Why Engineers Need to Be Good Marketers Too?

Whether you’re climbing the corporate ladder, building your own business, or simply trying to land your next job, one thing is clear: you need to be a good marketer. And no, this isn’t about getting into sales or crafting perfect social media ads (unless that’s your thing). It’s about understanding how to sell yourself, your ideas, and your impact. Let’s talk about why marketing is key to any career ambition and how storytelling is the secret weapon you can start using today.

Everyone with a Career Ambition Should Be a Good Marketer

Marketers know how to capture attention and spark interest, and guess what? So should you. In fact, it’s becoming increasingly clear that success isn’t just about doing great work. It’s about making sure people know you are doing great work. “It’s not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change,” said Charles Darwin. Well, guess what? The world of work is changing fast. If you want to stay relevant and build influence, you’ve got to market yourself effectively. Increasing the impact of your projects, getting hired, getting your promotion, etc. all benefit from "marketing". The people who stand out are often those who have mastered the art of putting themselves out there without coming off as a self-promoting machine. The key is balance.

Good Marketing Enables You to Realize Your Ideas and Make a Bigger Impact

You may have groundbreaking ideas, revolutionary processes, or solutions that could change the game in your industry. But what happens if no one knows about them? It's like having the world’s best cake recipe and not inviting anyone over to taste it. "Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room," Jeff Bezos once said. Well, your career is the same. If you can’t communicate your ideas, achievements, and vision in a compelling way, they might never see the light of day. Marketing yourself means aligning your efforts with your goals and helping others understand how your work can make a difference.

For example, I worked with an engineer before with a great idea to unify a software library. It could be delivered as a small code improvement project. However, he did amazing "marketing" that attracted attention of several partner teams. The discussion with them helped evolve the project to a brand new open source projects. Multiple teams in the company participated and even made the project a key dependency for a very high priority initiative. You can see how big of a difference the right level of "marketing" could help you.

An Important Way to Become a Good Marketer: Start with Storytelling

How to be a good marketer? Here’s the fun part: storytelling. This is where the magic happens. If you can tell a story, you can engage people in ways that facts and figures simply can’t. Think about it: a great story has characters (you!), conflict (challenges in your career), and resolution (how you solved them). Plus, it sticks in people’s minds long after the conversation ends. Storytelling allows you to humanize your journey, making it more relatable and inspiring. In fact, Steve Jobs said, “The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller.” So, if you want to make a bigger impact, learn how to tell your career story your way.

For example, in many companies, product and infra teams are in somewhat different worlds. Product engineers have lots of pain points using the infra, while the infra engineers enjoy building the most elegant systems which often times don't address product engineers pain points. Sounds familiar? If engineers from either side knows more about the other side and also can do a good job telling a story, he/she will have a much bigger chance to align resources to deliver a highly impactful project that both address product teams' pain points while realizing huge wins for the infra teams.

The Big Question: Are You Marketing Yourself Right?

We’ve established that marketing is essential to making an impact. But here’s the thing. Are you doing it effectively? Are you telling your story in a way that resonates with your audience? Or are you just waiting for the world to notice your brilliance? After all, if you’re not actively marketing your career, who is? So, here’s a thought-provoking challenge for you: What’s your story, and how are you sharing it?

If you’re not sure, start by thinking about the narrative you want to tell. Where have you been? Where are you going? And most importantly, how do you want people to remember you or your ideas? Your story is your most powerful marketing tool. Use it wisely.

Ready to market yourself or your ideas? The world is waiting for your story.