Marketing operations are constantly changing and evolving. Only ten years ago, marketers were seen mainly as creatives, usually split between two major categories: art and copy.
In the digital era, however, a competitive marketer needs to master a diverse set of marketing skills to thrive. So what skills should you perfect in order to become a successful marketer?
1. Knowing Your Customer And Their Audience
The customer is always right. But nowadays, an essential marketing skill to have is to be one step ahead of the customer when defining their needs and two steps ahead of their audience when designing an approach.
When developing your marketing operations strategy, always ask yourself “what are my customers’ core values? What is their background? And what problem is their product or service trying to solve?”
Know your customer inside and out. Find out what marketing platform they are most prolific on. Read the feedback from their audience; what messages grabbed the most attention and why? What is your target audience? Is it a conservative academic medium, or does it slide towards friendlier infotainment?
Answering all these questions will save you time and resources when developing your next marketing campaign.
2. Being a Savvy Storyteller
Storytelling has become an essential skill when designing marketing strategies for the life sciences, and in fact, more and more candidates have been adding it to their LinkedIn profiles.
And it’s just obvious. A stale excel presentation or a clipart slogan doesn’t inspire brand trust anymore. Everybody wants to see a fresh and dynamic approach.
Many brands document their progress through blogs or other content platforms. Some are even publishing eBooks about their company’s mission. Every new project can be marketed to the public as a success story with a beginning, a challenging middle, and a rewarding end.
So when it comes to designing your marketing operations and selling your product, make the pitch compelling and relatable. Make your customer want to be part of that story.
3. Being Creative
Is a marketer sometimes a desk jockey, organizing budgets and schedules? No doubt about it. But juggling deadlines for marketing operations and finding solutions requires just as much creativity as coming up with a witty sales pitch.
“Thinking outside the box” is a battered old corporate saying that our bosses love flaunting, but it still is very much valid. So, evaluate the company’s past strategies, but keep your mind open for your own.
When it comes to Biotech and Life Sciences, let’s face it, we are still talking about a young and sprawling community that knows how to appreciate a modern approach. Calculate the risks, then take the leap.
4. Knowing When And Who To Delegate
Marketing is certainly not a one-man show. Make a clear list of responsibilities and distribute them to the members of your team. Having the people for the task will save you a lot of time, nerves, and resources. But learning how to delegate is a skill itself.
You need to know when is the best time to do it, identify the best person for the job, lay down a clear set of responsibilities, offer support, and remember to show appreciation.
5. Mastering The Art Of Copywriting
Your copy can say too much or too little — and this goes double for life science services and biotech products. Offer your client a clear and engaging text that is guaranteed to win over the desired audience.
The golden rule is the KISS approach, short for “Keep it simple, stupid.” So try to avoid any long run-on sentences. Steer clear from words with too many syllables. Save the industry jargon for the booklet.
6. Being Open To Feedback
Feedback doesn’t just come in the form of an email. Feedback is all around us. Among the marketing skills top marketers in the biotech field should possess, is the ability to listen and pay attention to what people say and discern what can become useful.
Ask questions when you need clarifications. Exchange ideas with your potential buyers. Be transparent and consult with your intended audience. Sometimes your brilliant marketing operations strategy will fall apart in favor of something you fished out on a whim. But always have a crisis management plan.
7. Being Adaptable
Trends change constantly, as do traditional marketing skills, projects, and clients. Being a professional marketer means you need to be ready to adapt or risk falling behind.
Keep your eyes peeled for the available new tech, software, digital platforms, and social media. Your product might have its place to grow through one of them. This brings us to…
8. Quashing Social Media Management
Understanding the ins and outs of each platform is essential for the job.
Who are the users? Is youtube a more male-dominated medium while facebook is predominantly female? Would clients trust an ad on TikTok? How viral can a message get without the proper sponsorship? These are all questions that marketers need to answer.
Whether you are tasked with building a community around the product, boosting search engine visibility, or developing the marketing operations plan, knowing your way around social media tools is a prerequisite.
9. Excelling In Time Management
An old saying states “a good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow.” Knowing how to organize your schedule to meet all marketing deadlines is a crucial part of the job.
Honing your time management skills is probably just as important as sharpening your creativity. No matter how many balls you are juggling — from writing a script for a short ad to finding a designer for the landing page — the company must know they can rely on you to deliver on time.
10. Don’t Snub Graphic Design
Always be prepared to bring a little visual aid to any presentation. An illustrated plate in Canva or PowerPoint to support your text can make a huge difference in bringing your argument home.
Not to mention that these marketing skills will help your personal brand as well. A discreetly tweaked portrait photo on your LinkedIn could help you achieve that professional look and credibility you wish to inspire.
11. Do The Research (Then Do More Research)
Research is the backbone of any marketing operations job. Research the product or service you are bringing into the market. Research existing competitive products. Research the clients you want to approach, the marketing tools you wish to use, the influencers you want to recruit…it all boils down to it.
And as any good marketer will tell you, all this research will translate into heaps of data. Learning to analyze raw data is the first step in strategizing and testing your new campaign.
Is customer data analysis an important marketing skill to have? It is crucial.
12. Cultivate And Encourage Relationships
Whether you will be doing this yourself or delegating it to someone else, a good relationship between the firm and the customer needs to be nurtured and maintained.
Maintain an active presence, both on and offline. Respond to all complaints with empathy and provide authentic responses. Discover new revenue opportunities by using feedback from your customers. Create solutions for any repeating issues your customers might have.
Show your customers that the brand you work for is actively working on their behalf.
Bottom Line
Of course, some marketing skills come off as natural, whereas some are acquired and perfected over time. Your communication skills will help you surround yourself with a valuable team to address your audience compellingly.
What is important for all marketing operations is to be open to new opportunities and truly enjoy the business of connecting people.
If you feel you need any help with your life science marketing efforts, whether for improving the digital customer experience or for product launch consulting, feel free to reach out to us. We are here to share our knowledge and expertise and help your business grow.
