3 Skills Every Marketing Professional Must Have

If you are looking for a career in marketing, there are certain inherent traits every marketing professional must have. Some are learned skills that you can pick up along the way, and others are part of your makeup, something you are born with. Of course those personality traits you should have would include being friendly, outgoing and motivated but almost everything else can be learned. Here are some of the skills you should have if you are considering a career as a marketing professional.

1. Ability to Quickly and Efficiently Analyze Key Metrics
Marketing is so much more than advertising, although they are all part of the same industry. Although they are often used interchangeably, marketing is broader in scope than advertising but also relies heavily on identifying and analyzing key market metrics. This is a skill that can be learned and courses such as the Lean Six Sigma certification available on 6sigma.us can help you learn how to gather and analyze quantifiable metrics. This is going to be one of the most important skills you can learn because you can’t begin to sell anything whatsoever if you don’t understand the market and what consumers within that market are looking for.

2. Excellent Communication Skills
As old-timers used to say, marketers need to have the ‘gift of gab.’ Anyone in the field of advertising/marketing should be able to communicate well with a wide range of people from all walks of life. This entails both written and oral communication skills, so if you aren’t comfortable in this area, it’s time to brush up on your skills. You won’t get far in marketing if you can’t communicate the benefits of the products and services you are promoting!

3. Working Knowledge of Computers and the Internet
You don’t have to be an IT pro to be a marketing professional but it sure helps to know your way around computers and the Internet. Most of your marketing will rely in some way, shape or form on the Internet and so you should be able to work in the Cloud, understand the mechanics of email and also how to use the Web to promote products effectively. You should be familiar with everything from web design to content writing and should also be able to use all forms of Internet marketing based on your client’s market.

In today’s market, you need to be heavily versed in mobile media because most consumers will access your clients’ websites via a mobile device. This is one area of marketing that you should invest heavily in if you hope to be successful as a professional. Take as many classes as you can initially and as time goes on if you hope to have the competitive edge as a marketer.

What sets a good marketer apart from a great marketing professional is having the ability to read current market conditions in order to identify buying trends. With sound training in identifying and analyzing quantifiable metrics along with learning how to use those figures to your clients’ advantage, you can be assured that your skills will be sought after and that a career in marketing awaits you.