That’s just one small story - it feels like much of marketing is flying by the seat of your pants and trying things you’ve never done before. Before planning that press event, I’d never done any PR, but I did have related skills that helped me get the job done.
Since then, I’ve worked with many different kinds of technical audiences, from IT security to warehouse automation, and it’s a learning experience every time. It’s impossible to know everything about everything, so the biggest challenge of my career more broadly is to be honest about my knowledge gaps and ask lots of thoughtful questions.
How do you understand and strategize a clients’ desired tone of voice?
I’d estimate that 95% of clients don’t provide brand guidelines that include information about tone and voice, so most of the strategizing happens in my head. To get a sense of what they might like, I’ll read their blog or other marketing materials and then read content produced by competitors. As I read, I’ll ask myself - what’s the status quo? Is there an opportunity to stand out?
It’s also important to consider how “safe” a client wants to be. Do they seem like the kind of company that prefers an informative, straight to the point tone? Or is there some flexibility for a more colloquial, fun tone?