What are some qualities of a good marketer?
We’re taking look at three things you can do in your day-to-day business or personal life that lead to you being a better marketer. You might even find that you already do these things, but didn’t understand their link to marketing.
A good marketer is a good reader
It might sound unsurprising that I love email newsletters. I consume about 45 of them a week. Why?
Newsletters from other experts and educators contain tonnes of ideas that I might not otherwise consider.
I’m not talking about those awful newsletters that are basically a mini-website with 12 different articles about how wonderful the company is. I’m talking about newsletters that openly share research results. Or those that share ideas that they tried out that really worked for them.
What kind of newsletters should you be subscribing to?
The kinds that experts and leading companies in your field are producing. They won’t all be good. They won’t all be nicely laid out and easy to read. But they will contain ideas that you might not have yet discovered.
When you find new ideas, new inspiration and new ways of thinking about what it is you do, you can create more interesting content.
For example, it was my reading of this newsletter that completely changed my style of communication and grew my audience by four times what it was on LinkedIn. That’s not to mention my email list growing by nearly eight times.
A good marketer is a good planner
It’s no secret to my friends that I live a very scheduled life. It doesn’t give me a lot of “spontaneous” time. As I tend to be booked out 2–3 weeks in advance, there’s not much of a chance for an impulsive coffee catch-up or beers after work.
But it’s this scheduling that also makes me able to easily produce a weekly newsletter, five short videos for social media and a further 32 pieces of content for various digital platforms every 7 days.
While living by a calendar isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, you can plan better and be free to do the unplanned.
I recently began to block out certain times and days from being able to be booked. For one program I no longer accept bookings on Tuesdays and Thursdays so I can focus on other work. I now block out an hour each day for lunch and a little “life admin.”
You can still have some flexibility by time-blocking.
This means you can also block out time to work specifically on your marketing.
For example, I block out 30 minutes each morning at the start of the day to script, record and edit my daily video. And then another 30 minutes at the end of my day to write my blog, tomorrow’s social post and read a few newsletters and articles.
You’ll find the timing that works best for you.
A good marketer is observant
There’s a curiosity in marketers. They watch everything. They love to see what makes people tick, and how they react to things.
Because they have a mission to sell something to people, they have a very strong interest in people and what gets their attention.
This strong desire to watch for what causes people to react means that they have a keen interest in psychology. And anyone who has been in marketing knows that psychology is a core component of marketing. When you understand people, you know how to match your product with their needs.
How do you become more observant? You take time to watch how people react to signs in shopping centres. You watch what it is that draws someone into one cafe and not another. You notice what products they are using and see patterns in their usage that explain why they use that product or service.
The art of observation is the act of sitting and watching. The patterns you notice will tell you a lot about how people think and what causes them to make purchase decisions.
Try it next time you’re in a food court or having coffee at a shopping centre.
What if I don’t actually want to be a good marketer?
If you don’t want to be one, you’re going to have to find one.
In smaller businesses, you tend to be the chief of everything. Including marketing. So you won’t really be able to avoid it.
But if your business is growing and nudging up from small to medium, then a marketing resource is necessary. Why?
- You won’t be able to keep up with it yourself
- You won’t be able to understand the tools or methods
- You need to concentrate on getting the work done
There are a few really good attributes that you’ll be looking for when you hire a marketing person and they usually have nothing to do with a university degree:
- Someone who is curious about your business and customers
- Someone who is actually quite sales-oriented
- Risk-takers who like to try new things
- Eternal students who always learn new things
- Good planners and excellent “doers”
- They notice patterns and red flags very early
- They are quite bluntly honest about your marketing so far
- They are usually involved in their community
- They would rather be correct than liked for backing down
- They want to be accountable and welcome reporting and stats
Above all, you want someone who immediately suggests things you can do right now — and quickly — to turn around your marketing situation.
Dante St James is the founder of Clickstarter, a Meta Certified Lead Trainer, a Community Trainer with Meta Australia, a digital advisor with Business Station, an accredited Digital Solutions advisor and presenter, and the editor at The Small Marketer. You can watch free 1-hour webinars and grow your digital skills at Dante’s YouTube Channel.
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