I totally agree with you. Marketing is the most misunderstood space and I’ve been looking for a new job sifting through lots of job postings and all I can do is shake my head because none of them have the bigger picture in mind as you point out. I’m a marketer, used to do PR turned journalist and former business columnist and ultimately relationship columnist. I need a new job post-divorce but like you I’m not the typical marketer because we have a diverse skill set. I always joke that my Jack of all trades master of none positioned me well for the digital age. It’s a multi-tiered view of how to be truly effective as a marketer and digital strategist. Instead all of these companies are hiring people for all the individual aspects (social media posts, content creation, PR, etc) but no one even the CMO’s in most companies are effective marketers or strategists so nothing makes these elements work well together. It’s making me look outside of marketing because like you I’m frustrated. They are making it more complicated than it is. The internet changed things. Companies used to sell products to people and now companies need to build relationships with people. It’s not that complex but I always compare it to parenting. Parenting is easier if you follow a few consistent rules but instead we get immersed in the day to day. Marketing is still fundamentally a few basic principles and the internet and social media are just new ways to implement it but instead everyone wants a fast fix or a viral hit. Like a big PR guy once said, “If we knew how to make things actually go viral we would be doing it for everyone. It’s just not that easy.”