Do You Need A Marketing Portfolio?
Before we even go into the question of whether you need a marketing portfolio, I think it’s best we start by clarifying what they actually are.
Think of it as an art exhibition… artists select their best and most thematic pieces to put on display to potential buyers. They don’t exhibit their childhood finger paintings or off topic pieces of art.
There’s an intention and a purpose behind each choice, and that’s to impress the buyer enough to purchase.
A portfolio is a similar concept, doesn’t matter if you’re a marketer, journalist, or creative.
Your portfolio is a culmination of all your best work in the field and a catalogue of what you can bring to the table.
I put off creating my own portfolio for YEARS (the same way I’ve put off writing my case studies), it just felt like such a massive task to undertake when I was spinning countless other plates. Managing my client work felt like the only task that should be on my to do list - until I realised it was entirely hypocritical of me.
The one thing I hated about working as an in house marketer was the inability for my bosses to think past the short term. They wanted quick win marketing, not long term success. Even when I tried to get the help of others outside of my team, clients always came first. Which is totally understandable, but it shouldn’t be the be all and end all of a business day. What happens if those clients leave? What happens if you’ve spent all your time working on the clients you have, and no time looking for extra ones to add to the roster.
I think thats literally the definition of putting all your eggs in one basket.
In the end, the portfolio barely took an hour to create but has helped me generate 100’s of house of client work. You know what you offer, you know who you’ve worked with, and you know the successes you’ve driven - it’s easy to just summarise it.
I’ve spoken before about how freelancers should always take the time is money mindset, and that marketing time should be seen as an investment. Writing a portfolio brings you just as big of an ROI as writing a blog, running socials, and operating an outbound marketing strategy. It point out what you do in a brief, easy to digest, and impressive format that more often than not, will bump a potential client across the finish line.