How to succeed as a marketer in 2012

Joel Harrison, Editor of B2B Marketing Magazine has been taking a look at how to be a great marketer in 2012 and offers his top ten tips.

He comments, 'We’ve got to accept that economic indicators don’t look great, and it’s unlikely to be a boom year for many companies. But that doesn’t mean as marketers we have any excuses to rest on their laurels – far from it in fact; unless they are prepared to roll up our sleeves, take some tough decisions and generally get involved, marketers may find themselves in a spot of bother, as companies constantly re-evaluate their spend and personnel. In other words, to put it more succinctly, in the words of the old cliché: when the going gets tough, the tough get going.'

Joel lists 10 things that a marketer needs to be to succeed in 2012:

1. A polymath – in other words, good at many things. A jack of all trades (and probably a master of a couple of those). That includes so-called ‘traditional’ and digital marketing disciplines.

2. Pragmatic – willing and able to change, responding to changing needs and demands.

3. Engaging – they must be excellent communicators, with anyone and everyone, across the organisation. That includes everyone from the boardroom to the call centre.

4. Technologically adept – analytics, automation and social media monitoring must be your new best friends.

5. Passionate – really believe in what they are doing and why, and in their brand and the organisation that they work for. Lip service won’t do.

6. Convincing – able to sell ideas and concepts, and rally others to their cause.

7. Robust – they must be able to justify and prove their decisions and actions.

8. Collaborative – able to work with other key stakeholders in the organisation, such as sales, IT and finance, where necessary.

9. Dogged and determined – able to keep going in the face of adversity.

10. Inquisitive – interested in new tools, techniques, insights and ideas. Marketing will continue to change, and practitioners must change with it.

To find out more read the full article here