The Best Marketing Traits You Should Look For

Here at Track5Media, we have a pretty tight-knit group of marketers. While we may all have different backgrounds (none of us even majored in marketing) and areas of expertise, we’ve still managed to launch successful marketing campaigns as well as provide stellar marketing content for our audience. One of the things I often think about is actually why I was hired. After all, I initially came from a journalism background and picked up a minor in marketing late into my college career. However, the more I worked here and interacted with my team, I began to pick out the various traits that we all shared, and with the help of my marketing team, I think I can give you a few traits you should have as a marketer looking for a job, or a few traits to look for as someone looking to grow your marketing team. Below are just a few of the best marketing traits that a good marketer should have.

The Best Marketing Traits

Persistence

As a marketer, I’ve learned one of the best traits to have is persistence. Not every piece of marketing content is going to go viral. In fact, it’s very rare that your article or video you create will break the Internet. However, staying persistent and creating solid content continuously will steadily grow your following. It might take a few shots before you can hit your target audience, so make sure that you’re looking for someone who won’t get discouraged and is willing to change up tactics if one marketing outlet isn’t working.

Outgoing

I never fancied myself as an outgoing person, but as a marketing professional, I quickly learned how crucial it is to be able to approach someone and make them want to hear what you have to say. Whether it’s through email, phone, or face to face, having a positive and approachable demeanor is one of the best marketing traits to have. The good news is I don’t believe an outgoing personality is innate. People who were originally shy or introverted can learn to be outgoing or extroverted. I’m living proof of that. Even if a candidate seems like she or he is a little timid during the interview process, keep in mind that the potential may still be there, so don’t count out a shy interviewee just yet.

Writing Prowess

I think one of the biggest reasons I was hired despite having little marketing experience was my ability to write. As a marketer, a good portion of your duties will be to produce stellar content. Luckily through my journalism background, I was able to produce content that was both engaging and well written. Over at Track5Media, the majority of our new hires for marketing will be asked to provide writing samples as well as submit a sample blog so we can assess his or her writing skills. Those looking to hire new marketers should greatly consider writing as one the best market traits you should look for. You can often teach someone more about marketing, but it’s a lot more difficult to teach someone how to write well this late into their career.

They “Get” Social Media

You can’t be a marketer without knowing a thing or two about social media marketing, so it’s no surprise that one of the best marketing traits you should look for in a new hire is whether or not they are adept at social media. Marketing via social media is different than your traditional online marketing, so make sure when you’re interviewing candidates, that you ask them about whether or not they are able to market using social media. Have them write sample tweets or Facebook posts to see if they understand how to reach an audience via social media.

Initiative

Finally, one of the best marketing traits is initiative. In an industry that is constantly changing, successful marketing professionals have an initiative that drives them forward. They are constantly one step ahead of Google, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapshot. It does neither a company nor a marketer any good to sit on their haunches and wait for the big guys to make their moves in this industry. And in most cases, waiting for the big guys to make their moves will not only hurt your brand but probably penalize it in ways that are sometimes hard to correct. No one wants to have their website hit with a huge algorithm and disappear from the search engines, so finding marketers that have this desired trait is exactly what companies should be doing. But, the initiative isn’t always easy to come by. It takes research, planning, and a lot of guts (and sometimes failures) to truly be a forward thinker. However, those marketers that manage to have this trait are those that are the most successful.