. I was, ultimately, thrilled to have my bubble burst, and to once again remind myself that each of these new friends personified a valid target audience.
Stephen Abbott - Brand Strategist 