Napoleon Dynamite was right, “Girls only want boyfriends who have great skills!” If you don’t have nunchuck skills, bow hunting skills, or computer hacking skills, don’t despair. I’m sure there are traits most girls would prefer in a guy, but my guess is that list is more likely populated by things like being thoughtful, empathetic, and entertaining. B2B Digital Marketers should be equally well-versed in digital and marketing. Here are three crucial B2B digital marketing skills to focus on for continued growth as a B2B digital marketing professional.
Three Crucial Skills for B2B Digital Marketing Professionals
Just like the boyfriend who has a different perception of the traits his girlfriend would like than the traits his girlfriend would actually like, the same may be true for digital marketers and those of us engaged in social selling. The skills that we think others want us to have may read like, analytical skills, automation skills, conversion skills. The danger in discussing B2B digital marketing today is focusing too much on the digital…and not enough on the marketing. Your fundamentals still need to be sound. The skills that I see separating good marketing from great marketing are more like the ones Napoleon actually needs to develop to be successful with the ladies.
Strategic Thinking
Having a well-thought-out plan makes it easy for your customer to follow the steps you’ve laid out for them. Whether it’s clicking a link or watching a video, the next step in your process has to be logically connected to steps before and after.
Strategic thinking begins with asking the right questions. Who are your prospective customers? Where do they hang out? What step(s) do you want them to take?
A good process demonstrates thoughtfulness. It’s a great first step in demonstrating a commitment to help your prospect.
Empathy
Empathy is a great word that we marketers could use more of. In short, empathy is the ability to understand or experience the feelings of another. We justifiably begin our thinking with a focus on leads and sales, but if we don’t switch our thinking to the needs and wants of our prospective buyers we won’t be successful at generating either.
Put yourself in their shoes! How do they feel about the problem you can help them solve? Embody that emotion as you think about how your prospect views your business. Before your customer cares about your “gee whiz” factor or your trophy case, they need to know you care about helping them.
Story Telling
Stan Lee was the storytelling genius behind the Marvel Comics world. Even if you don’t know his name (which doesn’t seem possible), you know his characters: Peter Parker as Spiderman, Tony Stark as Iron Man, Bruce Banner as the Hulk. Not to mention the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and a universe of others.
One of the reasons that Lee’s characters are so acclaimed is that they are relatable. We can see “us” in the characters. Unlike Superman, who is a virtually invincible alien from another world, most of Lee’s characters started out like regular people. In the Marvel Universe, you believe you can be a hero too.
Your company probably doesn’t hand out superpowers (if you do we TOTALLY need to talk), but you can help your customer see himself or herself as the hero of their story.
Don’t get me wrong, we need to understand analytics, automation, and conversion tactics—and nunchuck skills would be sweet! —but those are the tools and not the process. By focusing on great relationship skills, you can still be a great boyfriend…er…digital marketer.
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