Not Everyone Who Calls Themselves a Digital Marketer Is Actually Doing Digital Marketing

There is something I have noticed about the digital marketing industry.

Almost everyone is a digital marketer now.

At least, that is what their bio says.

They can make a Canva graphic.

They can schedule a Facebook post.

They know how to use ChatGPT.

They can build a website.

They can run an ad.

They know how to make an Instagram Reel.

And suddenly they are a digital marketer.

But there is a difference between knowing how to use marketing tools and actually understanding marketing.

That difference matters.

Having The Tools Does Not Make You A Marketer

Think about it this way.

Knowing how to use Canva does not make you a graphic designer.

Knowing how to use Squarespace does not automatically make you a web designer.

Knowing how to post on Facebook does not make you a social media strategist.

And knowing how to use ChatGPT does not make you a marketer.

These are tools.

Marketing is understanding what to do with those tools, why you are doing it, who you are doing it for, and what you are trying to accomplish.

That is a very different skill set.

Yes, I Have A Degree

I have a Bachelor of Science degree in Internet Marketing from Full Sail University.

I am not going to pretend that having a degree automatically makes someone great at marketing.

It does not.

A piece of paper does not build a brand.

Experience does.

Results do.

Understanding people does.

Knowing how to communicate does.

Knowing how to take everything you have learned and actually apply it to a real business does.

But my education gave me something that I think gets overlooked in this industry.

It gave me a foundation.

I did not just learn how to make a Facebook post.

I studied marketing.

I studied consumer behavior.

I studied branding.

I studied digital strategy.

I studied how businesses communicate with customers.

I studied how people interact with brands online.

I learned how all of these pieces fit together.

That matters.

There Is A Big Difference Between Posting And Marketing

This is probably one of the biggest things I see.

A business hires someone to handle their social media.

Every Monday they get a graphic.

Tuesday gets another graphic.

Wednesday gets a motivational quote.

Thursday gets another graphic.

Friday gets a funny post.

And at the end of the month they have thirty pieces of content.

Great.

But what did any of it actually accomplish?

Who was it supposed to reach?

What problem was it solving?

What did you want the customer to think?

What did you want them to do?

How did that content support the brand?

How did it build trust?

How did it differentiate the business from its competitors?

How did it move someone closer to becoming a customer?

Those are marketing questions.

Posting something because the calendar says it is time to post is not the same thing.

I Do Not Believe In Marketing Just To Say You Are Marketing

This is where my approach is different.

I do not want to create content just because your business needs something to post today.

I want to know why we are posting it.

If we are creating a graphic, there should be a reason.

If we are writing a blog, there should be a reason.

If we are changing your website, there should be a reason.

If we are creating a campaign, there should be a reason.

If we are changing your branding, there should be a reason.

Everything should connect back to the bigger picture.

Your brand.

Your audience.

Your goals.

Your reputation.

Your business.

That is strategy.

I Am Not Interested In Making You Look Like Everyone Else

This is another problem I see constantly.

A business hires someone to help with marketing.

The marketer looks at what everyone else in the industry is doing.

Then they do the same thing.

Same colors.

Same stock photos.

Same captions.

Same generic slogans.

Same five social media posts everyone else is making.

Same AI generated graphics.

And then everyone wonders why nobody remembers them.

Your business is not generic.

Your marketing should not be either.

You already have something that makes your business different.

Maybe it is your personality.

Maybe it is your experience.

Maybe it is how you treat customers.

Maybe it is the way you solve problems.

Maybe it is your story.

Maybe it is the community you serve.

Maybe it is something you have built that nobody else has.

My job is not to cover that up with a marketing template.

My job is to find it and bring it forward.

AI Makes This Even More Important

I use AI.

A lot of marketers use AI.

There is nothing wrong with that.

AI is an incredible tool.

But there is a massive difference between using AI to make your marketing more effective and letting AI become your marketing strategy.

Anyone can type a prompt.

Anyone can generate a graphic.

Anyone can ask AI to write a caption.

That does not mean the caption is right for your business.

It does not mean the graphic represents your brand.

It does not mean the message connects with your customers.

And it definitely does not mean there is a strategy behind it.

The tool is not the strategy.

The person using the tool still has to know what they are doing.

So What Actually Makes Me Different?

It is not just the degree.

It is not just the experience.

It is not just the fact that I can build a website or create content.

It is the combination.

I understand the marketing principles behind what I am doing.

I have real world experience applying them.

I understand branding.

I understand websites.

I understand social media.

I understand content.

I understand sales.

I understand customer experience.

And I understand that none of those things exist in a vacuum.

Your website affects your credibility.

Your social media affects your reputation.

Your branding affects recognition.

Your content affects trust.

Your messaging affects whether people understand what you actually do.

And all of it affects whether someone decides to contact you.

That is why I do not look at a business and say:

“What should we post this week?”

I look at it and ask:

“What are we trying to accomplish?”

You Do Not Need Another Person To Fill Your Social Media Calendar

You need someone who understands why your business should be on social media in the first place.

You need someone who can look at your brand and see what is missing.

You need someone who can look at your website and understand why people are leaving.

You need someone who can look at your content and tell you why it is not connecting.

You need someone who understands that marketing is not about making your business look busy.

It is about making your business understood.

Because attention is easy to get.

Trust is harder.

Recognition is harder.

Differentiation is harder.

Turning attention into an actual customer is harder.

That is where marketing comes in.

I Am Not Trying To Be The Cheapest Marketer You Can Find

There will always be someone willing to charge less.

There will always be someone who can make a logo for twenty dollars.

There will always be someone who can schedule your posts for next to nothing.

There will always be someone who says they can do everything.

That is not what I am trying to compete on.

I am trying to build something that actually works.

Something that feels like your business.

Something that sounds like your business.

Something that represents the quality of the business you have worked so hard to build.

Because your marketing should not make you look like another business in your industry.

It should make people understand why your business is yours.

That is the difference between using marketing tools and actually understanding marketing.

And that is the difference I bring to Silver Crow Studios.

James Perry, BS
Owner, Silver Crow Studios
Digital Marketing & Brand Strategy

I do not just make posts.

I help businesses build a digital presence that gets noticed, understood, remembered, and trusted.