Working in-house presents particular challenges for marketing and creative professionals. Often you are a department of one or very few with an enormous amount of tasks and responsibilities. Juggling different priorities, deadlines, and personalities can be overwhelming. Maresa spent 20+ years as an in-house marketing & creative professional, and here are some hard-won lessons on how to survive and thrive in the high-pressure boundary-breaking environment that is often in-house. Maresa encourages you to fly your freak flag because you think differently than your colleagues. Here are the truths and hard-won lessons from a presentation given by Maresa for the American Advertising Federation in Evansville, ID, in May 2023.
Understand You ARE Different
Businesses and organizations can be a chess game of hierarchy strategy. As a creative type, you are a Pegasus Unicorn and don’t quite fit. As a Pegasus, you can fly over the chess board and land and help out where you are most needed.
You ARE a Leader
Innovation and creativity are vital for every organization. Your title is not who you are; if your job is to create, then you are creative. And because businesses die without innovation and creativity, you are a leader and vital to your organization’s success.
Manage Up
Managing your managers can be one of the most valuable tools for in-house folks. Flip the power structure on its head and manage your supervisors and leadership. You can manage exceptions, set boundaries, and develop a functional, healthy workplace for yourself by managing your managers.
- One-on-One Meetings with Your Boss
- Be honest about your workload and capacity
- Have them help you prioritize & communicate – make a weekly list of everything you have to do, including time estimates for each project, and let your supervisor decide how you spend your time.
- Your boss should be your best advocate
Caveat: Escape Toxic
Managing up and many other techniques in this list won’t work if you are in a toxic workplace. You can only change yourself and your perspective. No one person can change a toxic workplace culture. Chronic stress will take a toll on your mental health and physical body. If you are in a toxic situation, it is best to start developing your exit plan.
Use Data and Awards to Prove Your Ideas & Expertise
Prove your efforts are effective and your expertise by outside recognition. As creatives, we can be dramatically insecure about our work. Entering and winning awards can help get much-desired outside validation. Leaders love numbers, so if you prove that your work is providing results, you can get more resources. Don’t spin your numbers, and watch out for vendors who spin data.
Utilize Your Vendors & Subcontractors
Amazing vendors are valuable mentors. Awful vendors are lessons. Your vendors can be your own personal tutor. You also might not be as trusted as an external source. Lack of trust and authority is often the bane of in-house existence. You can have your vendors suggest ideas to your leadership to help get things through.
Get OVER Perfect
If you are in-house, you are likely wearing many hats and managing multiple projects (website, social, email, collateral, advertising, comedian, etc.). Often, you are also working for numerous different departments that each have their own priorities. In-house work is typically about volume production; perfect will get in the way. Strive to produce meaningful results for your company, not spend too much on unnecessary branding or spray-and-pray advertising.
Find YOUR People at Industry Events
The axiom “Your Network is Your Net Worth” is true for in-house folks. Get out into your community to connect with other creatives and industry colleagues in real life. Even in the age of remote work, facetime still matters. The American Advertising Federation and other industry groups are a great way to network and learn about industry issues. Networking can help you find your next job or connect you with future clients should you venture out on your own someday.
Boundaries – Boundaries – Boundaries
Firm, healthy boundaries are foundational for in-house creatives. Some boundaries to consider:
- Scheduling & Time Management
- Meetings Participation (Creatives are frequently asked to come up with brilliant solutions on the spot in meetings which are the most uncreative format)
- Proofing Processes & Revisions (Make your internal “clients” understand that if they go beyond 2-3 proofs, the timeline will be impacted.)
Get comfortable enforcing your boundaries.
Project Management WILL Save Your Sanity
Shift to treating your internal marketing department as an agency. Implement all the procedures and tools that agencies use. Let your internal “clients” know that deadlines will shift if a project goes beyond two proofing cycles. Chargeback your team’s time to other departments. This way, leadership and you can see where your team’s time is going. If leadership wants you focused on sales, but you are spending 80% of your time on another department, this data will indicate a shift is necessary.
Project Management Tools:
- Work Orders
- Time Estimates
- Change Orders
- Charge Backs
- Task Management
- Milestone Tracking
P.S. Toggl is an excellent, easy-to-use free time-tracking tool.
Doing Right is ALWAYS RIGHT
If you are asked to do something in your job that deeply compromises your core values, don’t do it. Saying no is hard, but living with yourself may be harder.
Q.T.I.P
Quit Taking It Personally
Creatives can be a highly sensitive bunch and can get deeply personally attached to the work. Ultimately, it is just business and not worth your time getting overly hurt or obsessing over negative comments. Tape a cotton swab to your monitor as a reminder to stop taking everything so personally.
Admit Your Mistakes
Owing up to your mistakes is one of the most powerful things you can do in your career. Saying “I messed up” will often get you more respect than trying to pass the blame onto others. Mistakes are tuition in your career, and many leaders will tell you that mistakes provide the very best lessons.
Your Education, Training & Networking is Your Priority
In the past 20 years, the advertising and marketing landscape has completely transformed with the rise of the internet and social media. Staying up-to-date on new and emerging technologies is critical for creating and marketing folks. Tools like AI generators and Canva can be assets.
Attend workshops, conferences, educational events, and online classes.
Get industry certifications of skills from Google, Hubspot, and LinkedIn. Sign up for quality e-newsletters.
Read Inspirational Books:
- Radical Careering & Fascinate – Sally Hogshead
- Orbiting the Giant Hairball – Gordon MacKenzie
- The Do-It-Yourself Lobotomy – Tom Monahan
- There is No B2B or B2C: It’s Human to Human – Bryan Kramer
- Pretty Much Everything – Aaron Draplin
- It’s Not How Good You Are, Its How Good You Want To Be – Paul Arden
- Hey Whipple, Squeeze This – Luke Sullivan
- Keep Going- Austin Kleon
- Strategic Doing: Ten Skills for Agile Leadership
- Book from the Ground: from point to point – Xu Bing
All you have at the end of your current job is your education, skills, portfolio, and network.
Staying Creative & Inspired IS Your Job
No job is going to keep you inspired and engaged all of the time. Your responsibility is to take care of your creative brain, mental health, and happiness. Creativity thrives in spaciousness, so turn off all electronics and take a screen break for extended periods. Find hobbies and activities that fulfill you.
“Here is a list of one of the many things I do to keep creative and energized. Yes, I am in my 40s; yes, I dress up as a butterfly and dance at silent disco parties by the river; yes, it brings me immense joy.” – Maresa Thompson
In the end, it is essential to remember that as an in-house creative and marketing Pegasus/ Unicorn, you are special and unique and provide so much value to your organization and the world. Never forget that.
Constellation Creative provides affordable websites, SEO/AEO, digital marketing, and advertising with a data-driven strategy.
Contact us today to learn how we can help your business or organization meet your growth goals.
Notice: AI was not used in writing this blog.
This blog article was written entirely by a real human being, Maresa Thompson, the old-fashioned way, with research and writing skills. AI was only used for spelling and grammar (so if you find any errors, blame the computer).