As a HubSpot Certified Agency Partner we frequently write guest blog posts that are published on the HubSpot blog. This post originally appeared on The HubSpot Insiders blog, a section of the Inbound Hub.
The definition of marketing is changing. New digital marketing tools, channels and tactics are constantly emerging. What used to be very difficult, or even impossible to measure is now immensely measurable.
As marketing continues to evolve at an unprecedented rate today’s marketers need to learn new digital and analytical skills, they need adapt to change and most importantly they need update strategies to reflect changes in consumer behavior.
Is your marketing strategy outdated?
Despite the indisputable advantages of inbound marketing many marketing teams remain steeped in traditional marketing, reluctant to change their ways. The following dissection of an ideal inbound marketer may cause you to sweat, question the value of your marketing efforts, and hopefully open your eyes to the secret sauce of contemporary marketing teams.
Modern marketers are equal parts content creators, salespeople, designers, coders and analysts. Read on to learn how to build the ultimate inbound marketing team.
Content Creators
Well produced content is the cornerstone of inbound marketing. Blog posts fuel social media, improve SEO, attract links and nurture leads. Today’s marketers need to be one part publisher and one part sales rep.
They need to have the experience, dedication and focus to consistently create content with a number of goals in mind. Search engine optimization, click through rates and writing for target buyer personas are just a few of the factors that influence how effective marketers present and optimize their web content.
Content creation skills, traits and experience to look for in an ideal inbound marketer:
- Experienced Blogger
- Ability to write detailed long form funnel offers
- Short form copywriter
- PPC Ad Writer
- SEO conscious
- Ability to write for different buyer personas
- Conversion focused
Analytical
One of digital marketing’s many strength is it’s measurability. Every impression, conversion and transition can be measured. With access to such detailed analytics marketers can now continuously optimize the return on investment of every marketing activity.
The modern marketer needs to have an eye for statistics in order to analyze and interpret marketing reports and make data driven decisions. The goal is not to measure everything, but to focus on a small selection of a metrics that truly represent the effectiveness of your sales and marketing efforts.
Analytical skills, traits and experience to look for in an ideal inbound marketer:
- Driven by metrics
- Understanding of key performance indicators
- Experience with Google Analytics, HubSpot, Moz
- Knowledge of A/B testing, multivariate testing
- Focused on optimization & testing, not opinion & gut feel
Digital Natives
At their core inbound marketers need to be digital creators. They have to get excited about learning new skills, adapting to change and working outside their comfort zone to get things done.
While having every one of these skills isn’t necessary the more technical skills a marketer has the better. Basic knowledge of web design, development and video production can help get small tasks done quickly and can be beneficial when collaborating with technical colleagues and outside agencies.
Digital skills, traits and experience and experience to look for in an ideal inbound marketer:
Designer
- Photoshop
- InDesign
- Illustrator
- CSS
Video Production
- Camtasia
- Final Cut Pro
- Experience shooting HD interviews
- High quality audio production
- Studio lighting
Coder
- HTML
- Responsive Design
- CSS
- GitHub
- Agile Development
Communicator
Inbound marketers need to be effective communicators across a number of channels – both on and offline. It is an inbound marketers responsibility to craft messages that attract targeted readers, get them engaged and encourage them to take action.
Social media is certainly one form of communication that inbound marketers need to be proficient in. Savvy inbound marketers use social media monitoring tools to listen for topical conversations, emerging industry trends, to identify potential sales leads and to address customers questions, comments and concerns.
Communication skills, traits and experience to look for in an ideal inbound marketer:
Social Media Savvy
- Established personal social media presence
- Understanding of corporate social media strategy
- Experience using social media monitoring tools like Social Inbox
Public Speaking
- Public speaking experience
- Ability to represent the organization in a professional manor
- Established thought leader
Adaptable Tone
- Ability to present your organization in a professional manner
- Consistent writing tone
- Ability to write for various buyer personas
Business Focused
Digital marketing has drastically changed the buyer’s path to purchase. Research even shows that B2B buyers complete as much as 60% of their purchase decision before they talk with a sales rep. The lines between sales and marketing have been completely blurred.
Experienced marketers understand that inbound marketing is centered around lead generation.
Marketers need to understand how to align their efforts with sales targets and overarching business goals. You’ll know that you’ve found a good inbound marketer if they are more concerned about the value of a lead, funnel flow, and customer lifetime value than they are about social media followers and brand awareness.
Business skills, traits and experience to look for in an ideal inbound marketer:
Sales Oriented
- Well rounded understanding of sales processes
- Experience in lead generation roles
- Experience with Salesforce.com
- Awareness of the importance of sales and marketing alignment
Vision
- Driven to grow business
- Leadership qualities to scale the marketing department as the business grows
- Understanding of your market, competitors and growth opportunities
Good Fit
- A good fit for your organization’s culture
- Inquisitive, adaptable, decisive
- Ability to work in a fast paced collaborative environment
- Interested in staying on top of the constantly evolving practice of inbound marketing
Now that you understand some of the skills that an ideal inbound marketer can offer you’re probably asking yourself whether or not you, or anyone else on your team fits this description. If the answer is no, you ought to starting looking for ways to brings these skills to the table.
Be aware that hiring an ideal inbound marketer can be a bit like finding a white unicorn. Inbound marketing is a relatively new practice and marketing agencies and tech startups have snatched up most of the available talent. For many organizations looking to get started with inbound marketing the question then becomes whether to recruit, hire and train an in-house team, partner with an inbound marketing agency or some combination of the two.
Key Take-aways:
The ideal inbound marketer is skilled in:
- Content creation
- Using marketing analytics to make data driven decisions
- Has a well rounded knowledge of web design & development
- Has a focus on lead generation, sales and revenue growth
If you’d like to learn more about how to reallocate budget to inbound marketing, including how to determine the best mix of in-house content production and inbound marketing agency services download the whitepaper directly below.
One last thing – Want to become insanely employable? Check out this post – 53 Resources to Help You Become a Better Inbound Marketer – it’s a huge roundup of all of the very best educational inbound marketing resources available anywhere online.
