Notice: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /home2/sccwebfolio/public_html/theusatwork.com/wp-content/themes/Avada/includes/lib/inc/class-fusion-images.php on line 211
The first consideration is that only in the rarest of circumstances does a business not require marketing. Virtually every business produces a product or a service that needs to be sold to other people in order for the company to function.
It’s inescapable because all business relies on the exchange of value. The vast majority depends on making people aware of their offerings and that’s where the marketing professional comes in.
On its own, a Marketing Degree is highly marketable, and will open many doors for you. The skills you learn are broadly applicable, too.
If you decide you want to change careers, the techniques you learn will serve you well in areas such as advertising, business management or, quite frankly, just about any business related career. It teaches you about consumer relations; it teaches you about communications; and most importantly, it teaches you about stakeholders and how to understand their motivations and desires.
Is marketing for everyone?
Conversely, you do require a particular set of characteristics and personality traits in order to be successful in this career. This means you need to be motivated and highly creative; but you also need to be very detail oriented because most often you’ll be working with a team, so you need to be open to their ideas.
In this job, sometimes you need to be a leader, and sometimes you need to be a follower. You’ll rely on the open exchange of information where someone will understand a trend better than you do, or a client will come up with a “great new idea” and you’ll have to figure out a diplomatic way to tell them why it’s unsuitable. No one said it would be easy.
What skills do I need?
Marketing strategies have changed. You used to have four basic choices: print (newspapers and magazines), radio spots, television advertisements, and billboards.
Nowadays, it’s all about online-presence, social media, real time results tracking, PUSH messages to Smartphones, geo-fencing, consumer response, and sponsorships. It uses technologies like beacons planted all over retail environments to increase customers’ awareness of sales, discounts, or unique offerings, just by responding to the presence of their Smartphone, if they have voluntarily downloaded a particular retailer’s app.
In other words, it is all about technology. Just being brilliantly creative won’t cut it anymore; it needs to be supported with training and education.
As an example, JetBlue has a terrific reputation for responding to customer complaints on Twitter within an hour. They maintain a Twitter account, and have someone monitoring it all day long. They have software which instantly alerts them when someone complains about their service. Their fast response gives them a level of customer loyalty that makes a lot of their competitors jealous. Whether it’s lost baggage or a flight delay, they’re turning irate people into loyal customers.
Be a clear communicator.
If you want to succeed in this business, be sure you are adept at the following simple, yet all too important communication skills and vehicles:
- Proper Grammar (spelling, punctuation)
- Basic Office Software
- Social Media
- Ability to express yourself verbally
- Persuasiveness
- Capacity to integrate with a team.
If you can demonstrate all of these skills, you’ll be well-considered. If you can show previous experience or success in marketing, that is another point in your favor. Failing that, tell them about prior occasions when you have garnered support for a cause; where your creativity solved a problem; or even a time when you succeeded against all odds. Everyone loves a good underdog story because it shows drive and ambition, which are useful skills in this industry.
The Takeaway
This is the job for people with a reasonably good grasp of modern media; that possess that rare spark of creativity; who think a little differently from the mainstream. This sort of career may not suit everyone; but it might suit you. Take some time to investigate your options within this field, because you just might be pleasantly surprised.
Take your job search and LinkedIn profile to new levels and achieve your career goals with LinkedInSecrets.us. Leveraging LinkedIn for Job Search Success 2015 will transform how you use LinkedIn on a daily basis and create a profile that will WOW recruiters and hiring managers.