15 Must-Have Skills for Aspiring Marketing Professionals | Thanks to the consumers always changing desires and the speed of technology advancements, the world of marketing is ever-evolving. As an aspiring marketing professional, then, you cannot simply sit back once you have learned the basics. On top of that, marketing is full to the brim with talent – if you wish to join them, there are several skills you must brush up on – here are fifteen of the most important.
1: Communication
Communication is possibly the most important skill you must possess if you want to enter a marketing career. Not only must you be able to speak to the rest of the team and your clients with confidence and clarity, but you must also communicate effectively in your content. After all, the best way to engage an audience is to create original and targeted stories.
If you are serious about becoming a marketing professional, a masters in communication will provide you with the communication skills you need to thrive in this line of work. If you already have a job in marketing and you wish to hone your skills, you can still pursue an online masters in communication. With all of the content being online, you will be able to fit your studies around your work.
2: Prioritizing
As a marketer, you will often have days where there is a long list of tasks that you cannot complete straight away. In these situations, you must be able to prioritize properly. To do this, you should know what is most urgent, what can be done alongside something else, and what can wait until another day. It takes a mixture of knowing the company and critical thinking.
3: Writing
An enormous part of marketing is content creation. If you want to work on this side of marketing, your writing skills must be second-to-none. It is not just about being grammatically correct, though – your writing needs to be engaging, original and targeted at the correct audience. By doing this, you ensure your words make an impact, which in turn creates visible results.
If you want to get better at writing, consider taking an online course. Doing a masters in communication will help, too.
4: Time Management
Marketing is busy. Once you complete a task or come up with an original marketing strategy, you cannot just call it a job done – there is always something more to do. If you look around a marketing office, you will see that the atmosphere is rarely completely still. Due to this, you must manage your time well.
Luckily, most people learn time management during education. You will even improve, if you take an online course like a masters in communication, as you will have to organize your own timetable. To ensure you are always ahead of schedule, though, you should improve them even more, by:
Taking Short but Frequent Breaks
Breaks are, of course, essential. The best way to make the most of your time away from the desk or meeting room is by taking short but frequent ones. That means you will often get the chance to take a breather, but it will not be so long that you lose track of your task list.
Writing To-Do Lists
Marketing requires efficiency. To ensure you get everything done on time, you should write a to-do list at the beginning of each day. If something is particularly time-sensitive, underline it and keep the note above your desk.
Keep an Organized Workspace
It is difficult to be efficient in a cluttered space. To manage both your time and your workload, you must keep an organized and clean desk. A declutter every couple of weeks will not hurt!
Cut Out the Unnecessary Work
The term ‘work smarter, not harder’ fits here. Assess what your daily tasks are, and work to figure out which ones can go in the trash pile. More often than not, people spend far too long on projects or tasks that donot deliver results.
5: Editing Skills
After you have crafted strategies and created content, you must then be able to edit. Editing skills apply to a couple of things – images, videos, and writing. So, if you are already skilled at editing writing but you are not sure how to edit images, consider taking a course in this.
6: Storytelling
“Stories are how we learn best. We absorb numbers and facts and details, but we keep them all glued into our heads with stories.” —Chris Brogan
As previously mentioned, storytelling is an excellent way to engage an audience, whether that is through images, videos, or text. For this reason, you must be able to create stories and put them into original content for customers to engage with. The types of stories you tell will depend on the audience – by identifying your customers, the better you will become at developing the right kind of messages. To become an expert at this, take a masters in communication.
7: Research
Strong research skills are a must for marketing professionals. Luckily, you have many chances to practice during a degree, such as a masters in communication. As a marketer, you will find many of your days filled up with research – you might be looking into the competition, seeing what is trending, or identifying your customers. Whatever it is, you must be able to find out information quickly and efficiently.
8: Creativity
Marketing is an extremely creative field. Think about all the content you consume daily – most of it was curated by marketers who have come up with their own ideas and delivered them. So, as an aspiring marketing professional, you must be able to think creatively – a masters in communication can help you there.
It is not just about having creativity, though – it is also about being able to bring it out when necessary. A few ways to do this include:
Listening to Music
Music often brings out the creativity in our brains. Different genres work for different people – you might be more of a classical person, or maybe the latest hits on the radio are enough to get your ideas flowing.
Clear Your Space
It is often hard to think creatively in a cluttered space, so ensure your desk is free of distractions before coming up with new ideas.
Write Something Down
More often than not, the best way to get into the flow is to write something – anything – down. It does not matter what it is, as long as it is somewhat relevant, it will help you hop on the correct train of thought.
9: Adaptability
If you want a stagnant career where barely anything changes from day to day, then marketing probably isnot your calling. If you love quick change and buzz, though, then it might be the perfect career for you. To thrive in the marketing world, you must be able to adapt at the drop of a hat. The audience’s demands are constantly changing, technology is always advancing, and new marketing strategies appear. What you do day to day in marketing now will look a lot different in ten years.
10: Confidence
While it is important to accept you will make mistakes, it is also just as important to be confident in both your abilities and your ideas. After all, there is no point in being unsure about a marketing strategy if you have not even tried it yet! All you can do is try, and the more confidence you have, the more likely you are to succeed. Not only that, but confidence will help you when talking to clients, too.
If you struggle with confidence in your abilities, attaining more knowledge could help, so consider pursuing a masters in communication.
11: Open-Mindedness
Marketers must take holistic approaches in their methods, and they must also be aware of social issues and a need for diversity. For this reason, integrity and open-mindedness are essential. Without it, you run the risk of marketing campaigns that constantly fall short.
12: Teamwork
Marketing is not a one-person job, which means you must be an excellent team worker to succeed. Throughout the day, you will be speaking with clients and co-workers to craft the best strategies for real results. It is all about cooperation, collaboration, or coordination. Some ways to be a great team player include:
Listening
As important as it is to communicate your points, you must also actively listen to other people’s points of view. After all, it is a team effort.
Always Clarify the Purpose
Rather than have everyone knowing the details of their small part, ensure everyone understands the main goal. That way, each member of the team will have the same set purpose, which will bring the whole campaign together.
Set Goals
One issue some teams have is everyone reaching their own deadlines at different paces. By setting goals with a time limit, you easily avoid this issue, and everything will come together smoothly.
13: Social Media Skills
Social media is an excellent marketing tool, and you must be able to use it (and use it well) in order to succeed as a marketing professional. That means knowing how to use each site and being able to curate engaging, relevant content on each social media platform.
14: Results-Driven
Being results-driven is especially important for marketers. After all, it is all about creating results for brands. To be results-driven, you must be able to understand data analytics, as those results will influence your strategies. By knowing what works and what does not, your campaigns will have a higher chance of success. Luckily, a masters in communication will teach you how to analyze data to give you informative insights.
15: Reliability
Whether you are studying for your masters in communication, starting your first job, or you are filling in for another, you must always be reliable. That means showing up on time, being organized, and always putting in your best work.
What Are Some Other Ways to Guarantee Success in Marketing?
OK – so now you understand exactly what skills you must possess to become a great marketing professional. What next? There are a couple of other things you must do to succeed.
Advanced Education
Advanced education will not only help you stand out from the crowd in interviews,it will also ensure your marketing knowledge is above and beyond. So, if you are serious about entering the marketing field, consider doing a masters in communication.
Plenty of Experience
The best marketers are often those who have been in the job for a long time. With all the knowledge you gain over the years, you will end up becoming an expert on marketing brands and curating engaging content. Just remember to stay flexible, as the methods often change. The basics, however, like storytelling, stay the same.
Caring for the Brand You Market for
Another sure-fire way to build success as a marketer is to work for a brand you genuinely care about. That way, you will be more likely to put maximum effort into the marketing campaigns, without even thinking twice about it.
A Great Mentor
In the early days, a great mentor can do wonders for your career. They will teach you how to communicate with others, how to prioritize your task list, and how to create engaging and effective content. So, if you are doing work experience or you are in your first marketing role, use your mentor as much as possible. Do not hesitate to ask questions!
Lots of Reading
The best marketing professionals are those who are endlessly knowledgeable. So, if you want to succeed, you should read as much as you can in as many forms as possible. Read the newspaper, reading articles, read books – everything. Plus, by focusing on your reading, not only will your knowledge expand, but you will be the first to know about any new trends or marketing developments.
A Deep Understanding of the Brand/Company
By deeply understanding what you are marketing, your marketing strategies will have a higher rate of success. You have got to know who the company is, what they stand for, and how they have previously been perceived.
With enough passion, skill, and hard work, you can become the kind of marketing professional every brand wants on board.
