Go deep, go up or go wild: Marketing Ops learning paths

Alysha Khan • public
• 2 min read

Adobe Summit kicks off tomorrow and we all know that learning new skills and tech is the name of the game in Marketing Ops.

But there is literally a multiverse of things to learn out there and most of us suffer from a bad case of shiny object syndrome.

So in today's newsletter, I want to break down the 3 distinct learning paths that we tend to find ourselves on.

And to be clear - there is no right answer here. There is simply understanding the impacts of your choice and making sure they align with your career goals.

The Go Deep Path - Learn skills that help you advance in your current role

What This Looks Like

  • Email Marketer diving deep into HTML and CSS and learning to make templates from scratch
  • Marketing Ops Generalist studying for the highest level certification in their chosen MAP
  • Marketing Analytics Manager brushing up on CPDs because their company is implementing one

Pros

  • You will become a super specialized, super skilled ninja in your chosen field and the right organization will pay handsomely for that expertise

Cons

  • You will eventually silo yourself and putting all your eggs in one basket makes you more vulnerable to economic shifts and industry changes.
  • Unless you're deeply specialized in an emerging tech, you will eventually hit a ceiling in your career and salary growth.
  • If you need to change career paths, it will be a harder transition.

The Go Up Path - Learn skills that help you make the next jump in your career

What This Looks Like

  • Email Marketer exploring Pavilion courses to help them jump to a leadership title
  • Marketing Ops Generalist digging into Salesforce Trailhead to help them transition into a Revenue Operations role or a Director of Marketing Ops role
  • Marketing Analytics Manager taking business analytics classes to make their reporting more relevant to the business

Pros

  • The most obvious career path in Marketing Ops is up into leadership so building those skills will let you more easily follow that path
  • Leadership and management is an actual skill that not everyone invests in so doing so will help you stand out in a crowded field

Cons

  • You may eventually lose touch with the technologies that supported your initial career growth
  • The highest leadership roles are less common in the job market and competition is stiffer

The Go Wild Path - Follow your fancy and explore whatever interests you

What This Looks Like

  • Email Marketer digging into SQL cause why the hell not
  • Marketing Ops Generalist taking courses on the MAP their company does not use
  • Marketing Analytics Manager teaching themselves brand design and strategy cause again, why the hell not

Pros

  • Marketing Ops is the kind of career where being a jack of all trade does eventually pay of
  • You have a lot more flexibility when it comes to career transitions and will be able to ride the waves of economic shifts and industry changes much more easily

Cons

  • You may not have the opportunity to immediately apply your newfound knowledge and it's harder to retain knowledge when you aren't using it actively
  • It will be harder to stitch all your disparate skills and experiences into a cohesive pitch when you apply for your next role

Tips for the coming week

  1. Figure out which learning path you're currently and decide if it's the right one for where you want your career go. If it's not, figure out the right path for you.
  2. Research one learning opportunity you can commit to completing in 2025

See you next week,

🫶🏽 Alysha

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