Marketing is an ever-changing industry filled with new technologies and up-and-coming professionals trying cutting edge things. If you don’t keep up with trends and changing science, you may fall behind the curve. It’s vital to seek out growth opportunities and try new things if you want your promotions to be successful.
How Can I Improve My Marketing Skills?
The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates there are 727,540 marketing professionals, making a mean wage of $76,080 per year. Although the industry has openings in some areas, you may find it is highly competitive in smaller cities. If you want to continue to increase your wages and live up to your potential, you need to consistently add to your skillset and improve your work.
The best way to improve your marketing skills is to strategically grow as a person, professional and in your knowledge of the industry. Here are some of our favorite ways of becoming even better at what you do and ramping up your marketability as an employee or freelancer.
1. Fill Your Creative Well
In “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron, the author talks about the importance of refilling your creative well if you want to be able to create new and exciting things. You can’t constantly pull from your reserves and never put anything back in or you’ll burn out and lose the propensity for new ideas.
There are many different ways to refill your well. You can take a day and do an activity you love, go to the park and take in some fresh air, remember things you enjoyed from childhood or visit an art museum. The key is finding what you love to do that inspires you and spending time there.
2. Get an MBA
Whether you run your own marketing company or you work for a brand, you’ll deal with many aspects of running a business. A firm understanding of what your clients need helps you relate to them better and communicate on a different level they’ll appreciate.
A masters in business administration (MBA) affords the opportunity to take your agency to the next level. You’ll take courses in communications and marketing as part of your advanced degree.
Finding the right school and taking the steps that will help you get accepted as a student is a lengthy process. Make sure you have letters of recommendation. You may want to work with a coach to ensure you hit all the right notes so you can get into the school of your dreams.
3. Learn New Programming Skills
Brush up on basic coding skills. If you post an ad on a WordPress blog, you might need some basic HTML or PHP to code the ad. Perhaps you feel an app would greatly benefit one of your clients. What if you could create the app as part of an advertising campaign?
Programming gives you a glimpse at the backend of websites and apps and helps you better understand the impact your promotions might have on each platform.
4. Read Marketing Books
The more you read, the more new skills you’ll pick up. Different areas of the world may have different trends, as well. Reading allows you to plug into professionals from all over the globe.
5. Follow Trends
Advertising spending is around $243 billion a year, with about 50% spent on digital advertising. Around a decade ago, very little went to online ads. The shifts and the way marketing changes require you to stay up on what’s popular.
If one of your clients’ competitors dives deep into immersive experiences, it’s time to read up on them, see how the experiments work for the other brand and then think through how you might implement them for your customer.
Check out Google trends, words trending on social media and pay attention to pop culture. You should also take the time to read up on new technology and figure out how it might change the face of business in your industry.
One example of something becoming more commonplace that impacts many different types of brands is artificial intelligence (AI). Know what’s possible, so you’re ready to change what you’re doing on a dime.
Stay Open
One of the best ways to keep growing as a marketer is to stay open to new experiences. Even a trip to a place you’ve never been can provide inspiration for a new ad campaign or unique combination of brand colors. Live life, look at things through the eyes of an artist and see where it takes you.
