What Should Marketing's Class of 2015 Expect? The Customer Edge looked to our community and crowdsourced from the likes of Jonathan Becher, SAP's CDO (Chief Digital Officer) and Luke Kintigh, Intel's Chief Content Strategist, plus more - for their best marketing advice to recent grads.

1. So you want to be a Marketer…
14 Marketing Rock Stars Offer
Career Advice to Grads

2. “Start writing and sharing
any knowledge you have.”
– John Doherty (@dohertyjf),
Senior Growth Manager

3. “Most everything you learned in the
university about the practice of
marketing is, or will soon be, outdated.
My best advice is to truly focus on how
to become a compelling, creative
storyteller. It’s about wisdom, not
knowledge. Facts are commodities –
wisdom is not. If you can weave true
meaning from data, if you can fashion
useful stories from mashed-up how-to
manuals, and if you can create value in
the form of content-driven experiences,
you will be the most sought-after
marketer any company will ever want.”
– Robert Rose (@Robert_Rose),
Chief Strategy Officer

4. “New grads should obtain as much
experience as possible in creating
campaigns for businesses and
organizations. Volunteer to help local
nonprofits with their social media. Offer
to create a new logo or slogan for a friend
or family’s business. Then make sure you
record the results. Return on
investment and demonstrating that you
can help people solve their
marketing problems will get you to
the next level with a job or a new client.”
– Susan Chesley Fant
(@susanchesley), Marketing
Instructor and Corporate
Director of the Masters of
Marketing Program

5. “LinkedIn will be your catalyst to success. Don't underestimate it, and start
investing in your personal branding on it now. Always remember: It's
not what you know, it's who you know, and LinkedIn is the enabler of this
socially.”
– Chris Reed (@BlackLinkedIn),
CEO/Founder

6. “Check your ego at the door. Entry-level
marketing looks nothing like a Nike
commercial. Focus on your impact on the
business objectives every day and you will
flourish.”
– Christine Nurnberger, CMO
(@cnurns)

7. “If you want to be a career
marketer, I would recommend you
begin at one of the top CPG
companies which have well-
established training and
mentoring programs. After some
period (say 5-7 years), move to a
medium-sized technology-focused
company in a highly-competitive
category. Above all, embrace
diverse experiences.”
– Jonathan Becher,
Chief Digital Officer
@jbecher

8. “Marketing today is so broad and has many more nuances than even 10
years ago. Marketing could encompass PR, event planning, Web site
management, social media, content creation (including the use of video), and
just plain old advertising. But each of these pieces needs to serve a goal; these
tools help you reach that goal. Ask the question, “What are we trying to
achieve with this campaign?” before you start any marketing campaigns. It will
guide the tools you use and the way you use them.”
– Tracey Welson-Rossman
(@twelsonrossman), CMO

9. “One thing I have been telling aspiring
marketers to do is start and manage a
blog with 500-plus word posts. I actually
don’t think the topics matter much as
long as you create great content. Try to
do a post a week. Content is everything
these days, and real experience creating
content is critical.”
– Craig Rosenberg
(@funnelholic), Co-Founder

10. “Whether you want to go into a large consumer brand
like Uniqlo or an enterprise software company like SAP,
there are a few things that will help your baseline skills
as a marketer. A combination of
cognitive psychology paired with a quantitative course
like calculus or econometrics will be incredibly valuable
in your life as a marketer. Quantitative skills will help
you identify what to improve, and a good understanding
of human behavior and psychology will help diagnose
how to improve it. Finally, even if you don't go into a field
in technology, basic knowledge of marketing
technologies will also be helpful.”
– Maricor Resente,
Head of Marketing

11. “New grads can come from any background, but I tend to look for these skills:
great writer, creative thinker, problem solver, analytical (both with numbers and
data but also with thinking and situations in general), detail-oriented but flexible,
someone who can smile and laugh – especially at themselves. And I always ask if
the new grad has ever balanced a checkbook (demonstrates
responsibility and the ability to work with budget numbers). The skills above
don't just apply to a job description but a mindset today's marketers must have.
We have to be equal parts creative genius and metrics and analytics guru, but
we also have to have a healthy sense of humor because it is not an easy road, and
you are going to need to learn to not take yourself too seriously.”
– Liz Miller (@lizkmiller)
SVP, Marketing

12. “Become comfortable using analytical
methods and tools for organizing, mining,
and analyzing marketing data.”
– Steve King, Partner
(@smallbizlabs)

13. “Spread your marketing wings as wide as
you can. Raise your hand and get
firsthand experience in new high-growth
areas. After you've built up some
expertise, start to connect the dots to an
integrated approach. Content, media,
data, and technology – it's all coming
together, and those who understand all
parts of the ecosystem, not just some of
it, will succeed. The modern marketer
will have to be adaptable and possess a
hybrid skillset that reflects this larger
trend of convergence.”
– Luke Kintigh (@lukekintigh),
Global Content and Media
Strategist

14. “Most great career opportunities spring out of
extracurriculars – what you do, who you meet,
what you create outside of the day job.”
– Scott Cowley (@scottcowley),
Marketing Strategy Instructor,
Digital Marketer, and Researcher

15. “I came to marketing through a career in the arts – and I truly believe that this
unconventional path has been an incredible asset. Having a deep
understanding of visual culture and design is imperative for marketers and a
skill I fully recommend embracing.”
– Erika Velazquez
(@erikaalpern),
Senior Director, Brand Marketing

16. “Read The Customer Edge daily.”
– Savvy Marketers Everywhere