What Today's Best Marketers Must Know

According to Harry Joiner, "marketing managers who don’t have an analytical bias and a multichannel orientation are at a distinct disadvantage."

Joiner, a top marketing recruiter and recovering marketer himself (my words, not his...) is featured in MarketingSherpa's "Great Minds in Marketing" right now (here) in a fantastic look at what CEOs (and firms) consider imperative marketing skills. Joiner goes into some depth as to why.

Whether you're a marketer wondering which skills to sharpen or a firm leader looking for talent, this is a must-read article!

He elaborates on the top 5 skills in demand right now among marketers:

• Niche Market Development
• Analytical Bias
• Classic Direct Marketing Skills
• "Search" Marketing
• Humility (a healthy dose of skepticism or, in Joiner's words "channel agnostic")

Here are just a few of the excellent points he makes:

"Soft skills are out. Hard, analytical skills are in. This is a turbulent time for marketing VPs. There's a growing mentality among CEOs that 'there's nothing as devastating to an opinion as a number.'"

On accountability, he recommends to the marketer, "Don't feel threatened by the need to prove effectiveness. The simple solution is communication. Yes, a CMO is and should be accountable, but success should be accurately defined based on 'customer-centric forethought,' not on ROI from a single campaign."

For the firm, on keeping a good marketer once you have one, Joiner says, "Truly authentic marketers find growth life-affirming." It's not just about money, he says, they want "the three F's: fun, future, and finance."

Basically, if your firm doesn't celebrate increased earnings more than reduced expense, good marketers lose interest in you fast--it isn't the right mentality for them--you aren't helping them to help you.

Also, accounting marketers have been dismayed for years at the short tenure of marketers within firms. Well, fret no more. The short life-span of marketers in firms apparently isn't just an accounting industry dilemma. It is a marketing dilemma.

According to this article, "Top marketers stay in their jobs 18-24 months on average (depending on the industry). Some get fired, others are headhunted away."