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T-shaped: broad and deep knowledge to see the forest through the digital trees
Our world is transforming at an incredibly fast pace. Nearly every day, new digital solutions are launched that directly impact how we live and think. These ongoing developments naturally influence consumer behavior and expectations. Today’s digital user demands speed, consistency, and flexibility—where, how, and when they want. For you as a marketer, business, or entrepreneur, this increasingly digital consumer and their customer journey present a wealth of opportunities! There have never been so many ways to connect with your potential customer… yet it has never been as challenging to do so efficiently and profitably.
Today, you must be well-equipped to meet consumer expectations on all fronts and continually adapt to their highly flexible, hybrid journey. A comprehensive, all-encompassing set of skills and expertise to handle this successfully is, therefore, indispensable! Discover how a T-shaped marketer offers a solution to this challenge.
What is a T-shaped marketer?
T-shape is a commonly used metaphor referring to the combination of broad (horizontal axis) and deep (vertical axis) knowledge a person possesses. A T-shaped marketer is a marketing specialist with broad foundational knowledge across all areas of marketing, along with deep expertise in one or more domains. The broad T-shaped marketer differs from the niche specialist, who has only superficial knowledge of other marketing domains. Without this broader perspective, it becomes difficult to see high-level connections that lead to overall better results.
Why choose a T-shaped marketer?
Online marketing is not an “either-or” but an “and-and” approach. Companies that aim to be effective online address all aspects of modern online marketing: email marketing, SEO, content, paid advertising, and more. Here’s why T-shaped marketing is the ultimate path to higher returns:
T-shape: working on a broader scale
A T-shaped marketer contributes to an overarching vision and approach, immediately increasing the uniformity between various channels and actions. They identify connections and mutual influences and align the global strategy accordingly. In practice, a T-shaped marketer considers how your landing pages impact your paid advertising results or how your social media content influences your SEO performance. They can then adjust these aspects to support the overall growth of your business.
A T-shaped marketer brings more innovation
A T-shaped marketer delivers not only a comprehensive approach and faster growth but also increased innovation. By naturally uncovering how different marketing components affect one another, they can present new insights and innovative ideas more quickly, always geared toward achieving the desired result.
T-shape: more focus on the overall goals that matter
T-shaped marketers consistently keep the marketing or business objectives in mind and prioritize effectively due to their broad and deep expertise. This contrasts with marketers who specialize in only one area and may not always prioritize the most efficient solutions.
A T-shaped marketer fosters better collaboration
Thanks to their broad knowledge, a T-shaped marketer understands the challenges and difficulties across various specific marketing domains. This understanding enhances internal communication and collaboration among colleagues, departments, partners, clients, and suppliers. In other words, a T-shaped marketer acts as the glue binding all stakeholders together to achieve maximum results.
T-shape: more personal challenges
A specialist who has reached the pinnacle of their field often finds few remaining goals to strive for. For a T-shaped marketer, the story is different. They can and are expected to continuously switch between disciplines, making them less likely to tire of a single specialization. This opens up more opportunities for personal challenges. The more personal challenges they face, the sharper their focus to extract the best results from marketing projects. Ultimately, this benefits the company and its clients.
Such a comprehensive approach accelerates a company’s online growth and overall organizational development.
Curious about how to implement or roll out a T-shaped approach in your company?
Or how our Hybrid T-shaped marketers can help you tackle your current digital challenges?
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