Passing on Your Marketing Knowledge

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Marketers with nine to fives are in a different position than those that consult full time, or run their own businesses. The nine to fivers are working for someone else, in an organization that they did not start. And more likely than not, they’ll be moving on to a new firm or organization at some point.

And so the question is, when you leave your current company, what legacy do you leave the marketers that replace you?

Depending on how long you are there, you probably amassed a whole lot of contacts. You’ve probably tested and failed at a whole lot of different things and advertising channels. You probably have developed an industry and a company knowledge that can only come with time spent in your position. And if you care at all about the company that you’re leaving, which I hope you would, the best thing you can do is impart that knowledge to someone that fills your spot after you’re gone.

So what do you do?

  1. Stay organized. Keeping folders and documents organized in a way that not only makes sense to you, but would make sense to anyone who sits down at your computer makes everyone’s job easier.

  2. Store all contacts. Don’t burn bridges, don’t delete emails, don’t trash business cards. Keep all of your contacts alive in one place so that information is not out of reach of your replacement.

  3. Introduce contacts. Saving and organizing all your contacts is a good step, but even better is letting those contacts know that someone knew will be their new point of contact instead of you. If you know who it is, offer an introduction. If you don’t, reach out and tell them that they will be hearing from someone new shortly.

  4. Track all testing. Keep a testing folder or document that lays out everything you’ve tried and the results. That way any new person in your place is not doomed to repeat past failures and knows what works so that they can attempt to expand them.

These exercises are just some of the ways you can help you organization keep pace after you depart. There will always be a learning curve for someone in a new position. But with the strategies above, you can reduce the amount of time it takes to get that next person up and running at full speed.