Heading into 2019, the marketing landscape continues to become more competitive, so make sure you’ve got these 7 essential skills down pat.

1. Strong overall communication skills.

Successful marketing communications demand a clear message communicated to a target audience, using the appropriate tone. Yes, it would be a good idea to advance your speaking and presentation skills.

2. Be an Analyst

Marketing is evolving at a rapid pace and expectations on the marketing team now extend far beyond advertising, branding, events, and PR.So, what do you need to be a great marketer? You need to be an analyst. Data, data, data… If the content is King, data is certainly Queen.

3. Basic spreadsheet skills.

Marketers will use spreadsheets — say Excel or Google Docs — in modeling, planning, and studying trends. For instance:tracking social media marketing week-over-week, blog post traffic tracking, SEO keyword planning, determining when people are visiting site, and reviewing campaign metrics.

4. Ability to tell a story.

Marketers today need to be able to tell a great story. A strong marketer must be able to publish content, as well as create content and participate in the content strategy process. Content is the fuel for inbound marketing. Content marketing is an essential component of driving traffic and converting leads. Yet content marketing isn’t about attracting someone to your site just once. The lead often needs to return time and time again.

5. Experience with contemporary digital tools, platforms, and channels.

If you pride yourself on remaining loyal to flip phone technology, you should probably just stop reading. Another of the skills needed by marketers today is understanding how to leverage social media channels, as well as apps, and websites such as Linkedin.

6. Critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Remember how your college professors went on and on about developing your critical thinking skills? They were doing you a favor. Marketing is more than simply sharing a message with an audience. Problem-solving skills are going to come in handy when someone on your team or on the client side throws a curveball. You may need to catch and run with that new development by EOD (that’s End of Day — an important acronym to know).

7. Continuous learning. Vertically and horizontally.

Marketers today must engage and demonstrate continuous learning. The more you learn, the more you are closer to becoming a great marketer.

So, you think you are ready? Build upon these skills and you are all set on your journey to be a great marketer.

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