No product, service, project, proposal, candidate or other initiative can be viable unless it is afforded, endorsed and reached by its target customers. Of course, marketing skills, in theory, are applied to traditional marketing functions such as advertising, sales, promotion, public relations, marketing research and brand management. However, marketing skills throughout these years are highly valued and sought by employers in almost all sectors of the economy and job market.
Firstly, the typical successful and effective marketing campaigns require a range of particular skills and specific knowledge or expertise. Promoting any product, service, or idea encompasses many different marketing areas and personal qualities. Such process normally begins with analysing your audience at an initial stage and then defining their perceptions towards your product, service or idea. Identifying several distinctive features or aspects of a product you are marketing will be the key strength of what makes it the most appealing to your target audience in a market, hence, your refined verbal writing and exceptional public speaking skills (if you have these attributes) will also gain you an upper hand; helping you to convey your pitch clearly and capture the attention of your target audience.
Secondly, marketing is a form of professional communication since it comprises of communicating to key consumers as to why they should buy or otherwise engage with whatever is being promoted. And we know that such an instrument of communication normally is in form of writing from crafting ad copy to creating scripts for TV spots, composing a compelling budget proposal to add resources to your department, which might involve creating multimedia campaigns, understanding design, and having a general sense of who the end users are and what exactly they want.
Thirdly, verbal communication is important for situations which entail speaking directly with potential buyers in particular. When coming up with a new campaign or marketing initiative, for example, you will have to pitch your ideas to your clients and colleagues by making an eye-catching presentation during your face-to-face meeting. Some forms of marketing also involve making presentations to a large group of potential buyers as well as decision makers. At this stage, you need to stay composed or be comfortable speaking in front of groups, and also you should be able to both handle on-the-spot enquiries while managing your presentations.
Lastly, such essential marketing skills do require a great deal of research-based analysis to determine what the audience wants and needs, given the fact that there is a lot of careful strategy being crafted beneath the analysis. In this case, you must be able to anticipate the potential impact of several alternative strategies and approaches using your own judgment. Because of the fact that marketers typically have to change their course of actions to accommodate new information and draw logical conclusions based on empirical data or other information they receive, therefore, problem-solving skills are essential for you to cultivate in order to trim any of your under-performing campaigns and proposed marketing activities. Bottom line, grabbing the attention of your target audience is critical for your success with any communication means that you opt to perform. And one way to do so is by telling "a compelling success story” from one of your existing customers, which is often deemed to be one of the best marketing techniques executed to engage and draw the attention entirely into your core message.