Hey Croners! Let’s be honest, everyone wants to become a CMO, right? But here’s the kicker, especially in those early career years: having a mentor to shed light on your path and guide you makes all the difference. It keeps you from getting stuck in mistakes or falling into bad habits.
And since we’ve been there, we’ve got your back: “𝟓 𝐓𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐞 𝐂𝐌𝐎𝐬 (𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐰𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐣𝐨𝐛 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐮𝐬)”, is our new column where great CMOs will share their knowledge and suggestions just like an old friend.
Cool, right?
We are so proud of our second great guest: Greta Beccarello CMO & Co-Founder @ GRLS.
Curiosity has fueled her whole career leading to learn how to work in the creative industry with technical skills and empathy.
We are are sure you’ll fall for her advices: becoming a CMO is a great adventure and thanks to her precious suggestions, it’ll surely be a funny one as well.
Thank you, Greta for being part of this column!
Get inspired!
1) Can you tell us who Greta is in just 20 words? (we know it's tough, but it's just a warm-up)
I’m a Creative (and multipotentialite!) with a strong passion for branding, iconic design pieces & great music. But everything is relative so…
2) Tell us about your professional experience. Where did you start, and where are you now? Feel free to use as many words as you want!
My professional experience started at the age of 18, shortly after packing my bags to move to London from a small town in the North-East of Italy. Like many others, I’ve started getting my hands dirty in hospitality and retail (had to support myself whilst going to Uni in London). These first few years of my life were incredibly formative: despite the fact that I wasn’t exactly doing what I was “meant to do”, I learnt one of the most important lessons and skills: empathy.
Being always in direct contact with people and having to deal with difficult situations helped me develop a curiosity for anything human-related. Fast forward a few years, I graduated from “Design Management” at LCC, UAL, and started working in the Creative Industry; branding, communication and marketing soon became part of my everyday routine and in 2020 I decided to become a Creative Freelancer and only work with women, to make the Creative Industry more inclusive and welcoming.
I always knew that one day, I’ll manage my own way of building brands and delivering strategies and that’s why I founded my own creative practice.
After taking this leap, I stumbled across GRLS and in 2021 joined the team to become Head of Content. From content to setting up the digital marketing strategy from scratch, I’ve tackled multiple pivots and am excited for the new Era of GRLS.
The rest is history and I’m proud of how far we (and I!) have come.
3) And now, let's move on to the main question of this column: What are 5 tips you would give to someone who wants to start working in marketing today?
Before diving into some more practical tips I’d like to start with a disclaimer:
- You don’t need a fancy Marketing degree to do this job. I personally think this is so overrated and can feel quite scary, especially for those who have a real passion for communication and want to start working in marketing-related roles.
- Be prepared to un-know what you have learnt; the marketing world (especially the digital side) moves so quickly that you constantly have to face changes, run tests and try new tools.
On top of these two “unusual” tips I’d like to add to:
- Be curious: like anything in life, curiosity is key to fuel innovation and creative thinking. Whether it is trying new tools or different CTAs, new designs or different touch points, try to face any campaign with fresh eyes and let yourself be inspired by the unexpected.
- Be flexible: you need to be open and prepared to adapt, collaborate, take in feedback and re-consider whatever you are doing. From a logical perspective, flexibility allows you to be disruptive and think outside the box; from a collaborative point of view, it helps you overcome challenges and always find creative solutions.
- Put yourself into their shoes, not yours: the biggest mistake I’ve always observed when working with people on marketing & communication is that most forget that they are talking to someone who is not themselves! We must always remember to put ourselves into our target audience’s shoes and therefore understand their needs, their pain points and their values. This information will be key in crafting campaigns and strategies.
Lastly, don’t be scared to try different roles and responsibilities! The Marketing World is so broad that you might find that you are good at something very specific (i.e. SEO or Content Marketing) and therefore can focus on creating a career path as an Expert in one vertical field.
Just don’t forget to have fun along the way!!
Keep reading 5 Tips for CMOs Wannabe!
