How Technical Staff Supports Your Growth As a Sole Marketer
By Evan Shields, Marketing Manager, Rockridge Geotechnical
As I stroll into the office each morning, a list of responsibilities flashes through my thoughts. Website updates, social media content, newsletter articles, market research, correspondence with clients, and, of course, writing proposals and providing cost estimates for both inbound leads and competitive bids. If work falls under the umbrella of brand, communications, client relations, marketing, and business development, I know I’m in charge.
Many SMPS members share these morning thoughts, as they, like me, are sole marketers at an A/E/C firm. A dedicated marketing or business development team meeting is a foreign concept, instead replaced by discussions with members of technical staff who find the bandwidth to support our work. This often creates a more chaotic environment, with many impromptu meetings as we attempt to meet deadlines for our wide variety of deliverables. In this environment, stress is inevitable, but we must push through because we know there is not another marketer to pick up the slack.
The relationship between a sole marketer and technical staff, however, creates an exchange of knowledge that is not possible with a true marketing team. I work at Rockridge Geotechnical, a 26-person firm, and the first question I’m often asked is, “What is geotechnical engineering?” If you were to ask me that question during my first few months in my role, my response would be along the lines of, “We do foundations.” I knew nothing about grading, drilling in liquefaction zones, performing moisture-content tests, or any other topic that is considered basic by anyone with a civil engineering degree. Nonetheless, I had to create deliverables, such as project sheets for our proposals and website, that included abundant technical language just a few weeks after being hired. I read through reports, trying to understand what exactly I was looking for and hoping I would even summarize the correct topic, before telling an engineer that my draft was complete. These drafts would see countless paragraphs rewritten, along with a plethora of comments added to each document telling me exactly what I did wrong. The nuances across our various projects meant this process repeated itself often as I gradually improved my technical understanding. Watching an engineer delete an entire piece of writing I worked hard on was disheartening, but the number of edits and comments slowly decreased as I churned out more documents. I still remember the sense of accomplishment I felt the first time an engineer sent a project sheet back to me with minimal edits; I realized that I attained the knowledge that is so crucial to being a sole marketer in a technical setting.
Once those of us who are sole marketers fully comprehend the technical aspect of the firm’s work, we transform into some of the most well-versed marketers in the industry capable of completing a vast array of deliverables. Suddenly, I could write a LinkedIn post discussing the significance of utilizing cone penetration tests instead of drilling regular borings in certain subsurface conditions. I could draft video scripts and write newsletter articles about topics like winterization, deep soil mixing, and vibrating wire piezometers. I could define our specific scopes of work in my preliminary investigation proposals before consulting technical staff, and if they made changes, I could immediately reach out to hear the justification behind the adjustments. When clients called, I could talk about how we would likely approach their project and give a fee estimate without consulting any other members of our staff. Most importantly, I now feel like a true part of the team.
Most sole marketers can relate to the experiences I’ve described. Our work initially feels so different from our counterparts that we feel alone, maybe even lost. However, learning the intricacies of the industry with our technical coworkers helps us become comfortable in our roles while also developing the camaraderie needed for a healthy work environment. This knowledge allows us to create workflows and ensure that we are completing our recurring work while leaving time for unanticipated action items that may come in. Through this process, we become champions of both our industry and our role, and slowly, the daily chaos becomes manageable.
My day-to-day is still unexpected, but now, that’s exactly what I want. Sole marketers know our job will never be boring, and once we embrace the unknown it becomes truly enjoyable. And now, if I am asked about Rockridge Geotechnical, I can give a much more interesting, intricate description than “We do foundations.”
Evan Shields is a Marketing Manager at Rockridge Geotechnical in Emeryville, California. He has spent nearly six years in the A/E/C marketing industry, but he has spent time on project sites since he was sixteen years old.
Evan earned his bachelor's degree from Cornell University in 2020, majoring in economics and minoring in history. During his time at Cornell, Evan served as both a writer and Editor-in-Chief of the Cornell Business Review while writing and copyediting for various other on-campus publications. In his spare time, Evan coaches basketball at Albany High School, works out, writes, and spends time with his cat.
