What makes a business successful?
This has been the question that has stumped millions, both newcomers and experts. There aren’t two opinions about it – sometimes, success looks like magic.
But it isn’t magic that gets a humble delivery service such as Amazon from the ground to a market value of over $1.7 trillion. Knowing how to brand a business and properly market in today’s overwhelming business climate is paramount to any business success.
Let’s split this knowledge into two equally important halves: Hard and Soft skills. Hard skills are abilities, such as knowing how to draw or drive a car, which are learned and then perfected with time and practice. People acquire hard skills through education, be it college or private, and through experience. In the game of business, having the proper hard skills for a niche business means the difference between major success and major downfall. Some important hard skills that stand out include accounting, financial modeling, graphics design, and software engineering. However, hard skills are not limited to conventional modes; for every different business plan, there is a unique subset of hard skills that complement it. If you own a bicycle repair shop, for example, knowing how to ride a bike is a hard skill that could help out. If you own a swimming-wear shop, knowing basic CPR is a skill that would boost your client’s confidence in you.
Soft skills aren’t something you can learn as part of your university degree, but they can be taught to an extent. Soft skill is the ability to talk to someone; really talk to them without letting their words roll over right over your head. Often cited as emotional intelligence, having a one-on-one conversation with someone and being invested in their story is a soft skill. Someone’s soft skills are connected to their personality more often than anything else. Often, one person will communicate with a large crowd while another would be petrified talking to an audience. Working as a team is an important soft skill that is valued across the globe as a pillar of good management. Experience is the only way to improve your soft skills.
When it comes to skills required for marketing your business, experts debate what actually works. Some say that you need impeccable hard skills to provide a quality product; others tend to lean more towards soft skills and resonating a good vibe with your customer base.
Top Soft Skills for Marketers
Balancing between hard and soft skills in business marketing is the best approach, but not everyone can achieve that balance. Here are some of the top-rated soft skills in 2021 that will earn you a top spot in any company.
- Communication
Communicating your thoughts and ideas to another person is vital in most jobs today, especially in marketing. People who can communicate well are usually put at the front of a department – the face of the company. Their job is to show the best side of a business and to establish a dialogue between clients and the company. Marketers with good communication skills are generally hired in the B2B and sales sectors.
- Persuasion
Persuasion, or the ability to convince, is one of the most vital communication soft skills. Persuasion doesn’t just mean talking – it means talking with a purpose. People fluent in the art of persuasion are mostly employed in various professional niches, especially in sales and marketing.
- Responsibility
Making mistakes is one thing; taking responsibility for one’s mistakes and learning from them is another. Responsibility is one of the rarest and most valuable soft skills. It is a talent that cannot be taught in conventional schools or universities. Responsibility is a combination of upbringing, peer influence, and personal growth. Responsible people are universally employable and highly sought after.
- Confidence
Confidence is a valuable soft skill that is developed as people achieve their goals. This soft skill must not be mistaken with overconfidence, which is a universally disliked trait. Employees confident in their abilities are mostly employed everywhere where there is a need for professional realization and expertise, such as a marketing or educational department. Confident people have the rare gift of inspiring confidence in others, thus increasing overall performance.
- Resilience
Resilience is a soft skill that is often overlooked. Being resilient allows someone to learn from mistakes and rejections, as a result boosting personal and professional growth. It is a rare talent that develops when hardships and challenges are overcome.
- Adaptability
An adaptable person is someone who is not afraid of change. People who have this soft skill are highly sought after in business and sales departments as well as in creative or customer service departments. Adaptability is another rare soft skill as it develops with experience.
- Feedback appreciation
Taking criticism is a vital soft skill that is often overlooked as unimportant. Still, feedback is the backbone of personal growth; without knowing your weaknesses, there is no way you’ll know which areas of your education need improvement. People with this soft skill are mostly hired in high-level positions in the technology, sales, and marketing departments.
There are hundreds of different soft skills, and few people can develop all of them. As such, it’s important to focus on becoming a well-rounded expert with technical understanding in several areas, backed up with the desire to self-improve. Companies look for employees who are willing to learn. There is nothing worse than a staff member who thinks they know everything.
Top Hard Marketing Skills in 2021
Social Media Marketing
One of the most important marketing skills that you need in 2021 is maintaining an online presence. With so many platforms on the internet (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter), there is no excuse not to communicate with people. Creating a business account is free and comes with many benefits. LinkedIn, for example, is the premier social network for newbies and experts alike. LinkedIn allows people to upload online resumes and fill out a questionnaire about their business. Their profile will then be visible to millions of other users who share the same goal – get their brand recognized. On LinkedIn, you can connect with other users and exchange contact information which serves as a business card. The more connections you make, the more well-known you are in the community. You can use SignalHire to gather emails from other users faster than having to visit every page manually. SignalHire allows you to find and validate emails for email marketing. It’s an online Chrome extension that helps online marketing experts reach out to a broader demographic.
Besides LinkedIn, other social networks allow you to interact directly with your client base. This interaction could range from answering questions about your products or just chatting with them directly. Again, being open and friendly with potential consumers will increase the trust in your brand.
Tech Skill Versatility
Often, large companies require their employees to continue their education into a new skill. The goal is to create a team that is self-sufficient and can tackle more than one task at the same time.
Recently, many companies have started downsizing on their departments’ cost and size. Shrinking departments allows companies to better spread their existing resources among a smaller number of employees. As such, one employee is required to have at least rudimentary knowledge of several skills (Marketing, Website Design, SEO, Social Media Research, etc.). Being versatile in more than one skill gives you a higher chance of making the cut. Nobody wants to be fired just because they refused to adapt.
Versatility is a synonym of adaptability. In a professional sense, being versatile means that you don’t shy away from a challenge and tackle it head first, doing what is necessary to achieve results.
Since 2019, larger companies have begun downsizing their departments. The goal is not to run a business with 2000 employees, each responsible for just one, but to have 1000 educated professionals who can perform equally well in more than one position. For example, a marketing professional who understands SEO and data localization basics is a valuable asset for any company because both marketing and SEO are crucial for any brand promotion. Besides, it helps the company cut down costs on hiring outside help. As the traditional saying goes: “Jack of all trades, master of none; But better than master of only one.”
Content Curation Skills
Perhaps one of the most important skills required for marketing your business is to create interesting and engaging content. Nobody will be interested in doing business with a bland or unengaging brand. It is important to create informative articles to place on your website blog; frequently update pictures of your products; cite helpful resources, etc. Whatever you do, make sure that you value your customer’s time.
A good rule of thumb when creating content, be it for marketing or as part of your work, is not to dumb it down. Instead, communicate with your audience as you yourself would like to be communicated with – as an adult. Many companies will create content so regurgitated and dumbed down that, instead of engaging their audience, it ends up alienating them. Why? People want to be challenged. Nobody likes being talked down to or considered not ‘smart enough to understand something.
Here is a list of several themes and tricks that you can use to create engaging content:
- Write or find articles that not only inform people of interesting topics but also educate;
- Commission an artist to create interesting banners and pictures for your business. If you don’t have the skills to create graphics, there are many talented artists online who work relatively cheap and create amazing things.
- Create polls and ask for people’s opinions. These polls can range from ‘How often do you email your clients?’ to ‘What do you think of climate change?’ This will show that not only do you want to create a dialogue with your audience, but you also care about what they have to say.
Conclusion
When all is said and done, the number one marketing skill that you need is just to be yourself. People can smell a fake from a mile. Do not put on a persona or an act to deceive people. Honesty, even in business, is a valuable weapon.
Image source: pixabay.com
