Marketing strategies have been rapidly advancing over the past couple of years. As a marketer, you have to make sure that you will be combining the right set of skills to make you one of the most in-demand professionals. However, as time goes by, the jobs required from marketers are continuous. You have to keep up with the trends so companies and entrepreneurs will want to work with you.
Why Should You Consider Improving Your Marketing Skills?
The responsibilities of marketers do not stop at digital tasks. Marketing experts are also expected to be analytical, accountable, flexible, creative, and agile. These skills help you be at the top of your marketing game, although you do have to continuously hone your craft to be successful.
The marketing industry’s need for tools, assets, value, and structure is constant. Being out of the loop can cause many disadvantages and greatly affect how you do business with your customers. Remember: the more you know, the more people will hire you because of your effective marketing strategies.
So, what marketing skills should the modern marketer possess?
Attending training classes, webinars, and talking to experts can help you increase your knowledge. Below, we will talk about the different skills that have been rapidly growing in demand in the marketing world.
1. Digital Psychology
Digital marketers should have the capability to persuade the buyer’s subconscious mind. This can be done through specific online touchpoints, which include psychology and behavioral economics. This helps the marketer to examine the audience’s online behaviors. Sure, you know what your clients are doing, but do you know why they are doing it?
Take this example from eBay:
They listed this mini dehumidifier for sale at $18.19, when in fact, that is the usual SRP for mini dehumidifiers. If you tell the consumers that the product is on sale, they will hurriedly add it to their cart and check it out. This gives them a sense of urgency compared to when the product is not “on-sale”.
This is a great example of digital psychology. By doing this, marketers are digging deep into the human psyche and encouraging their customers to buy right away instead of just keeping them in their carts.
Another great example of digital psychology is social proof. This is defined as the reassurance that other people’s actions can justify the reason behind another person’s activities. Some examples include testimonials, reviews, and word of mouth. People tend to look for assurance that what they are about to purchase will solve their pain points, and hearing positive things from past customers can make them feel at ease.
Medium goes in-depth into the subject of digital psychology in this article.
2. Digital Data Analytics
Modern marketing is data-driven, which means that digital marketers without data analytics experience are at a huge disadvantage. Digital analytics is defined as analyzing quantitative and qualitative data from the band that you are working with. It helps with improving your clients’ online experience, leading to you achieving your desired outcome.
While digital psychology is about the “why”, digital analytics is about the “what”. Measuring both of these things will allow you to predict when and where your patrons might appear in their buying journey. Digital analytics can help you pinpoint the following:
- Which digital touchpoints are effective.
- The effectiveness of your marketing campaigns.
- The customer acquisition cost on different platforms.
One of the most useful tools to help you analyze digital data analytics is Google Analytics. They also have numerous courses that you can take to improve your digital analytics skills.
3. Copywriting
Every single marketer today is familiar with Google and social media advertising. One way to stand out from other ads is by learning copywriting yourself. Doing so will help you learn how to talk to your audience a lot better. You’d know the ins and outs of making people take action and not just scroll through your ads.
You don’t have to learn to write long blocks of text – all you need is to familiarize yourself with how people perceive ads and how to get them to act. Copywriting can also help you compose better email newsletters, captions on social media posts, and even short-form blogs.
Here are some tips to help you get better at copywriting.
4. Basic SEO
You do not have to be an SEO whiz to consider yourself a modern marketer. Understanding basic SEO means that you have the ability to look for keywords that can help target the right audience. It means that you’d have to be knowledgeable in using keyword tools such as Ubersuggest, Ahrefs, and Google Keyword Analytics.
Basic SEO knowledge can help you understand how businesses work. It is a good foundation for building websites, helping your traffic increase dramatically, collecting email addresses, retargeting people, ranking on the first page of search engines, creating better ad copies, and more. It gives you leverage for the long-term, which can help companies distinguish you from other marketers.
5. Conversation Generation
Lead generation is one of the main marketing strategies that marketers focus on. This is a much-needed tactic for marketing, even though you’ve probably mastered it already.
Now, getting new leads can help your business grow and become a valuable marketing skill for each modern marketing professional. However, not all leads turn into conversions, so how can you improve on this strategy to make sure that leads to buying customers? The answer to that question is conversation generation. Mastering this skill will help you engage with your audience better, which leads to a stronger relationship with them.
Conversation generation allows you to communicate with your audience directly. This way, you can ask them what they need or want from your business and how you can help them solve their pain points.
6. Full-Funnel Marketing
Having the skill and knowledge to deal with full-funnel marketing can help you be aware of the entire customer buying journey. To start with this skill, you have to take a look at your marketing campaigns. Think about every step that a potential customer will take to become a paying consumer.
Funnel marketing involves focusing on the “warm traffic”. First, you’d have to take a look at your lead and conversation generation. Next, decide how you are going to take that warm traffic to hot traffic.
Full funnel marketing doesn’t end with the customer buying your products or services. You still have to continue nurturing your relationship to make sure that they will be repeat buyers. Knowing how to manage the full funnel will eventually lead to better customer retention, increased customer loyalty, positive ratings and reviews, and referrals from your past clients.
Here is a good article on knowing how to generate top-of-the-funnel leads, and here is another one that discusses full-funnel marketing.
7. Being Aware of New Platforms
We currently have Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Reddit as our top marketing platforms. While these are great places to post your ads and articles, new channels are always popping up here and there. And as a modern marketer, you have to make sure that you are aware of any new platforms that could potentially be used in the industry.
People are always on the lookout for new platforms that they can join. Investigate these new possibilities by creating your own account and familiarizing yourself with the channel/s. This will help you reach as many consumers as possible.
8. Adaptability
You might have mastered your technical and hard skills, but are you giving importance to your soft skills? These are the skills that hone the characteristics of being a team player. It focuses on leadership, honesty, work ethic, and a lot more.
Dealing with a team of strong-willed people can be difficult if you do not have soft skills. It might not seem like this can help your traffic and lead generation grow, but it is directly linked to these things. If you have a good relationship with the people around you, the easier it is to talk to them and brainstorm things that really need your attention business-wise.
9. PR Skills
Being a marketer means that you would have to deal with lots of different people. These include clients, bloggers, experts in your industry, video content creators, entrepreneurs, writers, web designers, and more. You have to build strong connections that can help your business advance.
Making a name for yourself should be your top priority, especially if you want other people to work with you.
Here are a few PR skills that you should consider working on:
- Enhance your online presence
- Think like a consumer
- Know how to talk to the media
- Show emotions
- Listen to those that buy your products
- Share your story
- Join communities and associations
- Make your campaigns visible, reach out to the masses
- Work on your problem-solving skills
Wrapping Up
Being a modern marketer in a technically advanced world is an important move. Not only will you be able to hone and improve your skills, but you will also be able to help the company that you work for. If you own a business, then the more important these skills are.
Focus on improving your online and offline marketing skills and see your job and business skyrocket in no time!