Much of our audience is fortunate enough to avoid the oft-painful marketing lingo that torments the Fisheye squad from time to time.

One of these common phrases is what’s known as being a “T-shaped marketer.”

And while there is certainly validity to the concept, the phrase is quickly wearing on us.

To catch you up on what being a T-shaped marketer (or agency) is all about — the idea resembles the adage, “an inch wide and a mile deep.” 

The belief is that marketers should have a basic understanding of all facets of marketing to aid in strategy, while devoting their skills to one specific area (e.g., SEO, email marketing, or ecommerce).

This not only enables the marketer or agency to hit home runs in their specific subject, but also to feed into other tactics through their broad knowledge base. 

At Fisheye, we have a slightly different take on the concept. Rather than the traditional “T” shape, we emphasize V-shaped marketing. 

You might think, “What’s the big difference?” 

It’s a subtle, albeit important distinction.

When a business owner hires a marketing specialist, a T-shaped marketer often does not meet the marketing demands of the business. Marketing must take a holistic approach, and foolish is the business that funnels everything into paid media while neglecting their website (for example).

For most businesses, V-shaped marketing is what they should be after. 

This equates to a team (or exceptional person) who is well versed in several core competencies (ideally suited to the business’s needs and strategy), while still employing an extensive knowledge base for strategizing. 

The benefit of working with an agency is also highlighted in this illustration.

Individuals are rarely capable of achieving a true, deep “V” shape in their skillsets (time constraints, you know?), but a collective unit can. By working with similarly-minded, differentiated experts, a strong team can propel their mission forward.

Much like the “V” pattern supports migratory birds in flight, so does the shape support an agency in making a direct impact for their partners.

The important thing to remember is that a successful marketing strategy does not exist in a bubble. 

While it can be beneficial to devote one’s business to a particular strategy for a period of time, eventually there will be many areas needing to work coherently to effectively nudge towards long-term growth. 

If you’re just starting to dip your toes in marketing, don’t worry about tackling everything at once. Just like your business wasn’t built overnight, neither will an effective marketing strategy. 

Our advice is to take caution when the “marketing guru” talks about dumping your entire budget into paid social ads, or SEO, or paid search. You may be able to generate the traffic, but are you able to convert them on the backend? 

We love discussing these ideas — almost to a fault. 

If you’re questioning what a sound strategy might look like for your business, give us a shout. 

We love coffee meetings. :)