The ultimate goal of those working in marketing is to promote a product and generates sales, but what does it take?
Earlier this year, Brand Republic asked readers to complete an online personality survey from PCL that identified the key personality traits and skills required to work in the marketing profession. The results are in.
Marketeers need to focus on the bigger picture with a clear vision about the marketing tactics and strategies that will deliver results. A wide frame of reference fuels creativity with fresh ideas and a keen awareness of upcoming and declining trends.
They need to be agile, able to think on their feet, keep up with rapidly changing communications technology and to embrace change with enthusiasm. They also require the communication and interpersonal skills to meet the changing needs and attitudes of their clients, the trends in their industries, and to deploy most persuasive marketing approaches.
The distribution of competency ratings achieved by the sample of 122 marketing professionals who completed PCL’s Profile:Match assessment is illustrated below, as compared to a general population sample of over 4,000.
Statistically, the most distinctive features of the group are high levels of persuasive communication and strategic awareness. In line with perceptions about marketing, participants also scored highly on creativity and bring strong analytic skills to their role.
Marketeers scored lowest overall in attention to detail, which might have been expected since this is in some ways the obverse of a big picture orientation. It is something that marketing departments may need to recruit specifically for in areas such as proofing, compiling bids, and other areas that emphasise vigilance and quality control.
Low scores on development of others suggest that agencies may rely on hiring in developed talent, something that is understandable in a highly competitive and pressured environment.
The relatively low self-confidence result probably reflects the edgy aspects of the creative personality.
The motivation competence scores are around average for a working population but are compensated here by results orientation and project management, which are reassuring signs of purposefulness. The team orientation may also play a part, suggesting that cooperation and teamwork may be more significant than driving personal ambition.
The results also looked at the relationship between competencies and job satisfaction. The findings revealed that those with higher customer focus, project management, resilience and motivation scores had the strongest links with job satisfaction.
Finding all of the most desirable competencies in a single individual will be extremely difficult. Understanding the spread of skills and personality characteristics that are required and ensuring that a suitably diverse set of complimentary skills is available amongst the team and department is likely to be fundamental to marketing success.
