What marketing skills do you need as a marketing professional?
Being a successful marketing professional means having the right skills, capabilities, and knowledge for the job. Read on to learn what marketing skills you need as a marketing professional.
What do marketing professionals do?
Marketing professionals promote products or services to potential customers by generating awareness, communicating value, identifying audiences, and encouraging action (i.e., purchasing the product or service).
Depending on your marketing specialty, your tasks might include:
- Developing and implementing strategies that align with a company's goals and identity
- Collecting and analyzing data on competing organizations, audience behavior, and campaign effectiveness
- Managing budgets, content, and personnel
- Collaborating with other departments to ensure functional strategies and competitive product/service pricing
- Boosting awareness of a company's brand, products, and services
Key skills for marketers
As a marketing professional, these are the primary skills you should cultivate:
Communication: Strong communication skills can help you craft the right message for customers and impart the value of your product or service. These skills can also help you build strong relationships with your peers, supervisor, and other departments.
Critical thinking: Critical thinking lets you analyze and evaluate information while testing assumptions. As a result, you can gain a better understanding of your audience and develop the right messaging.
Organization: As a marketing professional, you'll be in charge of many tasks. Great organizational skills can prepare you to manage tasks, improve productivity, and meet deadlines.
Adaptability and flexibility: Marketing is not stagnant. Your strategies depend on changing market trends and shifting consumer preferences. Being adaptable and flexible allows you to respond quickly, take advantage of opportunities, and remain competitive.
Collaboration/teamwork: You'll likely interact with peers in your department and colleagues in sales, accounting, and product/service development. Strong teamwork skills can ensure that everyone you work with is clear about tasks and goals.
Technical skills marketing professionals should have
Marketing professionals commonly have experience with the following:
Content management and creation: Generate positive brand awareness through the right messaging to develop strong customer relationships and increased conversions.
Research and analysis: Aid decision-making by collecting and analyzing data, such as audience behavior and campaign effectiveness.
Technology: Understand content management, customer relationship management systems, marketing automation, and social media platforms to improve audience outreach and nurture leads.
Project management: Meet deadlines, allocate resources, and manage risk to ensure that projects are successful.
Search engine optimization: Drive more traffic to your company's website by boosting its search engine results. The higher your website ranking, the more likely users will click in.
How to boost your marketing qualifications
Even if you're a skilled marketing professional with years of experience, you can improve your qualifications and skills in the following ways:
- Become a member of the American Marketing Association or similar groups
- Subscribe to industry publications for the latest trends
- Attend marketing workshops, seminars, conferences, and networking events
If you're new to the profession, online educational platforms like edX can get you started. edX offers various courses and undergraduate degrees in the field. Earning a master's in marketing could open more career paths with higher salaries. For those already well into their career, executive education courses can help you build on your skill base and know-how.
Additionally, organizations like the American Marketing Association offer certifications in content marketing, digital marketing, and marketing management to boost your résumé.