From Novice to Pro: Building 5 Skills Needed for Marketing Career

Today, good marketing isn’t just about catchy ads anymore. It’s about having the right know-how to ensure the right people see your message. Imagine combining the creativity of marketing with the precision of technology – that’s exactly what marketers do! But what are the skills needed for marketing in this digital age? Let’s dive into the key skills important for anyone looking to stand out in marketing. 

Marketing is an evolving field requiring a diverse set of abilities. This article outlines the top 10 skills hiring managers look for when recruiting marketing professionals in 2023.

Skills Needed for Marketing: Skills VS Experience

When applying to a marketing position, is it better to have experience or skills? The ideal answer is both, but it’s best to have skill if you have to choose. Experience is only a way to certify your potential. This means that you can acquire the needed skills elsewhere. Getting a degree in marketing is one way; you can also gather the skills needed for another career.

The biggest challenge here is that the technical skills needed for marketing are changing faster than ever. For this reason, it’s vital to focus on transferable technical marketing skills rather than knowledge of specific tools or techniques. Additionally, many people are seeking to transition into a digital marketing career, and the most in-demand marketers have transferable technical skills:

With that in mind, let’s dive into the key skills you must master to succeed as a modern digital marketer.

1. Soft Skills Needed for Marketing

Every marketing department consists of many employees with various responsibilities. A marketing campaign is like one giant machine. Every component has its specific role in reaching one bigger goal. For this reason, everyone from the head of the department to the interns has to be in perfect sync. No matter where you are in the marketing process, keeping your technical skills fully current is crucial.

However, before we get to the technical side of things, let’s look at some key areas where soft skills can help you thrive as an employee or in a marketing department.

Creativity

Creative marketers can make unique campaigns that get people talking and build stronger customer connections. In a crowded online space, creativity helps messages be seen and remembered and acted upon. It turns ordinary messages into something impactful, ensuring they catch and keep customer attention in a competitive market.

More importantly, marketers always face challenges and issues: deadlines, tight budgets, changing requirements, new consumer trends, etc. Therefore, creativity is not only about developing catchy taglines and campaign concepts. It also means coming up with solutions to a very dynamic side of the business.

Emotional Intelligence

Amidst the bustling world of algorithms and data, Emotional Intelligence (EI) is an unsung hero in the marketing department. It’s not just a buzzword; it’s the ability to effectively perceive, understand, manage, and navigate your and others’ emotions. For marketers, EI translates into creating campaigns that resonate on a deeper, emotional level with the audience. It’s about crafting messages that touch hearts, invoking a sense of connection and trust towards a brand.

In a digital ecosystem where consumers are constantly bombarded with information, an emotionally intelligent marketer discerns the unspoken needs and desires of the target demographic, curating content that is not just seen but genuinely felt and remembered.

This skill cultivates meaningful customer relationships, propelling brands into realms beyond mere transactions and the spheres of loyalty and advocacy because when customers feel understood and valued, they inadvertently become the most authentic promoters of the brand.

Leadership and Innovation

You might think this would only be handy if you’re a department head. But most ideas come from further down the chain of command. You need to be able to take action and inspire others to believe in your idea. This intersects with digital training. To put it more clearly, it’s quite common for team members to have specific technical marketing skills which others lack. This can lead to situations where leadership skills and a teacher mentality are crucial.

This creates an opportunity for team members to take initiative and share their knowledge with others. However, some marketers find this a stressful situation as they cannot easily switch to leading others; they cannot suddenly take ownership. For that reason, developing your leadership and ownership skills early on is important for any marketing professional.

Communication

The whole department needs to work in perfect sync to achieve maximum efficiency. So collaboration is a must in marketing. You will also work hand in hand with other departments in efforts to maximise profits. The rise of digital technology has added additional challenges here. The thing is, between email, video chats, instant messaging and other communication apps, things can quickly get messy. In this context, communicating effectively across teams means staying organised and understanding how to use various digital tools best.

2. Skills Needed for Marketing: Strategy Skills

Virtually anyone can come up with a good marketing idea. Having a solid plan is what separates a good marketer from the rest. A good marketing plan starts with market research and ends with the expected profit from the campaign.

This requires a great amount of planning and data gathering. The most brilliant campaign would fail if it’s not part of a bigger business and brand strategy, serving specific objectives and goals. Part of the planning process is understanding the bigger picture and how these small marketing tactics fit into the bigger narrative of the business strategy. That ensures that the marketing initiatives are worth the expenses.

The strategy involves skills like data analysis and vision and traditional business skills like project management and gaining stakeholder sign-off.

A marketing department can interfere with production if it serves the campaign’s best interest and the company. Having the skills needed for marketing means sitting down, putting up a strategy, and using each resource to draw a comprehensive plan. There are many marketing strategies to adopt, but choosing the right one for the task at hand is one of the key skills needed for marketing.

3. Skills Needed for Marketing: Executive Skills and Qualities

The success of a marketing campaign is measured by how well it performs in the field compared with the plan. One of the most important skills needed for marketing is execution.

Marketing executives are in charge of seeing plans through, from planning to launching the campaign to results.

Anyone aspiring to go anywhere in this profession must have the oversight needed for management before being a manager. Executive qualities include communication, as they work with other departments like production and research & development.

They also oversee every detail from start to finish; this requires great leadership and creativity.

4. Skills Needed for Marketing: Digital Marketing Know-How

Nowadays, most of the marketing efforts are directed towards digital marketing. Even if an ad campaign is launched in the form of TV commercials, you find it linked somehow on social media or YouTube.

This isn’t because online marketing is cheaper, but because everyone is online now, and it’s the best way to appeal to them.

There are certain skills needed for marketing online that need to be added to your resume if you want a career in marketing.

• Content marketing, including SEO and CRO content,
• Social media marketing,
• Email marketing,
• YouTube.

Again, digital marketing is one of the fastest-moving disciplines around. As such, it’s more important to focus on transferable technical skills. A good way to do this is to think about your current skill set and how this can help you move with industry trends.

For instance, if becoming an SEO guru has helped you to pick up skills in data analysis, coding and web development, then this sets you in a great position to pick up new technical marketing skills quickly and easily.

5. Skills Needed for Marketing: Business to Business (B2B) Marketing Skills

Businesses need resources, too; to acquire them, they don’t simply go shopping at the mall. That’s why business-to-business marketing is important. To give other businesses an idea of what you have to offer them.

B2B skills in marketing are fairly different from those required to market to consumers. B2B strategies differ from normal marketing channels as you now deal with larger entities with much larger shopping carts.

Again, the most in-demand B2B marketing skills have large technical elements to them:

Beyond the basics of skills needed for marketing, like product knowledge and audience targeting, a B2B marketer needs proficiency in understanding complex sales cycles and the art of relationship-building. Digital expertise is indispensable, particularly in platforms like LinkedIn and industry-specific forums.

Analytical skills also play a pivotal role, allowing professionals to extract actionable insights from vast data sets, optimizing campaigns for maximum ROI. Businesses won’t be dazzled by anything other than cost-effectiveness. Here, marketers need most of the same technical skills as a modern accountant. Marketers must make a cost-benefit case for their products when selling to businesses. This involves much data analysis and estimating, budgeting and presenting the business case for your services.

Additionally, skills in content marketing—especially crafting whitepapers, case studies, and webinars—are invaluable, as these assets resonate deeply within B2B contexts. Last but not least, adaptability is essential; the B2B landscape evolves rapidly, and marketers must stay agile, embracing new technologies, strategies, and trends to maintain a competitive edge and drive meaningful engagements with business clients.

Marketing Job Market

• Employment of marketing managers is projected to grow 8% from 2020-2030 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
• 75% of marketing hires require digital marketing skills specifically (HubSpot)
• The average salary for marketing managers is $142,000 annually (ZipRecruiter)

Why Choose a Career in Marketing?

Demand for marketing skills is growing faster than most other job fields. This is mainly because of the amount of work and responsibility the job entails. However, not only is it financially rewarding, but marketing is one job that is satisfying if you have the personality.

If you have the skills needed for marketing, then no other job will be able to utilise your gifts properly.

Marketing executives hold a lot of power within a company. Not because of how much they’re invested in but because they are the creative visionaries of the company. For this reason, to climb up the ladder in the marketing department, you need to align your vision with that of the company. If you have the mental strength for this much responsibility, marketing is the path for you.

Technical Marketing Skills

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – Optimizing content and sites to rank highly in search engines.

• We are utilizing target keywords, optimizing page speed, and improving site architecture.

Data and Analytics – Collecting and interpreting visitor, social media, sales, and other data using platforms like Google Analytics.

• Identifying trends, measuring campaign performance, and segmenting audiences.

Digital Media – Creating visual content for social media, websites, ads, and more.

• We are utilizing graphic design principles, producing engaging short-form video.

Email Marketing – Building email lists and campaigns that engage subscribers.

• Segmenting lists, designing templates, and A/B testing subject lines.

Interpersonal Marketing Skills

Storytelling – Crafting compelling narratives about products, services, and company values.

• We are utilizing principles of storytelling and brand voice in content and campaigns.

Collaboration – Working cross-functionally with sales, product, finance, and executive teams.

• Facilitating alignment on marketing objectives across departments.

Creativity – Developing innovative marketing campaigns and content approaches.

• Brainstorming new content formats, channels, and partnerships.

Strategy – Setting marketing vision and objectives, executing on plans.

• Performing SWOT analysis, developing integrated strategies, and executing campaigns.

Marketing Skills Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What hard skills are most important for a marketing career?

A: Technical skills like analytics, SEO, email marketing, and social media advertising are very important. Also, learn about marketing platforms like HubSpot or Adobe Marketo.

Q: What soft skills should marketers have?

A: Strong communication, creativity, collaboration, and strategic thinking differentiate top marketers. Empathy, organization, and attention to detail are also key.

Q: Is marketing a good career choice?

A: Marketing offers diverse, high-paying roles in a growing field. Brand awareness is more important than ever for business success.

Q: Do I need a marketing degree?

A: No specific degree is required, but a bachelor’s in marketing, communications or business is common. Specialized skills and experience are most critical.

Q: How can I improve my marketing skills?

A: Take online courses in digital skills, use tools like Google Analytics, complete certifications, stay on top of marketing trends, and practice through projects.

Marketing Skills Conclusion:

Marketing continues to evolve as a digital, data-driven function critical to business success. Developing technical abilities like analytics and social media advertising and soft skills like creativity, collaboration, and communication will make you a highly sought-after marketing candidate.

Continuously build upon your expertise in emerging channels while sharpening core competencies like strategic thinking. You can thrive in this dynamic field with the right mix of specialized marketing qualifications.