What it takes…
This article will cover what it takes to be successful in Marketing. I will talk about some of the skills necessary to succeed, advice from professionals, and some of my own thoughts on it. Let’s dive in!
A very particular set of skills…
This list was inspired by reading the following articles: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/why-marketing-is-so-hard, https://buffer.com/resources/career-in-marketing.
Patience.
Introspection.
Persistence.
Confidence.
Communication.
Ambition.
Curiosity.
Why these skills?
Let’s get into it!
Patience.
Patience is an important skill in marketing. I like to call it a skill instead of a trait because you really can grow it. Marketing will definitely help you grow this skill. The reason is: sometimes it takes time to be successful. The marketing process is never-ending. Just when you finally find something that works, you will be re-examining it to make it work even better. This will require patience, and a willingness to be wrong and keep being wrong. Marketing requires failure in order to achieve. Patience is important in marketing because things will always be changing, and always be growing. Marketing is like gardening in this way. Patient and careful hands will be the most effective in growing your impact.
Introspection.
You need to know yourself well in order to be in marketing. What are your limits? When should you pass this project on? Is your perspective the most accurate? Do you need someone else’s input? Is your opinion objective? You need introspection, because you need to be able to ask yourself these questions, and answer them honestly. Can you do it? Ask yourself now. Are you introspective? Would you be objective about your opinion? Would you really accept others input? Marketing is not about you. Introspection is important to marketing because you need to have the ability to recognize what you feel, think, or believe and how it should actually be included in the equation.
Persistence.
This one has to be pretty obvious. Marketing requires persistence. You have to have a desire to return to your work again and again. Are you really invested in getting the response your company desires from your audience? You should be. You should be so invested in it that you want to get back up again and figure out how to do it better next time. I like to say this: If a company were the Avenger’s team, marketing would be Spiderman. He always gets back up. No matter how many times he fails, no matter how bad the outcome looks, no matter how slim the chances of success may be, he always gets back up.
Confidence.
Have you ever known someone who was always willing to be laughed at? Someone who was never afraid to ask questions, even if it made them look stupid. Someone who just really put themselves out there. Well, you wanna be that person in marketing. You need to have the confidence to ask every question, and present every idea. You have to respect your own abilities and your own ideas. If you think something could be done better, you need to be outspoken enough to act on it. You need to have confidence that is not affected by your success and failure. This is vital in marketing. You must know your value and your ability to have an impact.
Communication.
Nowadays this skill is required of every job, so it’s easy to cast this one aside. However, I urge you to acknowledge this fully. Marketing is communication. The whole point of marketing is to communicate to consumers. Marketing requires effective communication. You must communicate with consumers, then turn around and communicate to your company. Ash Read explains this well in the following article: https://buffer.com/resources/career-in-marketing. He says that you should be a “storyteller” in marketing. You are portraying a picture for your consumers. What do they need and want that they can only get from you? Can you inspire them to really believe that?
Ambition.
What is your goal? Will you stop at nothing to achieve it? You need to be ambitious to be successful in marketing. Do you have a desire to be successful? I do not believe you can be successful if you don’t. If you aren’t driven to create effective marketing campaigns, you won’t. Your heart’s got to be in it.
Curiosity.
Have you ever solved a puzzle box before? If you have then you know that there’s a lot of turning the box, and there’s a lot of just trying things out. That is an important skill in marketing. Do you examine things from multiple perspectives? Do you try out all of your ideas? Here’s the real impact: curiosity is what stops you from putting down the box. It’s that feeling that makes you pick it up again, and again. Are you a curious person, or are you comfortable with whatever works? Marketing is the puzzle box. The successful individuals in marketing are those who have that desire to find another way in. Let me just tell you now, there are a million ways into a puzzle box. Anything from the step by step instruction to a sledgehammer. Do you have the curiosity to see what happens when you take a different approach?
Some advice…
Most people don’t do what they were taught in their college marketing courses. Do not rely on what you’re taught. Rely on experience. If you don’t have personal experience, then research other people’s.
Sales is an important skill in marketing. Many employers require previous experience in sales for marketing roles. The two areas of business heavily overlap. It is important to at least have a good understanding of sales. Especially the similarities and differences between the two fields.
Real-world experience is replacing extra schooling. Someone who has gotten their hands dirty in marketing is more prepared than someone who just has their degree.
Get technical. Don’t just want to be in marketing. Know what you really mean by that. What is it, specifically, that you want to do? Do you know?
What now?
Put yourself out there. If you think you’d be a good candidate for a marketing role, get out there and get some experience in it. Don’t be afraid of failing, because you’re going to. However, failure is a chance to demonstrate some of those skills that you want to show off.
Thank you for reading! If you have any thoughts on this topic, feel free to share them in the comments!