Content Manager at SocialBee
You may be able to outline 10 skills you need to succeed in Marketing, but can you name 70? Well, you should, because there is no such thing as being overqualified when it comes to working in marketing. But rest assured — we’re here to help you understand the skills you need for a successful marketing career.
We have prepared a comprehensive list of the main marketing skills required in the business. As a plus, we wrote down additional abilities that come in handy to a professional.
Get ready to explore every requirement and prepare for the career of your dreams.
Solid Knowledge About Analytics
Who is Batman without his Batmobile? To a marketing specialist, analytical tools have the same importance.
If you work in marketing, you have to:
- know how to use analytical tools for your benefit
- recognize the meaning behind the numbers — effortlessly
That’s why you need to unlock your technical thinking based on data and performance. But you don’t have to do it alone — you can achieve your business goals and track the success of an online marketing campaign by using advanced software to your advantage. This is a prime example of how knowledge is power.
The world is not only made up of ones and zeros; there are a lot of numbers out there for you to explore and derive insights from.
Inbound Marketing Skills
Let’s be honest: for a business person, sales are a priority. But when you take a step back to look at the bigger picture, customers are the pillar of your success. So why not focus on their experience with your company.
Sustainability is king. Building a loyal base of happy customers means you have a future filled with success ahead. To experience these benefits, you need to focus your marketing skills on long-term results.
Inbound marketing is all about:
- Attracting the right audience
- Resolving their pain points
- Supporting the customers throughout the entire process
From a business standpoint, negatives do not attract, but positives do. Happy customers will share their experiences. This will lead to an organic base of clients that already have a level of trust in your products and services.
Communication Abilities
In marketing, clear, actionable communication brings the best results. It is not the time to be a modern poet. Your message needs to be simple and easy to understand.
A great communication strategy relies on messages directed to a specific target audience. Furthermore, a combination of the right text, suitable visuals, and the appropriate channels will guarantee considerable results.
Knowledge of Digital Advertising
Even if you have the best products/services on the market, if people don’t know they exist, chances are you will not have the results you hoped for. Digital advertising can make your business known using social media, email, affiliate programs, and websites to reach your audience.
Optimization is key. With a fast, attractive website and targeted ads, you are unstoppable.
A Complex Understanding of the Target Audience
Direct all your marketing efforts towards consumers or potential clients and partners. You want to determine them to make certain actions that will benefit both them and your business.
To achieve that, you have to have an idea about their location, an average of their income, and what their needs and interests are. This data can improve your products and services, making them more useful for your audience’s needs. Creating a buyer persona helps you learn about your buyer’s dreams, hopes, pain points, and desires.
Keep in mind that all people want to be understood and cared for. This extra effort can make the difference that defeats the competition.
Act like a best friend, but think like a business person.
A Master of Spreadsheets
A marketing career path can be overwhelming if you don’t stay organized. Here are some tasks that are easier to do with the help of Google Docs or Excel:
- Keyword planning
- Following the progress of your campaigns
- Tracking the traffic of your website
- Organizing your communication plan
Storytelling Power
An easy way to differentiate yourself from the competition is to give meaning to your products and services. Give your audience an experience instead of a simple transaction. For example, there is a difference between buying milk from a dairy company and purchasing from a family-owned business that started its journey by having just one adorable black and white cow.
Focus on Quality Content
Content marketing is a powerful tool that brings traffic and can convert leads. A capable marketer knows how to write, publish, and adapt content based on the platform of communication. This process needs to be a part of a content marketing strategy powerful enough to attract the right audience.
Content marketing can transform a common product or service into something unique that differentiates you from the competition. It is made up of blog articles, guides, newsletters, e-books, webinars, and everything that can inform and entertain.
Influencer Status with Online Marketing Skills
Marketing evolves at the same time as social media. As a business, it is paramount that you have a meaningful online presence. To do so, you have to keep up with the most popular influencers in the game.
Make sure you understand how people interact on all these relevant platforms. Also, post interactive content that stands out from the crowd.
Critical Thinking Pattern
The best marketing tool someone can have is their thinking pattern. To succeed in a marketing career, you have to view things from a logical and rational point of view. You have to make connections that transform simple data into successful marketing strategies.
Problem-Solving Abilities
You have 99 problems, and you have to solve them all. Whether it’s an internal conflict in your team, demanding clients, or something that went wrong in your campaign, you have to be mentally prepared for stressful situations that require your patience and logic.
The Curiosity of a Student
This career path offers an opportunity to grow your marketing skills. You never know too much about marketing. People’s attention span changes and social media gets more and more complicated. As a result, all the content and marketing strategies have to fit new standards.
From sales to lead generation, SEO, inbound marketing, and UX, a strong marketer knows all the innovations in the business. It is important to have the reinventing abilities of Madonna to stay relevant in this industry.
Public Speaking Skills
Marketing is a profession that requires public speaking abilities. Every strategy needs to be planned and discussed with the team. Initiatives of importance like limited offers, the launch of a new product, or meetings with potential clients and partners require a good communicator.
You need to be comfortable and confident while pitching a new idea, and always ready to answer questions and critiques.
Creative Power
As a marketer, you are always searching for new ways to improve your products and services. You have to get creative in your marketing strategy. Sometimes you have to take an old product and make it exciting again. You might feel like everything has been done before, and it is a real challenge to differentiate yourself from the competition. Put your marketing skills to the test by trying new and interesting concepts.
In marketing, you have to consider what the consumers want, what the competition is doing, and how you can make it better.
Negotiation Skills
To sell a product, you have to collaborate with different partners. Moreover, you need to negotiate contracts and terms that are profitable to all parties involved – not an easy task to do. And it is all done while respecting a budget. Negotiation is about more than money. It is an exhausting experience that requires strong character and quick thinking.
Stress Management
Stress is a normal part of a marketing career. At some point, something will go wrong and you will be the one who has to fix it. Focus on what you can do instead of what is out of your control. Try not to panic, and use your problem-solving superpower.
Visual Intelligence
You will often work with a design team to bring your ideas to life. To get your vision across, you need to have a certain amount of visual intuition. Learn how colors and shapes can bring harmony and enhance your customer’s experience.
Ensure that your customer recognizes your visuals by keeping things simple. For example, try to use the same esthetic on your website, social media channels, and printed advertisements.
The Mind of an Analyst
Keep your enemies closer analyzed. A marketing strategy is based on research. Researching your competition can help you stay ahead of the game. See what they are doing right and learn from their mistakes to improve your services.
Behavioral Psychology Knowledge
A good marketer has an insight into how people interact online and offline. You have all the data you need to build your marketing strategy, but you need to get into details.
You need to have an understanding of what makes people engage with certain posts and why they share and follow trends. The success of a marketing strategy relies on how well you know your audience and. Use this information in your marketing activities for more personalized content.
A Great Team Player
Teamwork is a defining term in marketing. You need to get comfortable depending on other people. As a marketer, you will collaborate with your marketing team, content writers, and designers.
There is no room for vanity. Everybody has their ideas, but at the end of the day, you have to reach a consensus about your strategies. You need to put all your communication skills to good use.
Financial Planning Abilities
In marketing, more money doesn’t mean more problems. While writing a marketing strategy, you have haunting thoughts about sticking to the budget. You have to know where the most profitable investment is and how you can transform it into profit.
There are a lot of aspects of the job that require money, such as advertising, software, and new employees. For instance, for filing the employee retention credit, many companies have refundable credits on qualified wages and get refunds for each employee’s credits. Without financial experience, this can be very overwhelming.
Time Management Expert
Conforming to deadlines is a challenging task when you work in marketing. It is a demanding job that needs people with the ability to dabble into many other fields. Having the ability to organize your time for each task is an underrated talent.
It is easy to panic when the to-do list becomes longer and longer. That is why a strong marketer knows how to prioritize tasks and manage them in a convenient time frame.
Marketing Skills That Improve Sales
All marketing efforts are focused on increasing sales. The main priority is to sell what people want to buy and improve your products and services. It is a work of fulfilling your customer’s needs and making them stay in the long run. Moreover, to increase exchanges, you have to develop a valuable relationship with your customers.
As people respond more intelligently to advertising efforts, you hate to remain relevant on the market. It is important to find more sophisticated ways to stay competitive.
Customer Service Skills
At some point in your career, you will deal with unhappy customers. It is time to put on a smiley face and add some sugar, spice, and everything nice. Soft skills will help you interact, listen and communicate with customers and teammates. Your mission should be to maintain a friendly and welcoming atmosphere in your interactions with others.
Great customer service will contribute to your image. Unsatisfied customers are more likely to talk about their negative experiences rather than positive encounters. This can happen online in your reviews section or offline with their friends and family.
Big Picture View
To develop a marketing strategy, you need to see how everything is interconnected. Unfortunately, it is easy to get lost in the details, especially when dealing with specific data and analytics most of the day.
You have to keep in mind your mission and goals. There are so many things you have to do, it is beneficial to stop and see what can lead you faster to your objectives. It is this type of focus that makes the difference between a successful marketer and a bad one.
Are you up for the job? Take your time, and conquer all the challenges you are facing. From mastering analytics to understanding the power of graphic design, you have a long journey ahead of you. One thing is certain, you will not get bored.
Whatever difficulty you encounter on your way to success, we are here to help.
Book a free call with us and learn how you can improve your marketing strategy!
