There are two sides to marketing. You can be a generalist and learn about a variety of disciplines, or you can specialise in one thing and become a vertical expert.

If you're just starting out as a marketer, get your hands on as much knowledge as possible! The more exposure you have to tools and ideas, the better your work will be. You’ll also get a better sense of what you enjoy and don’t enjoy.

As you advance in your career, you’ll increasingly find yourself having to choose between niche or generalist roles. Which path is better? I discuss my thoughts below.

Depth Over Distance

As the fifth industrial revolution rips through rapidly digitising economies, employees are starting to ask valid questions about the skills they will need to survive in the future. 

Debate continues to rage over the merits of becoming a generalist or specialist in your chosen profession. As a self-professed marketing generalist, I have decided to optimise for broad knowledge and flexibility over narrow and deep expertise. 

I do occasionally think to myself, as roles across multiple industries continue to become increasingly niche, is this a wise strategy? Only yesterday I saw a corporate job ad for a TikTok content executive…. 

The Panda Paradox 

Giant pandas are often described as an evolutionary dead-end - lazy bears that struggle to reproduce and subsist on a monoculture diet of bamboo. They are the ultimate specialists, able to thrive in the narrowest of niches where nothing else can, but unable to adapt quickly enough to the dramatic changes the modern world has inflicted on their environment. 

It would be reasonable to argue that evolution leans towards extreme specialisation when environmental conditions are stable. Pandas have existed for roughly 8 million years according to fossil records (compared to Homo Sapiens measly 200,000 years). As a species, they have been pretty successful by most measures.

However, a further twist in the tale comes from recent evidence that suggests their bamboo-only preferences are only 7,000 or so years old. Their specialisation is speculated to be a result of human encroachment on their environment. It is a response to volatility, an emergency mechanism of survival in adverse conditions when the competition is fierce.

To pull this thread back out to the labour market, it’s arguable that specialisation is a decent defence against increasing competition. If a distinct skill set is in demand and supply is short, becoming highly skilled in that area will generally correlate to higher salaries and better working terms. 

The Ultimate Generalists

Some of the most “successful” animals (if you define success as the longevity of a certain structural form) are the ultimate generalists. 

Sharks have existed for 450 million years and can still be found in most habitats across the globe. Crocodiles too have been around for a cool 250 million years. Both types of animal have survived extinction-level events alongside multiple periods of global cooling and warming. They are the ultimate survivors.

What’s the secret to their success? One answer lies in the fact they are dietary generalists - they eat a wide variety of food and are therefore more survive if certain food sources disappear. 

While they are not highly-adapted to each ecosystem and can not exploit it to the fullest degree, they can jump across to another biome much more easily than the specialist.

The trade-off

Choosing to be a generalist means you are optimising for volatility, which seems like a good bet in the current world. 

You are less likely to see the upside of highly competitive environments, however, you will be more able to pivot and adapt to rapidly changing conditions. 

Specialists have the upper hand when it comes to exploiting the full potential of a niche, which is great when times are good and conditions are stable. This comes at a cost, though, as they are vulnerable to change and are generally unable to adapt quickly, risking the disappearance of their niche entirely, and extinction…