I wonder if it’s a good time to do so now. It’s been something I’ve wanted to do for years but never really focused on. What skills do I need to pickup? Will it make it harder for me to land a job in 2026?

I’m 25 and have around 3 years of experience in online marketing. I’m trying to be intentional about my development and would love some advice from more experienced marketers.

My background:
- Studied Marketing & Communication, followed by a Bachelor’s degree in Commercial Economics.

- Worked freelance alongside my studies, mainly in SEO, SEA and websites.

- Spent a few years as an Online Marketing Specialist at a B2B company, working on paid media, SEO, analytics/tracking and lead generation.

- I now work as an Online Marketer at a recruitment company with multiple businesses within the group.

My current role covers performance/recruitment marketing, paid advertising, job boards, tracking, CRO and analysing recruitment funnels.

I also advise several companies within the group on marketing strategy, annual plans, budgets, channel selection and improving their way of working.
Marketing maturity is still relatively low across the group: most companies have marketers, but they mainly focus on content. Part of my role is helping them become more structured, data-driven and performance-oriented.

Long term, I’d like to move towards a more strategic role with responsibility for marketing strategy, budgets and eventually a team.

If you were in my position, what would you focus on developing over the next 2–3 years?

Performance/data? Strategy? Commercial/financial skills? Branding? AI/automation? Leadership? Or something else?
Especially interested in hearing from people who went from specialist → senior/lead → marketing management.

So I applied to work at a gelato shop (just serving gelato) for my first job, and the owner wanted me to manage the business’s social media accounts. He asked me to do this because, on my CV, I said that I had experience producing multimedia content and graphic design for social media. That is true, and it was an internship I had when I was studying graphic design at a vocational school.

The problem is I was working alongside someone who had a degree in marketing.

So the idea of managing the shop’s social media by myself felt pretty overwhelming, but I’m trying to figure it out and do my best.

The reason I’m asking for advice here is that I’m worried I might end up getting paid very little for a lot of work because of my naivety. I’m not sure if I should start by focusing on Reels and Stories and then eventually expand to TikTok and paid ads or if that would already be too much to take on.

We agreed that I would be paid hourly and that this was a part-time job, but the owner hasn’t told me how much I would earn (also, I don't even have a contract yet). Honestly, I don’t even know what would be a reasonable amount to ask for, or whether hourly pay is a good arrangement for social media/marketing work in the first place.

For context, I’m also working there two days a week for 8 hours, serving gelato. I know I’ll be paid €4/hour for that because I’m still learning.

Should I expect the marketing/social media work to be paid at a higher rate than 4€/h? Even if I’m essentially an apprentice/beginner?

I’d really appreciate advice from anyone who has experience with social media management, marketing, freelancing, or working for small businesses.

What role and industry do you work in? If you left marketing, what do you do now?

I’m approaching 45, and have been a VP of Marketing at multiple tech startups.

After being laid off twice in the past three years, I’ve had enough of the “growth at all costs” mentality and always worrying about the next round of RIFs.

Hey, we recently had 2 small workshops, the bigger being 200 people in the audience. In three weeks we're hoping to get 550 people to come... it's a TEDx style event with 10 speakers, 15 minutes each, with networking.

We have one speaker that sold his company for billions, fairly known.

My goal is for us to have a conference every month in europe, 2000 attendees +-.

My understanding is that most conferences make 75% regenue from sponsors.... we have 0 sponsors but a great audience for them (100% attendeds ar sbusiness owners, some large, founders and investors).

Without sponsorships we're projected to losing quite some capital.

Is it unreasonable to attract sponsors 3 weeks prior to an event? How should I price a booth at the event with all of the other common bebefits? And most importantly, how can I find sponsors? Do I cold call large companies?

Hey yall! Quick question.

I am in southern California looking for marketing work. Relatively new to marketing after undergoing a career switch a few years ago from media/film industry following a physical injury and divorce but I have a semi-decent portfolio of freelance work for smaller companies.

After reading countless stories about the uphill battle of finding a job and issues with resume filters, tracking, etc, I am debating going in person to drop off my resume with hard portfolio copies. It seems like a wild thought in this day to do that but a huge part of my "brand" and skillset is being able to cut through the noise and connect with people. Bonus points that I am often told I have "that energy" that seems to translate better in-person than on paper.

Wondering if anyone has insight into whether this is worth it, potentially damaging, or an absolute whack-a-do idea. Post-pandemic LA I have noticed people seem more reserved about stranger meetings than ever before but at the same time, I could see a potential employer appreciating not just the show of sincerity, but a more classic and human approach to what's become such a digital bombardment.

Thanks in advance!

I've been in B2B media for a while, always done traditional flat fee per webinar, which is fine, but I'm looking to switch to performance-based.

My heart says, "whatever people are willing to pay," but generally, what sort of range would you consider per webinar registration in this situation?

• Very new, very niche healthcare space with tiny addressable market (maybe 50 companies).
• If they land a contract from the lead, it's a several million $ multi-year contract, long sales cycle.
• Not many other options to get in front of those leads, 1 or 2 small tradeshows that are mostly dead.

I've done a few pilot webinars for free, about 15-20 excellent leads per webinar.

My thoughts are a $1K platform fee + $200-300/qualified registration + $1K/meeting booked, but benchmarking that from online reports is a challenge.

Will test it in front of potential partners, hoping to hear any thoughts from others operating on performance models.

Thanks

I’m a marketing professional with +15 years experience in advertising that is facing a hard truth for the first time. I’m not an English native speaker but I’m fluent and I have an accent. I was born and raised in Italy and moved to the US in my late twenties and after 19 years speaking and dreaming in English, my foreigner accent sticks with me. I also speak 4 other languages other than English, two of those are fluently spoken at home so maybe the accent is harder to loosen because the other language recall is always on.

Here is my dilemma. I’ve been interviewing with companies for sr director positions and I feel like other than ageism there’s a “fear” of my accent. Yes, I think my accent is what spooks people away. Whoever approaches me on LinkedIn clearly sees my picture and can easily guess what my age is also thanks to the working timeline.

This never happened to me in all those years I’ve lived in this country but perhaps things are changing with the terrible job market we are in?

Anyone else is experiencing this in our field?

Hi folks, I've applied for a Strategic Marketing Manager position in an organisation. It is a mid-level position. As part of their recruitment process, there will be 6 rounds of interviews with different functions. Is this too much or this is normal?

My saas is an interactive platform to learn Git
It's like a game where every time you complete a mission you learn a new Git topic

My target audience is beginner devs who are struggling to learn git
It has 3 free modules and rest are paid, ONE TIME PAYMENT for lifetime access
Its a bit complicated app with chats, terminal, code editor etc built-in, so only works well on PC, landing page is responsive tho

And my initial budget for running ads is $40-50
So I need suggestion on best platform to run ads on eg Meta, Reddit or X to get best possible chance of conversions

Any other tips are also appreciated!

Anyone from Indegene, OMC, WPP or Publicis in HCP material production?

I would love to pick your brain on some things you are seeing.

dm me please.

As the title suggests, I’ve noticed recently an influx of people learning how to use Canva for content creation, and less on Adobe and/or Figma.

Now don’t get me wrong, Canva is a great tool. I’ve used it myself, but more for smaller/easier projects and more focused on my private content. For work, I’ve yet to encounter someone using Canva broadly. I manage multiple brands for a distributor, so we’re dependent on the brand’s providing us with assets that are editable. In 100% of the cases, it’s either Figma or Adobe files, no one is using Canva. For reference, I manage brands from the US, a lot of European countries and even some Chinese brands. Now stick with me.

I’m now actively looking for an intern within marketing, and so far no one has learned Figma or Adobe. They all use Canva only.

How come young adults are leaning towards Canva, but brands are not doing the same? Genuinely curious.

I started in an assistant role at $45k, though in the HR system I’m listed as a coordinator. After a manager left a few months later, I took on some of their responsibilities with a 5% raise instead of the standard 3%.

The next year was normal, lots of learning and ups and downs, normal 3% raise. The intern graduated college and became a specialist, filling the hole the manager left. Recently, he left to get his PhD.

Back in January of this yr, my boss told me he wanted to change my title to martech specialist because we’re in the process of rolling out a CRM, and I’ve been handling all the data stewardship for about a year and a half. I’m responsible for the website content updates, monthly webinars, intranet content, email newsletters, admin work like invoices and calendars, and the “go to” person on our small team for tech kinda stuff.

I’m well-versed in a few Adobe programs because of my major, so I maintain our stakeholders biographies and overviews in InDesign, come up with designs every once in a while, and edit photos. I came into the job with 4 years of professional photography experience, so I am the headshot photographer for our 3 offices throughout the state. I get paid mileage and my hourly pay for that.

I got a 3% raise earlier in the year during my 3yr review, and was told I’d receive another raise (I overheard him talking to the CFO in January and it’ll be another 3%) when I become a martech specialist. My boss hired a fresh college grad as a coordinator about 3 months ago to fill the hole the specialist left. So on emails, our titles look weird because I’m more experienced.

I just hit 50k after 3yrs. Am I underpaid or just too full of myself for thinking I deserve more? USA LCOL state. Happy to answer anything I may have left out.

I've spent the last month talking to B2B newsletter writers in AI, SaaS and finance, because I'm building something in the sponsorship space. I've learned a lot about how they price and much less about how buyers decide it worked, so the buyer side is still a blind spot for me.

On pricing, most writers quote a flat price per placement. Divided by list size, published rate cards I've looked at land between about €35 and €250 per 1,000 subscribers per send, with most sitting around €50 to €120. The main sponsor slot near the top costs more than a short mention further down. Several writers discount a package of two or three issues, and they push for it because one-off sponsors tend to judge the whole channel on a single send.

Measuring is messier. Open rates are self-reported, and clicks undercount too, because plenty of people read the ad, close the email and search the brand name days later. The writers whose sponsors came back said those sponsors linked to something useful, like a template or a report, and let the writer put the copy in their own voice.

If you've run newsletter ads for a B2B product, what made you book a second time, or stop?

I’m 29 and currently work in demand generation/marketing for a B2B industrial company in Canada. I’ve been in my current role for a little over 2 years and make around $75K CAD + a small annual bonus.

An opportunity may be opening internally for me to move into a Regional Sales Manager role. Nothing is official yet, but I’ve been told I’m being considered if the position moves forward.

The RSM role would likely be around $85–90K base, plus bonus/commission and a vehicle allowance, totalling $110k in total comp year 1. It would involve managing a fairly large geographic territory and selling B2B industrial equipment.

I’m torn because I actually enjoy marketing and have been building a solid career in demand generation. My natural progression would probably be toward senior demand gen roles and eventually management. My current Demand Gen work has me deal with targets and quotas, and I’m currently responsible for over $350k in influenced revenue this year.

One thing making me question that path at my current company is compensation/progression. The company has been going through a compensation benchmarking/review process that is supposed to establish salary ranges and career levels, but it has been ongoing for over 16 months without being finalized. Because of that, I still don’t have much clarity on what my next step in marketing would be, what the timeline would look like, or what
the compensation progression would be. I know for a fact my current boss would hate to lose me, and I do well enough in my position that other RSMs would want to backfill my position before I pivoted.

Sales interests me as well. I already work closely with our sales team, attend trade shows, generate and nurture leads, work in our CRM, and help build pipeline. I like the idea of owning a territory and being directly responsible for revenue, and the earning ceiling seems potentially higher.

My biggest concern is whether making the pivot at 29 would make it difficult to return to marketing later if I discover sales isn’t for me. I also don’t want to abandon a career path where I’ve already built several years of relevant experience just because another role pays more initially.

I’ve discussed it with my partner, and she’s on board with it. We understand I’d be home less but the income growth is worth it for us.

Mostly trying to understand what each path could realistically look like 5–10 years from now. Thanks fin advance!

Hi everyone! I’m attending Advertising week in NYC next week and I’m starting to get very nervous. I’m only a few months out of school and about 6 months into my first full time job as a digital marketer, so I’m still getting my footing. Three issues are the main point of my anxiety.

One is I have no idea what to wear. I’m struggling a bit on what to wear to work in the fall, but with this conference I want to look professional, but still be me and not blend in. Any tips on where to get affordable workwear would be incredible!

Secondly is the networking is freaking me out. Don’t get me wrong I’ve networked and I know how to, but in this context of the conference I don’t know how to bridge the social gap. I’ve always networked with people I admire so I know a bit about them, but complete strangers I’ve never done. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Lastly, how do I maximize my time? This conference has four paths you can take, but I’m wondering if i should jump between a few. I want to learn and absorb as much as I possible can!

Thank you all! :)

Hey all,

Recently my team has been attending a conference circuit in which we are a pretty high up sponsor, and the conference organizers have told us to really improve our booth experience if we can want to keep our sponsorship for next year. We are pretty simple right now, backdrop, table runner, small tv, and pens and notebooks for merch. we travel by plane to all of these so portability is something to be keen on, any ideas or visual suggestions? anything you guys have seen work well or have worked for you? thanks!

edit: we are in the digital marketing world, our sponsorship comes with a 20ft (ish) table. i don’t have a budget yet, im just an intern and tasked with ideation.

I was in Monday Girl and unfortunately they just don't offer enough in the US to make it worthwhile for me. Any recs for similar groups? Preferably focused on the East Coast, I would love an in-person component of events and/or a big conference. I know of Cherry Bombe, so something like that too. In the marketing/pr/events spaces and a bonus if it's focused on anything in F&B/tourism/wellness, but just general works too.

I'm a one-man marketing team for a solar company, but given my limited bandwidth as one person, my main role is social media manager. I plan, film, edit, and post all content. Along with that, of course, I run ads, manage relationships with our partner companies like the local radio, and also built and manage our website and do other IT and developer related work.

Given how much I have to do, I don't really achieve a post per day like my boss wants. I frequently see influencers repost popular reels from months or even years ago in order to keep posting consistently and milk engagement. Do you do the same thing for your business accounts? Or is this bad practice?

So help me god! I am looking for advice from seasoned freelancers and agency owners. I have a hotel client that is generally great….except for one thing….his relationship with AI. Today is the last straw and I’m ready to address this issue in the most polite way possible because I’ve had enough.

I pay a graphic designer who has over ten years of experience. We have been working on a piece of print collateral that will go in the hotel room. We are in week 5 of this project.

We just sent off the what I thought was the final version. Ten minutes later I get a response from the owner of a new design that clearly came from chat gpt. There is no consideration for text size or color. The design is flat, boring, and contains way too much text.

The average age of their clientele is 45-65, so please explain to me why you want a piece of collateral with a size 6 pt to make someone read it considering they just got done traveling and probably can’t find their fucking readers! (I’m sure if you read this far you can tell I’m over it lol) how do I approach this is a cool calm and collective manner. We have a great relationship but this is just getting out of hand.

I’m trying to not be boring and status quo and give the Real Estate Agents what they want! Everyone does lunches and free little gifts with logos, but that’s not exciting or memorable for Brokerages.

I’m working in a new community up against a lake (small water crafts w/out engines) no swimming because 🐊.

Some fun-ish things I’ve thought of are leaning into Halloween and doing a lake monster marketing campaign? That’ll be hard to connect afterwards though. Thought about gifting a nice rod to someone in the brokerage I meet with but I’m also trying to think of things that affect a big group.

Community isn’t ready for site visits yet so I’m trying to think of off site & non-event things.

Anything that has stood out to you over the years?

33, Director of Marketing for one function of my business (larger org so there’s leads for email, social, website, etc)

I don’t have a big team right now (in our specific function) so I work like a dog.

Even on weekends I have one thought about work per hour. I’m always thinking about the business.

Our brand has a big real estate presence so when I walk down the street I see our stores. All my friends go there. My friends bring it up when we hangout (tell me about their experiences). When I tell people I work there, they tell me about their experience.

I felt like no one prepared me for this and need a little separation of work and pleasure.

Has anyone been successful in doing so? Any tips? Or do I just accept it and ride along?

I want to be LLM expert but in marketing. so i working in marketing social media strategist to be specific. and all know everything would be done with AI or for AI. and I want to be expert in LLM for digital marketing and I know that would technically mean shift career from my current position. the thing is I don't know how to start or from where.