Further to my recent post about what to look for in a sales person, I thought I would write a blog about marketing professionals! I hope this gives you a good insight on what you should look out for in a successful marketer!

• Passion – Passion is key, marketers will be having creative ideas coming out of their ears. How many marketing professionals have you met that have said; Hey I am SO bored…! Not very many.

• Loyalty – Most marketers will be incredibly loyal and dedicated to the brand. If you don’t believe in the product, how can you market that product or service? You live & breathe what you do. It’s your life.

• Knowing your TMG – Your company has this amazing product, but it’s all well and good having this product that is supposedly awesome, if you can’t target the correct audience then your role is totally pointless. For us at Robertson Sumner, we specialise in IT Sales & Marketing Recruitment – so we know that we will only market out company to IT Companies, with a specific focus on contacting the Sales Managers & Directors.
• Creativity – Marketers are always, well should be creative. They will always be thinking of new and cool ideas, ideas that may sound crazy. But if you don’t try it, you won’t know what does or doesn’t work! I once received a packet of seeds in the post, which came with a letter saying Let us plant these seeds to help grow your business! (Something along those lines anyway…) I thought it was quite a cool idea, something different and imaginative.

• Flexible- You can plan in advanced and have endless lists of creative and interesting ideas. But things change, products / services develop – so you have to change your marketing ideas too. You can adapt and change your focus at any point. You can’t dwell on the past, accept change and move on.

• Able to listen – They should be able to listen to what others have to say around them. Listen to the feedback from the sales teams, listen to their manager / boss. They need to listen to help aid the sales process. Now don’t get me wrong, the sales team need to listen to them as well. Swings and roundabouts.

• Able to sell- Ultimately marketing creates sales, marketers have that ability to sell to someone before they realise they need what your offering. You should never come across a ‰’marketing professional’ if they haven’t ever created a sale, or feel they don’t need to. Let’s face it; marketing is sales – just super creative. That’s why I love marketing!

• Long Term Goals –A marketer shouldn’t spend most of their time researching analytics. How many retweets or likes did I get? In all honesty is there any ROI on a like on Facebook or a retweet on Twitter? No, there isn’t. But getting lots of ‰’likes’ does make you feel good at the same time. What is your task though? Your role is to promote the brand – their end goal is to create leads which in turn make sales.

• Tell a story – There is nothing more boring that a traditional ‰’sales pitch’. Out with the old and in with the new. With social selling on the way up and cold calling on its way out, it’s so easy nowadays to create compelling story over the internet. There are hundreds of social platforms that you can showcase your company on, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram, just to name a few. It is key to get people to connect and believe in what you are marketing. If your marketing team can’t tell a story, will your brand message come across correctly?

• Team Player – There is always that ‰’battle’ Marketing Vs Sales. Let’s face it we both need each other. So there is no need to battle against each other, working together in a collaborative environment will just make the work place more enjoyable and you will get more sales! Happy office means happy employees!

If you are looking to hire a marketer into your business, whether you are replacing someone who left – or bringing someone in for the first time. Then bare these traits in mind, it may help you in the long run! Now there are plenty more traits… but these are the most important – in my opinion anyway.