Marketing is an industry that is dominated by psychological triggers, neurolinguistic impulses, and hard-wired cognitive decisions. From direct sales letters that employ envy and opportunity to attract customers, to pay-per-click advertisements that make use of sensation and urgency to draw in click after click, marketing is built on smart psychology and a deep knowledge of how people think, act, and buy.
However, there is one psychological barrier that often escapes marketers: themselves. The most successful internet marketers, particularly search engine marketers, were not born successful, but were made successful as a result of their skills, strategies, and most importantly, their personal qualities. From empathy to shrewd thinking, there are some clearly cut essential skills that separate the best marketers from the rest of the marketing industry.
I have searched for the most obvious and important marketing qualities, and come back with four that build the foundation of every good marketer. From online masters to direct sales geniuses, long-term branding experts to true search engine stars, all great marketers share these qualities. If you want to become one of those great marketers too, make sure these four characteristics make up who you are.
1) Empathy
You can’t sell products without understanding your audience. While newbie marketers often prey on the desperate and needy, smart marketers realize that there are huge untapped markets out there of customers that want something, but are not being sold to properly. Selling luxury goods and somewhat needless accessories is not impossible, it just requires an understanding of the thought process that customers go through. Smart marketers do not view those potential sales as an impossible challenge, but as an empathy exercise.
2) Cunning
Let’s face it, you can be as empathetic and understanding as you want, but if you are afraid to take action and directly compete with people, it is unlikely that you will make it far in search engine marketing. Smart marketers do not just understand what their audience wants, they find a way to give it to them. If that means employing strong tactics, so be it. Top marketers understand that serious competition is part of the game, and outsmarting that competition is the way to the top.
3) Management Abilities
It is impossible to get to the top on your own. For every miracle Rocky-style story there are thousands of almost eerily similar stories of business failure. Smart search engine marketers understand and acknowledge that they can’t do everything themselves, and instead invest in supporting staff and contractors. Without good management skills, even the smartest search marketer would be stuck working 80 hour weeks.
4) Risk Awareness
Business is risky. The biggest businesses in the world have often been indebted up to their necks, with their CEOs wondering if they will really make it through the next week. While some go bankrupt and disappear, others stay and grow into the world’s biggest companies. Smart marketers understand that risk is a part of success. That is why they will redesign a top ranked website in order to boost conversions. Without risk there is no reward, and the ability to balance that risk is a sign of a sure-fire successful search engine marketer.