A marketing director is responsible for overseeing creative campaigns that will convey a business’ message and establish its brand identity. Marketing has the power to make or break a brand, meaning the role of a marketing director is fundamental to how successful a company is overall.
With this in mind, there are a number of niche marketing director skills and qualities that are necessary, and there are a number of habits that the most competent and successful marketing directors implement into their routine.
If you’re looking at moving into a marketing director role, hiring a marketing director, or looking to expand your skill set as an existing marketing director, here are five habits of a successful director of marketing.
Research industry news every morning
Marketing is an industry that can change at the drop of a hat. From new Google core algorithm changes to social media platform updates, nothing stays the same for too long. Blink, and you’ll miss it! With this in mind, every forward-thinking marketing director should get into the habit of researching industry news every day to see if there’s anything that has changed overnight and that could impact existing campaigns.
Make specific goals
The basic foundation of every marketing campaign is to create goals, be it driving traffic or increasing conversions. The problem with broad goals like these is that you don’t have a strong basis for pinpointing exact metrics. Instead, create measurable, specific goals from the start. For example, rather than setting a goal of increasing lead generation, go deeper and set a goal of increasing lead generation by 10% by the end of the campaign.
Prioritise building relationships
One of the key traits on the marketing director skills list is to prioritise building good relationships. Whilst your focus will be on achieving your KPIs, you need to make sure your first priority is establishing and strengthening your interpersonal relationships. This means getting into the habit of maintaining efficient communication and making every effort to establish new relationships, both on and offline.
Build data-driven campaigns
A large part of marketing comes down to being creative and finding new, innovative ways to do things. Storytelling is a core facet of marketing because you need to be able to convey a certain message or solution in a way that will appeal to the general public. This is no doubt creative, but it’s important that marketing directors balance the ‘fun’ stuff with relevant data.
Part of this will come from making specific goals, but another part will come from looking at numerical trends that will underpin the creative assets of the campaign. For example, you might base your campaign on images and video content not just because it looks good and is fun to make, but because your data shows a higher rate of engagement for these types of posts and campaign assets.
Marketing can be largely trial and error, but if you get into the habit of making as many decisions as possible based on hard facts, you’re more likely to succeed.
Ask lots of questions
The final habit that all successful marketing directors have is to ask a lot of questions, no matter how basic. Whether it’s trying to work out how the client will measure success or who their key competitors are, adopting a direct communication approach enables a quicker turnaround on campaigns, as well as a reduced risk of a campaign getting rejected because it’s unsuitable.
With this in mind, think about compiling a list of generic questions you can ask every client, and then think about more personalised brand questions based on research.
Find your next marketing role
Are you looking for your next marketing role? If so, get in touch with the BMS Performance team and learn more about how we can help you bolster your skills and land your next job.
