LinkedIn and HubSpot’s report, The Marketing Skills Handbook: A deep dive into today’s most in-demand marketing jobs has revealed the most in-demand marketing skills companies are looking for. Number one on the list is Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM).
The other skills required include:
- Digital & Online Marketing
- Marketing Campaign Management
- Channel Marketing
- Marketing Demand Generation
- Social Media Marketing
- Relationship Marketing
This list of marketing skills got us thinking how all of these elements feed into the development of your marketing strategy.
- Think digital
If you want to reach your audience – no matter what industry you’re in – you must think digitally. Don’t get us wrong, we still use post-it notes here in the office, but any marketing activity we engage in on behalf of our clients is digitally oriented. Websites are responsive, newsletters are electronic, and communication messages are disseminated via social media channels. We support this with print publications – branding documents, company profiles, product brochures, and advertising flyers – but our clients’ target audiences are digitally savvy which is why we are too.
- Know your values
Before we engage in any marketing activity with our clients, we want to ensure we know their values. We live and breathe ours – THINK, FEEL, DO – and believe you should too. Your company values will shape your organisation, the culture of your workplace, your recruitment policy, who you do business with, and any communication and marketing initiatives you embark on. So what are yours? What is the reason you get up and out of bed each morning to come to work? What is the reason you put in the extra hours to meet that deadline? These are the fundamentals of your company and will underpin your marketing strategy.
- Understand your buyer personas
The greatest marketing campaign could be the biggest flop if it’s not targeted to the right audience. That’s why we place so much importance on establishing your company’s buyer personas. (So much importance in fact we’ve written a blog post all about it). Who is your customer? Is it Brainy Bridget or Sporty Stu, Doctor Dan or Scientist Sally? How old are they? Where do they live? What type of education do they have? What motivates them? By establishing your buyer personas (one for every type of customer) we can then plan a successful marketing strategy that reaches your customer at the right stage of their buyer journey.
- Understand the relationship between content and context
Content forms the heart of your marketing toolkit – thought leadership, infographics, social media, newsletters, presentations, press releases… the list goes on. But content doesn’t sit on its own; it’s got to be used in the right context. What is the purpose of your content? Is it educating your customer? Is it giving them what they want, what they’re looking for? And is it reaching them at the right stage of their customer journey? This is why understanding the relationship between content and context is an essential for any marketing strategy.