Why content is still the easiest way to break into startup marketing
Plus: How hiring in content marketing has changed (and not changed) since AI
This is the second essay of four on getting into and building a career in startup marketing. The first one was about the two books you have to read if you are just starting your career.
This one is about something way more tactical: How to break into your first startup job.
I had got into this at a small session I had put together, and this was, I think, the most important point I made: Content remains the easiest way to get into the field.
To understand why and then how to use this advantage, you need to take note of two things.
First, AI has rendered obsolete the job that gave me my break, that of the entry-level content writer. Any half decent storyteller can now use AI to put together some solid research and a first draft, which can then be polished into an awesome blog or article. In 2011, this was in itself a skill. Today, this job does not exist.
Second, the burden of proof of work is now more important than ever. Startups simply do not have the time to train young talent to do their jobs. So they are willing to pay a premium for someone who can demonstrate ability and a willingness to do the hard yards. All a candidate needs to do is show this.
What do these two things mean, when taken together?
Simple, that the bar is now higher, but also that if you can scale that bar, you are off to the races. When you want to show proof of work as a young, unproven talent, what easier way than five crisp new SEO-ready blogs that can immediately go on to the website. Or if it’s a startup whose marketing is heavily social, 5 new creative, cool reels. If the product is being sold by the founder’s brand, 5 new Linkedin posts that are guaranteed to work. Make these things and take them to the interview, or pitch yourself with all this output. You’ll be snapped up immediately.
Now contrast this with sales, or product marketing, or product management. Of course you can demonstrate ability here too, but the knowledge gap is so much more wider, the difficulty all the more pronounced. But with content, the bar is just high enough, and the effort needed clearly visible to you.
Back in 2015, a young mentee of mine broke into Freshworks this way: He turned up to the interview with a beautifully made set of creatives that could immediately go on social media. He got the job, and ran the company’s social media for 3 or 4 years, before moving on to product management, a field he has again excelled at. He is now a product manager in Berlin.
He made his career because he did the work, and chose the best way to showcase it.
This opportunity is available to you too. Take it.
The next two essays in this series are:
1. Five things no one tells you about building a career
2. You have health insurance and life insurance, but do you have career insurance?
If you think these topics would be useful for your friends and colleagues who are freshers or just entering marketing, ask them to subscribe!
One last thing. I put this up last week too, and got some interest.
I’ve been planning a quarter-long mentorship programme for early-career marketing professionals in startups. A few readers and friends have been encouraging me to create a program, but I have been reticent, mostly because I’ve no time!
But the session last month made it clear that there is a need for something of this kind.
So if you are interested, and would like to know more, please email me at sairamkrishnan@outlook.com. Would love to discuss.
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