What is T-shaped Marketing for Small Business in Malaysia?

Starting a business in the current economic climate is already hard enough so what’s up with all the incomprehensible marketing lingo? Especially if it is something you’re hearing for the very first time. It’s only normal to be bombarded with all kinds of terms and phrases because that means you’re on the right track. You want to grow your business! First step, let’s get familiarised with the marketing jargon.

You initially thought there was only one kind of marketing and suddenly you’re finding out about T-shaped marketing. As you may know now, marketing is not simply marketing and there are lots under that umbrella.

T-SHAPED MARKETING – The Definition

If you have come across T-shaped marketing, that means you definitely would have heard the term “T-shaped marketer”. This is because they’re most commonly interchangeably used when describing marketing experience or skill set, specifically in digital marketing. 

T-Shaped Marketing is a method of creating a diverse set of marketing skills. 

But why “T”?

The horizontal part which symbolizes the breadth of the “T” is the broad knowledge about marketing. It’s everything else that you’re familiar with but aren’t necessarily an expert in. The vertical part of the “T” symbolizes the depth of knowledge on one subject. It’s the marketing side of things where you’re an absolute pro. Long story short (in layman’s terms), T-shaped marketing is about the depth and breadth of marketing abilities.

So, what does it mean being a “T-shaped marketer”?

A T-shaped marketer has vast marketing experience across numerous domains such as SEO, copywriting, social media management, PPC ads, SMS marketing, analytics but focuses on just one or two of them. To summarise it, if you recognise yourself as a “T-shaped marketer” then you’re defining yourself as an expert in at least one thing but also somewhat capable in many other things. 

Why You Need To Apply T-shaped Marketing In Your Business?

As a founder of a small business in Malaysia, surely you would encounter a few challenges when hiring for a marketing role or outsourcing marketing, because as a startup you couldn’t be so lenient with your budget so you can’t possibly hire a full marketing team. As a startup, you want to make a direct impact on revenue and not just brand awareness. That can be done if you are able to generate more leads online and that’s where T-shaped marketing comes in and you would want to find a person wearing many hats. 

T-shaped marketers are generalists with one specialisation. Even if they’ve only done a few PPC campaigns in their lives, they can look at a whole marketing strategy and grasp each component.

And it’s for this reason that they’re so important.

Don’t stress about addressing everything at once if you’re just getting started in marketing. An effective marketing plan, like your business, cannot be established overnight.

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