Welcome to the second interview in my brand new series called “How Marketers Work.” The goal of this interview series is to showcase how marketers get inspired, stay productive, and generate results, and how you can do the same!
Today, we hear from John Cass. He’s been blogging since 2003, and writes about agile marketing, digital strategy, ecommerce, social media, PR, and digital marketing on his blog, PR Communications.
John is an experienced digital marketer with a marketing technologies skill set, which includes marketing automation, email marketing, as well as technical SEO experience. But he is especially known for his expertise on the topic of agile marketing.
In 2012, John was one of the founding developers of the agile marketing manifesto at SprintZero, a conference of 35 marketers in San Francisco. From there he helped co-found an agile marketing meetup in Boston, and continues to encourage the spread of agile marketing across the United States, and into other countries.
If you’re a fan of agile marketing like I am, you’re going to love the insights John provides in this interview. Let’s go!
How would you explain specifically what you do as a marketer?
Starting with developing strategy for companies, I apply marketing principles to develop marketing strategies and tactics for companies. A lot of my work involves digital marketing. That makes sense in today’s environment where many customers start their buying process online.
Which new skills are most important for marketers to learn in the next six months?
Digital disruption has influenced marketing, we need a lot of new skills in order to be effective, just to run marketing. Plus, digital disruption is affecting how companies deliver services to clients. Marketers need to stay up to date with what’s happening because of digital disruption to their business and marketing. Key skills to learn customer personas, customer journey mapping, and how different customer experiences are needed for creative.
What do you find most rewarding about marketing?
Building a marketing engine for companies, helping to build a successful lead generation business, and having some influence on product direction.
How do you stay updated with the latest marketing industry news?
I use Digg RSS to keep up with important blogs and influencers, I use Twitter and set notifications for certain influencers, and keep track of important keywords on searches. Lastly, I get emails from various sources.
As a marketer, what is your favorite productivity hack?
Using agile marketing as a way to manage the marketing process. I use Scrum, where I use a backlog of tasks, sprints and daily meetings.
Are there any particular marketing trends on the horizon that really excite you?
Agile marketing, I think the problems marketers have because of digital disruption can often be solved because of agile marketing. Also, digital transformation, I think one process that can help solve digital transformation issues is agile marketing.
How is your typical work day structured?
Daily meetings about 15 minutes. Once a week, meeting to talk about sprint planning, and sprint review.
Which one book would you recommend every marketer should read?
Community Building on the Web : Secret Strategies for Successful Online Communities by Amy Jo Kim
What advice would you share with other marketers who want to become more productive?
Consider using agile marketing to manage your marketing processes.
Connect with John
You can find John on Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Also, be sure to check out (and subscribe to) his blog, PR Communications.
The How Marketers Work series asks marketers from around the world to share their greatest productivity tips, tricks, and tools. Do you know someone who should be interviewed, or do you have specific questions you’d like to see answered? Let’s chat.
