Nine tips to get promoted that nobody will tell you

Many of us struggle with this since we think delivering on every task and staying late at the office is all we need to get that promotion. If that is the case with you, then I don’t think you know the right ways to get promoted yet.

So how do you get promoted in this competitive environment? Well, you’re at the right place. Throughout my career, I have studied the journey of successful marketing leaders very closely, and let me tell you a few things you need to be aware of to move up your career ladder.

So let’s dive in

(If you want to skip reading and watch the video instead, this is where you need to go 👇🏻)

Here’s your cheat sheet to get promoted

Own a number and grow it constantly

No 1, To be considered for a promotion, you need to own a number. If you’re in SEO, it can be organic traffic, now if you’re in content marketing, it can be website traffic, if you’re a sales rep, it can be the sales quota, and if you’re in event marketing, it can be the number of registrations you bring in. But the important part is, irrespective of your role, you have a number to display. So make sure you’re committed to growing that number every month.

Be accountable; if something goes wrong, you have to fix it

№2, Speaking of owning a number, you also need to own and be responsible for the area of marketing assigned to you. No one will be there to micromanage you, and you should figure out everything by yourself. However, the catch is, you’ll also be held responsible for that area. That means, if something breaks, it’s up to you to fix it. In such situations, I recommend you take ownership of your mishaps and create a game plan on how you can turn things around. After all, we are all humans, right?

Forecast your success

№3, Don’t wait for anyone to forecast the goals or your success for you. Your company might have a few goals in place for you, but I suggest you dream up your own goals and put them into action — then report on the results. You don’t need anyone’s permission to try things out. So don’t let anything stop you from soaring high.

Constantly raise the bar in your current role

№4, Don’t settle for being good enough if you want to grow at a rapid pace. To get promoted, you should consistently raise the bar in your current role. Imagine an hourglass with sand trickling down — depending on the job role — you must aim to have at least one big win before your hourglass runs out.

If you’re an individual contributor, it will take three months to run out before it flips over and starts again. Now, if you’re a people manager, it takes around six months. A director will have one year, and VP will have close to 2 years, while a CXO will have three years, and so on. Therefore set high targets to make it difficult for yourself to find someone else to take over your role; this helps you move to the next phase of your career.

Become a specialist in your current role

№5, To be noticed, you need to master your craft. Be it through video tutorials, books, role models, or mentors, be a leading talent in your current role before you move on to a new one. A part of this is by creating checklists and playbooks to help the next person succeed. Let’s say you are working on paid advertising campaigns, then you should become the go-to person in your company if someone has a question about paid advertising. You should know the ins and outs of paid advertising and that’s how you become a leading talent in your current role and it will become difficult to replace you with another person.

Be quick, but have an eye for detail

№6, To move forward in the company, you need to do your work at a fast pace, and without compromising the quality. Push the pace in every way you can and forget about things you think that you know from your previous jobs. If it took you four months to build a new website somewhere else, you need to figure out how to get started in a week. So speed really matters when it comes to getting promoted. And speed comes only when you have a thorough knowledge of your current role.

Manage your manager

№7, Top performers of the marketing team are experts in their field, to the extent that they ‘manage’ their managers. Run your 1:1s with your managers and help them solve problems by recommending alternative solutions instead of depending on them for help all the time. It is the key to taking the next step in your career.

Take feedback like a champ!

№8, We all need feedback to grow and advance in our career right? One thing you need to learn to get promoted is to become open to taking feedback and putting it into action. You need to stop taking even the bluntest feedback personally and become coachable. In fact, the more your manager perceives you as “coachable”, the more likely they are to champion your promotion.

Help your team become successful

№9, Start by hiring and onboarding an intern and help them launch their career. It is another trait that you need to hone before getting a promotion. This will give you the opportunity to demonstrate to your managers your leadership skills. Apart from that, it will also help you to become a role model for your coworkers, and gain their respect in the process.

So these are my nine tips that will drive you towards your dream of getting a promotion. Once you start putting these tips into practice, I promise you will acquire the skills you need, build the relationships you need to progress in your career, and show that you can take on more responsibility. If you have met the traits I mentioned so far, you’ll stand a good chance of getting a promotion. Go on and chase that dream.

If you have other valuable tips to get promoted, let me know in the comments below.

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