What are some qualities of excellent marketers?

Question

I am looking to go into a major in marketing, and I am curious if I have the characteristics of a good marketer. I have study business and marketing throughout high school, and have always been interested in in marketing and advertising. I see myself as a very determined, motivated, and creative person. But what does it really take to be an excellent marketer?

Answer 1

The most important characteristic of a good marketer is to be able to understand other people's needs and the way that they view the world. Every decision that a marketer makes should stem from an understanding of customers.

Other important characteristics include:
- The ability to think strategically. You want to be able to determine how others (customers, competitors, suppliers, etc.)will react your company's/brand's moves so that you can optimize the situation in your favor.
- Creative thinking. Oftentimes this makes the difference between good and great marketers. The great ones see possible solutions that aren't obvious. This includes solutions to marketing strategy, product feature, and marketing communications problems.
- Analytical thinking. A lot of marketing decisions are based on analysis of things such as sales figures, customer responses, and costs. Not all of this analysis is quantitative-- some of it is more conceptual analysis-- but enough is quantitative that you should be comfortable with numbers.
- A sense of quality & design. Your ability to recognize and articulate how a product/marketing communication's design affects people's response to that offering is critical for working with other people and for leading them to where the offering needs to be.

Finally, you should not fall into the trap that so many mediocre marketers and non-marketing businesspeople fall into. Don't confuse marketing with advertising. Advertising is only a small part of marketing-- and in my opinion, it's a relatively less important part of marketing, despite the glitz associated with the advertising industry. The more difficult and more important part of marketing is figuring out what customers' needs are and determining how to deliver the best solution to those needs. Marketing is (usually) involved in setting product features, product price, identifying the best stores and other channels through which to sell the product, and developing marketing communications, which include but aren't limited to traditional advertising.

Good luck deciding what you want to study and then what you later want to do with your career! Not easy decisions, but there are lots of great paths in life, and I hope things work out well for you.

Answer 2

Read books by David Ogilvy
Identify your customer
Identify the best way to get her attention
Identify the most cost effective media to use to reach her
Identify what the major trends are and whether you are a leader or not and what to do to improve your market share
Identify products or niches that have a market that are being overlooked (hispanics, diabetics, etc)
Realize that no matter how hard you try some advertising $ will be wasted and that it's impossible to predect what area this waste may be in or to eliminated it 100%

Do not assume that any product is ever "safe" and needs no advertising (Think Levi Strauss)
Never ignore public opinion - do not get stuck trying to market a product whose day has passed
Be careful to measure the trade off of using a celebrity in a campaign versus the fallout if such a person has behavior not generally acceptable and how that may affect the product image

Always see what the competition is doing and learn from their mistakes instead of repeating them
Do not fight a war against a competitor's product that must be won quickly or requires an "ace-in-the-hole" that may backfire

Make sure that the company has enough continuous feedback from its efforts that it is never isolated from the pulse of society or its market - and make sure to listen to the underlings as they are probably closer to the pulse than the limousine crowd - if necessary let opinions be shared anonymously
Do not promote divisive back-stabbers
Learn to delegate authority
Do not abandon a failing campaign that can succeed with minor modifications just because it is a bigwig's pet and you are afraid to let him know it needs changing - after all it is likely you are closer to the pulse than the CEO

Answer 3

you are off to a good start, and the fact that you have always had an interest in marketing adds to that. In other words you are motivated you see it as a career, not simply a job.
Although advertising is a part of a products marketing process. the two are often separated and are carried out by two people. the advertising is developed by someone else, but the marketing dept oversees it and approves it.
Marketing requires, someone who is organized, is a good problem solver, works well with others and alone., has good listening skills, knows how to prioritize, is creative, motivated, assertive, adaptable, analytical, open minded, and has good people skills. You will be involved in the complete cycle of the product, including it's creation, design, production, and distribution and your initial market research will be a determining factor in the product. If you are committed and dedicated to a products success. and use common sense, listen to advice and suggestions from others and set realistic goals, you will be an asset to any company.
As far as advertising, think like a buyer, not a seller. If you don't like it, probably no one else will either