These days, being a great marketer involves a variety of different skills, and those who have specific marketing knowledge can really help a business grow over time. Different backgrounds and experiences can make for a great marketer, but are there are some traits and “skills” that really set some marketers a part from the rest? The answer is of course a little bit objective, but most will tell you that yes, there are skills to take notice of to identify a great marketer.

When you are looking for someone to join your marketing team, you really want to pick someone who is going to contribute a fresh perspective and really help your business to grow. Here are 10 traits to look for in a great marketer:

Knowledge of Social Selling

Sales teams often use a tactic called “social selling” and the best marketers these days know how to navigate this. Ultimately social selling is a strategy to develop relationships with prospective clients before pursuing sales goals or making sales appointments and pitches. This is primarily done through social media such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Sales teams use these sites to identify and engage with buyers and then leverage the data they gather to share timely, insightful content. The information you can get out of social selling tactic can be extremely valuable to marketers because it allows you to understand client demographics and optimize strategy.

Photoshop

Photoshop has grown to be one of the most valuable skills in the digital marketing age. Marketers who have knowledge of Photoshop can create and edit original website images, social media banners, print advertisements, and other visual content. This means less outsourcing to other businesses and/or other departments for your marketing needs.

Video Production

Similar to Photoshop, knowledge of video production is quickly becoming one of the best skills for marketers to have. Consumers really like watching videos to get information. That is why platforms like YouTube and Vimeo have been such a success for businesses. Since this growth of video consumption has been exponential, there is a need for marketers to know about video production so that they can develop their own B2B video productions. As HubSpot points out, there are really three types of video production used in marketing: (1) animated explainer videos, (2) live video, and (3) screencasts. Finding someone familiar with any or all of these video production formats can make a big difference. If you’re stuck, however, you can visit No Risk SEO to learn more about video production services.

PR Knowledge

Knowledge of customers and markets goes a long way in marketing—and knowing the PR world can really help a business to grow; especially when the knowledge is coming from the marketing department. In today’s world, marketing and PR are more entwined than ever before, and in many companies these departments are permanently merged.

Educational Experience

When you are hiring someone for a marketing position, remember that their degree doesn’t necessarily have to be in marketing or business in order for them to be a good fit. English, communication, social science, etc. can all be good fields for people to come from (for a variety of reasons), so long as they have experience with digital marketing! For example, someone with a social science background could have extensive knowledge about culture or human interactions with technology, while someone with a degree in English can be an exceptional writer and content developer.

They Follow-Through

Following through from start to finish when building a relationship with a customer is incredibly important for a marketer. The ability to follow through is essential for marketers and marketing campaigns because purely starting them without seeing conversions or following up with clients will not allow for the maximum growth in a campaign. Good marketers have the ability to follow through and see a project to completion.

Drive and Determination

Marketers have a lot of drive and determination to accomplish goals and help a business grow. A lot of times marketers are not driven by sales commission, but rather the joy of success in seeing a business grow. Marketers can feel a sense of accomplishment when a new client comes in and says they found the business by simply searching on Google, and picking one of the first companies to come up (yay for SEO efforts). Having a high-ranking business is a direct result of good marketing. Having drive and determination to be successful, without seeing a commission check at the end of it, often makes these kind of achievements possible.

Confidence

Confidence and tenacity are key. Good marketers are not only resilient, but they walk into a meeting with a potential customer exuding confidence. They walk in knowing that they are going to make the sale (even if they don’t know it at all), and that creates a sense of urgency and importance for the client. Marketers should have confidence in the work they do, especially when it comes to going out on a creative limb or trying something new.

Utilizing Sales the Team: Macro vs. Micro

Let’s face it; the job of a marketer is typically at the “macro” level. You work, most of the time, with large pools of “potential” customers, and then within that there are leads that actually do end up following through on a sale. Salespeople, conversely, work on a much more micro level. That is, they end up working face-to-face with the customers directly. Similar to just “knowing” the customers well, they also have insights that come from these more micro interactions with the company’s clients which can be extremely valuable to marketers. Good marketers can appreciate the value in a sales team and their insights working directly with customer interactions.

Writing and Editing

Last, but certainly not least, good marketers/marketing managers love to write and are excellent editors! Developing content for your website, email-ers, and social media is always really critical in a marketing positions, so having someone who not only knows how to write well, but also loves to write is an awesome trait!

The Takeaway

This list of 10 traits of a good marketer is by no means exhaustive—there are many valuable skills and qualities that could make someone a good fit for a marketing position. They should 100% have knowledge and at least some experience with SEO and digital marketing prior to taking on a marketing position—but some of the qualities and traits discussed in this post can also make an extremely effective hire. Having skill with certain programs and technologies (like Photoshop or video editing) or possessing certain personal skills, such as confidence and determination, can make all the difference between a “good” marketer and a “great” marketer.

What are you thoughts on the traits of a good marketer? Let us know in the comments section below, we would love to hear from you!