The truth about being an introverted marketer: Advocating for my voice and finding my calling along the way

What comes to mind when you hear “introverted marketer”?

There are many of us out there but if you would’ve told me several years ago that I would now be running my own marketing agency (side note: still have some resistance to that word agency but that’s a story for another time) I would’ve quickly told you that’s not for me.

You see, while I knew I wanted to be in the world of business of some sort — my undergraduate degree is in business — I started off as the hermit accountant. It is said that around 80% of accountants are introverts!

On the other hand, the marketing industry seems like a gregarious bunch where exuberance and social gatherings are a must. As I’ve learned through finding my way in my career, that there are some of us out there — including myself — that identify as an introvert and also enjoy marketing.

There are things I’ve noticed in myself that I would love to share about the truth of being an introverted marketer. For any other introverted marketers out there, I see you!

You can be a successful marketer AND an introvert

To start, these two are not mutually exclusive. Not only because having an array of personality types and diversity makes a project or business better, but marketing is huge! While there are sectors of marketing, such as event marketing that may require more of the extrovert quality, there are other sectors of marketing that nurture the introvert in me.

I prefer styles of marketing that allow my introverted self to shine

Piggybacking from the previous one a bit I stick with what brings me joy. When I was working at a health startup and on a team of 3, we did things like booth marketing — schmoozing it up with potential customers. It felt so unnatural for me. I had to be ON. It felt like endless fake smiles. Or like I was in presentation mode.

As I progressed in my career as a marketer I realized — I get to choose too! Areas that allow my introverted self to shine are content creation such as writing, content strategy such as planning, developing, and managing content, email marketing and automation, messaging frameworks and identity, on-page SEO. And most recently one-on-one marketing coaching! It’s truly a blast for me.

Social media gets me just as exhausted as if I were in a social setting

I love this quote by Einstein,

“Everything is energy and that’s all there is to it. Match the frequency of the reality you want and you cannot help but get that reality. It can be no other way. This is not philosophy. This is physics.”

I relate this back to my experience with social media and even though it is a digital platform — everything is energy and similar rules apply to my behavior in social settings. When I overextend my introverted-ness in a social setting whether it’s being in a large group for too long or talking too much afterward I tend to get very quiet or need some alone time.

So in social media terms, that means sometimes I don’t check social media at all. Even adsorbing the news digitally can feel like a lot. I’m also not posting as often. Essentially I’m creating “digital alone time.”

We don’t all need the same marketing strategy

Building a business and a brand doesn’t happen overnight. My personal brand here on Bee Umana has been around since 2015 and only recently have I started to see traction in organic website traffic based on my SEO efforts.

And with marketing, I’ve learned that it takes a lot of work to create strong and purposeful relationships with people—and a lot of that work is done through marketing. Most entrepreneurs or business owners don’t necessarily want to hear that, they want to see people buying or signing up to their stuff almost instantly. So they’ll try all the buzz-worthy marketing tactics — posting every day, throwing money at ads, gimmicky catch lines. I hate to break it to them or to you that what it takes is understanding what you’re offering, who you’re actually trying to market to because when you speak to everyone you speak to no one, and create a strategy from there.

And, in case you’re wondering how to navigate my brand and strategy

Finding my strengths and my voice in my career has been a journey. And finding my own unique strategy for my brands has been fun to observe.

• Things here on Bee Umana — this is just me! You can see the evolution that I’ve taken on my website most likely through scrolling my blogs. This website started as a simple yoga teacher website around 8 years ago. Then, it evolved to Mindful Marketing with Bee, and now it’s showcasing everything I do. I’m keeping this space for myself to explore writing from my heart and continuing to share my process as a human.

• My mindful marketing biz has moved over to www.om.marketing.  It felt important for me to create my marketing business different from my name. Of the Mind Marketing or OMM partners with conscious businesses and personal brands to do marketing strategically and mindfully.

• And lastly, my love and passion for yoga and mindfulness transitioned mostly to Mother of the Mind — re-emphasizing the mind-body connection in our offerings and on a mission to widen the representation of who is teaching through yoga, meditation, mindful coaching, and continuing education

Obviously, my brand through-line is mindfulness and that’s truly at the heart of everything I create and offer.

Last thought — shine brightly however introverted or extroverted you are

My quietness is a gift. My introverted self loves being around people in the right doses. I am still learning how to protect my sensitive self but I wouldn’t want to have it any other way.

I am a proud introverted marketer!