Four Traits of a Good Digital Marketer
If you’re thinking of hiring a full time marketing coordinator, I have a ton of advice for you. For now, I’m going to name 4 traits that I think are important for digital marketers to possess. The important thing to remember is that you don’t want just any digital marketer; you want a good digital marketer.
Times have changed, and marketing is not what it once was.
Gone are the days of Don Draper. Marketing is a technological beast in this era, and the beast changes almost daily. In the golden age of marketing, an advertising executive could easily coast on solid relationships with other businesses and rest on his company’s laurels; a good day consisted of chewing out a copywriter, sorting out the bad ideas from the good ones, and a shot of bourbon at lunchtime.
Today, hustle is the name of the game. We’re working harder, smarter, and learning constantly. We have to, just to keep up. Technology and the Internet has changed the landscape forever, and it’s not going to stop changing long enough for you to catch up. The ever-changing industry demands people who can keep up with it, and that’s why it’s so important for business owners to understand the #1 trait for a digital marketer. What’s the #1 most important trait for a digital marketer? I’ll come back to that…
For starters, your marketing manager has got to be sociable. I see a lot of business owners making the mistake of putting IT-types in this role, simply because it has to do with computers. Tech support around the office is beneficial to have, but a great marketer may not know very much about your software coding. Don’t try to get a two-for-one special on this because a jack of all trades is a master of none, and a digital marketer is not a programmer. A digital marketer will be the voice of your company; so pick someone who would sing your company’s praises from the treetops in person or online. This brings us to my next point…
Your marketing manager has got to be a happy person. I know that sounds crazy or biased, but how is someone expected to spread positivity about your company if they’re a miserable sod? Marketing is communication; a two-way conversation between your company and your ideal clients. Nobody wants to have a conversation with someone who’s pissed off all the time, and that poor attitude will reflect on your business sooner or later.
Understanding marketing automation and time management is next on my list; the automation of things like drip campaigns and lead nurturing is paramount to your company’s ability to convert those leads. If you’re not converting leads, then your marketing is pointless. A great marketing manager will know this, and understand what items can be automated and what items must be done personally. There are some things that automation ruins (never, ever, ever automate your twitter posts), but there are some avenues in marketing that truly benefit from a hands-off systematic approach. Of course, marketing that benefits from automation is subject to change at any time, due to the high rate of change for all things digital in general.
Which reminds me…
What’s my opinion for the #1 most important trait for a digital marketing manager? Adaptation. As much as things change, your manager will need to flow and adapt quickly. Google rolls out new algorithms pretty frequently; a good marketing manager will be ahead of the curve, reading and studying the changes, and ensuring that your marketing can keep up. A marketer who is resistant to change won’t last long; they may not even make that lunchtime shot of bourbon.
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