By George Farris

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Good morning marketing professionals, class of 2025!  This is your wake up call. It’s time for you to join the workforce full time.

You have student loans to pay back and your parents are anxious for you to move out. They need your bedroom because Dad wants a man cave and Mom can’t wait to move his ratty recliner in there. So you need employment and income now.

Which may explain why you are probably going to be starting your career in sales, not in marketing. According to the nonprofit Sales Education Foundation, 88% of marketing majors start their post-grad careers in sales. (Pause here for you to take a deep breath.)

Yes sales, not marketing. Look at the upside — sales careers are packed with opportunity and financial upside. It may be disappointing, especially if you expected to be working in the creative part of marketing.

Now, if you really, really want a job in marketing, you can probably still get one, but Dad may have to wait a few more years to get his man cave. A newbie marketing staffer doesn’t make much, and the self-employment route can be hyper-risky. 

However, for those courageous or crazy enough to push forward and seek that job or self-employment in marketing, I have a few tips that should help you and your employer or client. I don’t have much space here, but it’s a good start.

Marketing is the art and science of selling. 

Every aspect of marketing, from advertising to website development, is meant to help you sell a product or a service. Working for a nonprofit? You are still selling. Convincing folks to make a donation, convincing foundations to provide grants, selling the community on using your services …

Creativity is critical for success. I’m not talking about drawing or painting. Creativity is the ability to generate or recognize ideas, alternatives or possibilities that may be useful in solving problems, communicating with others and entertaining ourselves and others. This is a good time to bring up AI.

AI combines existing ideas and presents them as the solution. 

But creative marketers generate ideas that are unique and usually never used before for the problem they are solving.

Message is the most powerful component of marketing.  

Media and marketing apps and software that provide creative and functional shortcuts make your job easier. But it’s the message that sells the product or service. It’s not always as obvious as Nike’s “Just Do It” slogan — it might be your offerings, your branding and your connections with your customer’s base.

Different is better than new. 

Different will always sell more/better than “new.” New just says you are one additional choice.

Pain relief is the most effective marketing strategy. 

When you can identify and solve a problem — relieve a prospect’s pain — you sell more. A lot more.

Good luck, Next Gen. Let’s get Dad into that man cave ASAP.

George Farris is CEO of Farris Marketing and StrategiX Social.