Why Some Marketers Get Trusted - and Others Just Get Tasks
How to turn yourself into the marketer people trust with the big stuff
I’ve been managing marketers for over 10 years. I’ve seen it all - the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The thing is, most people are good marketers and workers.
They’re smart. Collaborative. Dependable.
They follow the brief. Hit their deadlines. Run clean, well-executed campaigns.
But when asked who should run a large project or get promoted? They’re passed over.
Why is that? If you’re in that position, it can feel extremely frustrating. You’re doing all the things you’re asked. And you’re probably doing them really well. So what gives?
When I look back at the marketers I’ve promoted, the ones I’ve pulled into high-impact projects or leaned on in messy moments - it wasn’t always about experience or title.
It was how they thought.
Great marketers don’t just execute the strategy.
They help build it.
And they know how to make it matter across the org.
🔍 1. Good Marketers Execute. Great Marketers Translate.
The marketers I trust most aren’t the ones who just take a request and run.
They’re the ones who pause and ask:
“What’s the actual problem we’re solving?”
“How will this support sales?”
“Can I improve this to better align with our goals?”
They bridge the gap between leadership’s priorities and real execution.
They take a task, or an ask, and elevate it - identifying the true problem and solving it usually in a way that’s beyond what was originally thought of.
They translate the business ask into marketing strategy - and marketing strategy into something other teams can actually use.
It’s not about being the loudest voice in the room.
It’s about being the one who brings clarity to the chaos.
🧠 2. Great Marketers Think Beyond Their Lane
The marketers I trust with big projects?
They think beyond their lane.
They’re the ones who:
Spot holes in the GTM motion - even if they weren’t asked
Think holistically about the customer journey, not just the task at hand
Show curiosity across sales, product, content, ops - not just their channel
They’re the ones who’ve said things like:
“I know this is technically ‘content,’ but the handoff here doesn’t make sense.”
Or “We’re promoting this offer, but the ICP hasn’t actually validated the pain point.”
Those insights? Game changers.
Not because they were on the task list.
But because they showed someone was thinking about the bigger picture.
📊 3. Good Marketers Ship. Great Marketers Own Outcomes.
The shift I’ve seen in the best marketers I’ve managed?
They stop thinking in terms of deliverables, and start thinking in terms of impact.
They don’t just ask “when does it launch?”
They ask “how will we know it worked?”. They follow through to see what actually happened after it went live
And most importantly?
They bring ideas back to the table based on what they learned.
That mindset - how can I make this better, not just complete it - is what earns trust and gets you pulled into strategic conversations.
🔦 4. Great Marketers Make the Invisible Work Visible
Some of the most valuable things great marketers do are things that rarely show up in a campaign brief:
Getting buy-in from a skeptical stakeholder
Coaching a junior teammate through a difficult project
Spotting a risk no one else flagged
Reworking a brief that wasn’t going to land
Connecting dots between teams that weren’t talking
I notice those things.
Other leaders notice them too.
And while those moments might feel small in the moment - they’re often why someone gets tapped for the next big project.
The difference between good and great isn’t output.
It’s ownership.
💬 5. Great Marketers Market Themselves Internally
Now you might have gotten to this part and thought - I’m doing all these things and still getting passed over. Now what?
I’ll tell you exactly what skill you’re missing: internal marketing.
I see it all the time. A marketer doing great things for the company - but no one knows because they don’t communicate it.
The marketers who get tapped for the big stuff? They don’t just do great work.
They make sure the right people understand the impact of that work.
Not by bragging. Not by taking credit for every win.
But by telling the story - internally - of what they’re doing and why it matters.
They:
Share context and outcomes in team meetings (not just what got done)
Loop in cross-functional partners early, so the value is visible
Recap launches in Slack with outcomes, not just links
Update leadership with short, strategic summaries instead of waiting for the QBR
Great marketers don’t assume good work speaks for itself.
They make sure it lands - with teammates, with sales, with leadership.
PS: Check out this article where I dive deeper into how to develop this specific skill.
🚀 Want to Grow? Here’s Where to Start.
If you want to be the marketer that gets the big opportunities, the stretch assignments, the seat at the table - start here:
Ask better questions
Learn to reframe messy input into strategic output
Understand the business, not just the channel
Care about the work after it ships
Be someone your teammates trust to challenge ideas without ego
I’ll always take someone who thinks deeply, sees holistically, and helps others succeed over someone who just knows how to hit "send" quickly.
🧾 Final Thought
Good marketers make things run.
Great marketers make things work better.
They don’t just launch - they lead.
They don’t just execute - they elevate.
They bring alignment, insight, and curiosity to everything they touch.
If you're looking to grow, don't just chase the next title.
Start building the habits that get you trusted with the real stuff.
Over to you:
What’s one habit or mindset shift that’s helped you go from good to great?