3 fundamental traits of savvy marketers

The last decade has been a fascinating time to conduct business. Although marketing has always been an incredibly fast-paced career, it seems like the rapid advancement and sophistication of internet channels has kicked the job into overdrive.

In fact, a study by Gartner found that companies are now spending more on marketing technology than advertising.

One of the only factors that remains constant is change itself.That being said, it takes a particular mind to grasp the shifting landscapes and guide businesses to the results they need. So what are the characteristics of these marketing minds?

They ask “Why?”

Marketing is a field of which requires constant investigation. A talented leader does NOT perform tasks mindlessly. In every part of the job, a savvy marketer is always asking “why?”

“Why did this method work better than that one?”

“Why exactly is a certain platform being used as a content channel?”

In addition to asking questions, they seek answers supported with concrete information. In other words, they don’t make assumptions.

We are living in a world where everything is backed by numbers and analytics. An idea or solution without in-depth reasoning does not cut it.

Let’s say you are a starting a clothing line for women. You need to find the best ways to distribute content. Now, it’s fairly common knowledge that Instagram is a phenomenal platform for visual marketing in this field. But, an expert would dive MUCH deeper into the prospect of using this channel. They would back up their pitch with relevant information like:

• Over 30% of American women are on Instagram.
• 70% of U.S companies are projected to utilize Instagram for marketing this year – making it the first time this outlet has surpassed Twitter in popularity.
• Calvin Klein was able to breathe new life into their brand using the famous #MyCalvins campaign. They used a number of key influencers to make the hashtag go viral.

By constantly asking “the why,” skilled marketers know they must keep learning in order to maintain a healthy rate of growth. Once the student mindset is lost, development ceases.

They look for bottlenecks

Regardless of the industry, a savvy marketer knows how to identify prevalent issues and create an approach that effectively solves them. They are always on the lookout for innovative answers to common grievances.

Zeynep Ilgaz, CEO of Confirm Biosciences, a company drug screening provider, knows their service is far from a one-size-fits-all entity. Her solution is to work incessantly towards finding more simplified solutions.

“We find a lot of companies struggle to find a testing program specifically geared to their business type. But without a solution that fits your exact needs, the results can easily be skewed and money will be lost. This is why we market our service as a simple, customizable one that eliminates the need for trial and error,” says Zeynep.

This habit is also present from an internal perspective. There are many instances when a marketing executive must juggle a multitude of tasks at once. This is simply a reality of life in the professional world. An effective leader is constantly looking for strategies and tools and strategies to make life easier without sacrificing quality.

In most cases, these fundamental skills can be traced back to college. This is a notoriously chaotic time in a young professional’s life. They are thrown into a situation where they must adjust to living on their own, learn how to manage money, perform in the classroom, and maintain a social life. To be successful, a student MUST find ways to prioritize and streamline their time. If you are interviewing a new marketing candidate, ask about their days as a student. This is where you will get an idea for the professional habits they will bring to the workplace.

They can adapt to change

Marketing is a field living in a constant state of evolution. Customer mindsets change by the hour, marketing technology is becoming more advanced, and fruitful strategies come and go.

A great marketer knows not to fall in love with a certain approach, for it may very well be obsolete the next day. Instead of looking at this concept as a pitfall of the job, they see it as a constant flow of new opportunities.

The reason savvy marketers are so good at adapting to change is because they see it coming. No, they don’t have crystal balls in their office showing them the future. They keep up with the latest news of the industry and use monitoring and analytics tools to witness the shifting trends in real-time. From here, they use their supreme habit of researching the “why” to glean valuable insights and plan their next move. Successful marketers are always thinking two steps ahead and altering their game appropriately.

Wrapping up

Marketing is a field not meant for the faint-hearted. There will never be enough hours in a day to accomplish everything. Skilled experts wake up every day knowing to expect the unexpected. This is perhaps what makes the job so enticing. What sets the most successful marketers apart, is they have carved out a rhythm and discovered the proper tactics to achieve results that speak for themselves.