10 Things I Wish Every Marketing Student Knew

Years ago, designer Cameron Moll wrote “10 Things I Wish Every Design Student Knew.” It became a classic because it was honest, practical, and refreshingly human. He later followed it up with “10 More Things…” which I’ve borrowed from more than once when talking to my own teams.

This is my take. Not for designers, but for marketers. For students stepping into the field and early-career professionals trying to find their footing.

Fifteen years as a CMO taught me some lessons the hard way. These are the ones I wish I had learned sooner.

1. Iterate or die. Make this your superpower. You will excel beyond your peers if you never present the “final” version first. Show rough concepts, get feedback, refine, repeat. When you skip iteration, stakeholders think one thing, you deliver another, and you’ll perish in the gap.

2. Dwell in the messy for a while. Having said what I did about iteration, the process won’t be neat. Don’t panic when things look unclear. That’s not failure. That’s how marketing actually works.

3. Find your shape. This one’s a direct nod to Cameron Moll’s advice to designers. The same applies to marketing. There’s value in being a generalist who knows a little about everything, while also going deep in one or two areas. Many of us are T-shaped. Some are Y-shaped with two specialties, or H-shaped, mastering two parallel tracks like performance marketing and creative strategy.

4. Because. In design, “it depends” can be a healthy answer. In marketing, it’s a dodge. Your job is to explain why. People may not always agree with you, but they’ll trust you more if you can back up your choices with a reason. It turns your answer into a story that people can follow, agree with, or challenge. And even if they disagree, they’ll respect the clarity.

5. Data is a lighthouse, not a map. Data won’t hand you the destination. It won’t tell you what story to tell. It just blinks in the dark and marketers who treat data as the whole map play it too safe. Use data as guidance. Let creativity set the course.

6. Always add value. Early in your career, it’s tempting to chase shiny things. But if it doesn’t make a difference, you’ve missed the point. Every campaign, every email, and every line you write should contribute to making the company better.

7. Doers vs. Thinkers. There is tremendous value in people who get shit done. Get your hands dirty. Companies usually need more ideas like they need another hole in their head. The best marketers I’ve met are practitioners, not theorists. Find the right balance.

8. Sales will take the glory, claim the assist. Marketing creates opportunities, sales close them. You’ll learn quickly that salespeople often receive the credit for closing deals. If you helped, say so. Celebrate the win as a team, but don’t erase your role in making it possible.

9. People trust people. You need to know how your product or service is helping your customers. Ghostwrite change logs for the product team. Sit in on sales calls. Read support tickets. Get uncomfortable. When you understand your customers’ lives, you stop creating marketing that talks at them and start creating marketing that speaks to them.

10. Be curious, not cynical. I’d be remiss if I didn’t warn you about the perils of marketing, especially in tech. Much like the life of a designer, people will offer their opinions. You’ll meet managers who demand instant results and you’ll bump into engineers who think you’re just a glorified salesperson. You just gotta keep livin’, man.

That’s the list.

Because marketing is about making progress, helping people, and leaving things better than you found them. This post owes a debt to Cameron Moll, whose writing reminded me that lessons are worth sharing.

Photo credit: Morry Gash/AP Photo