What Does it Take to be a Good Marketer?

Someone asked me a good question this week.  I’m not sure if I’m the right person to answer it, but it’s a good question, nonetheless.

The question was: What does it take to be a good marketer? I’ll give you my answers and I would love to hear yours.

Question everything you do. Unless the program was an absolute home run, you should probably question every strategy and every marketing program you implement.  Some people might say that you need to have a solid, consistent strategy.  True, but I also believe that small “course corrections” are critical to adapting to the changing marketplace.

Be an incredibly good listener. If you’re a marketer and you don’t (or can’t) listen you’re screwed – simple as that.  I’ve never seen a successful marketer who completely relies on research companies to tell them what consumers are saying or thinking.  Research is certainly important, but should be an overlay for a marketer’s own experiences and findings.

Live it. This could also be called “having a passion for your product or service” but I tend to think it more in terms of the experience.  You have to experience the brand first hand.  Get out there, put yourself in the shoes of your customers, consumers, sales people, distributors, retailers and anyone else that touches your brand.  You have to understand how they interact with it, use it, sell it, merchandise it, promote it, consume it.

So what do you say?  What does it take to be a good marketer?