How to Become a Marketing Specialist: Essential Skills

Running high on your flair for profit-making and improving the annual turn-outs of businesses? You need to learn how to become a marketing specialist then. I mean, getting so close to mastering its essential skills and beating your competitions at that game.

As a marketing specialist who dreams to be at the top of your game, there are a couple of roles you must be ready to play, some very requirements you will need to meet, and of course of very core objectives you might need to pay attention to. Many of these are:

• Perform research, analyses, and testing with a variety of tools to gain insights and shape marketing strategy
• Collaborate with team members to optimize automation and lead-nurturing process through email, content, events, and social channels
• Assist in execution of marketing plans to reach audiences through targeted channels
• Create and distribute monthly reports on critical metrics for lead generation, content creation, website traffic, and other KPIs
• Assist marketing manager in the development and execution of campaigns, including content creation, new-product launches, social media, upselling, cross-selling, and sales enablement
• Experience with product launches or integrated marketing campaigns
• Excellent communication and presentation skills
• Working knowledge of market research, surveys, and data analytics
• Proficiency with content management systems
• Experience in planning and leading initiatives

Skills of a Marketing Specialist

Despite all those distinct factors you need to mind, there are several workplace skills that typically apply to all marketing careers, and strengthening them may make you more successful over time. As a marketing specialists, you will need to be in full possession of the following skills AND THEN you get to find your way into becoming a marketing specialist:

• Collaboration

Marketers not only have to collaborate with team members, but oftentimes they have to collaborate with other members of a company as well. It’s not uncommon for marketers to work with software engineers, data scientists, and salespeople, among others, to develop new offerings for audiences or identify solutions to issues customers are experiencing. When you collaborate well, you actively listen to what others have to say and communicate efficiently.

• Creativity 

Marketing involves working with ideas—and improving them to reach new and existing customers—so all marketing roles require creativity to some extent. While some roles, like copywriter or social media coordinator, may demand more creativity than others, having a strong creative sensibility will serve you well in your marketing career.

• SEO and SEM

Both search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) aim to improve website visibility and traffic. Thanks to the growth of digital marketing and e-commerce platforms, having an understanding of either area can help you make more informed decisions about things like a company’s web presence, digital content, and customer needs.

• Research

Marketers develop savvy campaigns that encourage customers to do something—buy a product, donate to a non-profit, or add new services to their account. Knowing how to conduct both qualitative and quantitative research can help you find data that may help inform your team’s specific efforts.

• Data Collection and Visualization 

Data tells many stories. A number of marketers use data collection and visualization tools to understand everything from competitors’ website traffic to customer demographics. Having some understanding of how to analyze data—or understand the data you’re looking at—can help you develop more specific insights and adjust your strategy.

• Analytical Thinking

Is this marketing campaign going well? Are we reaching our audience in the best way possible? Questions like these arise often in marketing, and it’s crucial that you develop your analytical and critical thinking skills so you can review the impact of your work and adjust it accordingly. Honing this skill can also be helpful when it comes to trends and whether your company should participate in them.

• CRM and Marketing Automation 

Marketing efforts are multifaceted because marketers engage with customers on multiple channels, including social media, email, and online ads. But with separate teams responsible typically for those efforts, things can quickly grow tangled without marketing automation or customer relationship management (CRM). This software helps track a customer’s journey and makes sure your team’s work pays off.

• Listening

In addition to the research that you conduct about customers, it’s equally important to listen to the feedback they offer: What pain points do your customers experience? What do they most enjoy about your latest products? Listening requires a good degree of empathy, and can train you to be more flexible by staying open to suggestions that shift the course of your marketing efforts.

• Social Media

Social media is a major part of any company’s digital marketing strategy. Understanding the major platforms and the type of content that reaches audiences on each one can broaden your marketing prowess. Beyond that, knowing how to use social media monitoring and listening tools, can strengthen your digital skill set. In fact, an ability to use Instagram and Hootsuite were listed as two of the top 10 growing marketing skills.

• Communication 

Marketers must be excellent communicators in a few different ways: with audiences, with team members, and with major stakeholders and company leaders. Being able to clearly and efficiently communicate with these different groups can not only help you succeed in your various tasks but may also help you avoid any problems that arise from poor communication.

• Content Management System (CMS) 

Most companies have websites, which means there may be a lot of information spread over hundreds (if not thousands) of pages. A content management system (CMS) helps house all of that content so teams can make updates and add new content. Knowing how to work in some of the more common CMS platforms, listed below, can be an asset.

How to Get the Marketing Specialist Skills

There are of course things to do in order to hone these marketing specialist skills. Below are some of them:

• Degrees

Earning your bachelor’s degree in marketing can help you gain important skills in a number of marketing topics and marketing-related topics—and a credential often required to advance in certain marketing roles. The University of London’s BSc in Marketing offers a global perspective on marketing, beginning with general subject courses and moving toward specialized courses.

• Professional Certificates

You can take your learning one step further with a the Meta Social Media Marketing and Marketing Analytics Professional Certificates. Over six to seven months, you can build the skills necessary to pursue an entry-level role in either area.

• Freelance Projects

Finding freelance or even volunteer projects for local organizations can help you develop the necessary marketing skills to succeed in other full-time roles. Plus, it may be something to add to your portfolio—a specific example you can show recruiters.

• Teach Yourself 

Read up about the latest trends and technologies being used in marketing as a starting point and identify a few new areas—or tools—that might be helpful to learn. Don’t know where to start? We’ve put together a helpful marketing blogs list. They’re designed to be completed in two hours or less, and in that time you can gain a beginner’s level understanding of programs like PhotoShop or Tableau.