Why being a marketer can help you become a great business leader

The Marketing Smith’s opinion is that Marketers are the most skilled people in a business – although we would say that. Bias aside, there are key traits and skills you will find in a marketer that you will also see in business leaders and entrepreneurs.

Let’s look at the top three traits…

1. Creativity

Most Marketers generally are creative. The role consists of brand development and working with designers across digital and print projects, copywriting developing new messages, and thinking of new channels to communicate to audiences. A constant reinvention of the wheel is sometimes how it feels!

Business leaders and entrepreneurs are always thinking in this way too. Think back to a great leader, manager or business owner you have known. Did they have endless ideas? Did they have solutions to problems or challenges? If they were really great the answer to these questions will be yes. To grow and develop a business both marketeers and leaders must think in this way to stay ahead of competitors.

2. Empathy

You may be surprised to see this in here, but empathy is such a strong aspect of marketing. Thinking of someone being empathetic recalls images of caring for others, however the main definition goes beyond this; ‘the ability to understand and share feelings of others’. With this in mind it is easier to see that in a marketing role you need to have this understanding for the audience you are marketing to, and internal stakeholders. A great marketer gets into the head of the customer profile, attempting to think how they do and in doing so understanding their emotive decisions to purchase or not purchase a product or service.

This applies in the same way for a great leader – having the ability to connect with your team through empathy allows a leader to understand employees and identify strengths and weaknesses. Having this understanding also develops trust and respect – key factors to build a strong team and a brand.

3. Authenticity

Being true to yourself across all aspects of your life is so important. It is exhausting not being yourself, so why be anything else? For marketers we have the important role of staying aligned with the company values, vision and overall brand across the many points of the strategy and activity.

Business leaders are exactly the same, all of their decisions for the running of an organisation and team have to be aligned with the direction of the business. As an individual, their actions fully represent the business they are leading and anything that goes against the grain could negatively affect staff and client perceptions of the business.

So, has this given you food for thought for good leadership traits? Or how marketers would make great leaders?!

The Marketing Smith works with a number of businesses from various sectors. More than a marketing consultant, we look beyond to your business strategy to identify marketing requirements that can grow your business.

For more information get in touch today.