As I scrolled LinkedIn, which all of you aspiring marketers should join if you already have not, I came across a very interesting post from Danny Asling, a successful marketing consultant, who highlighted the most important skills that every marketing degree should cover. As I am currently only half way through my university degree, it got me thinking about the skills that I had learnt that were already listed. So, for those who are curious, here is the list, compare it to what you already know:
10 Skills That Marketing Degrees SHOULD Cover…
1) Storytelling
2) Copywriting
3) Emotional Intelligence
4) Basic Psychology
5) Listening Skills
6) Curiosity
7) The Art of Managing Up
8) The Cognitive Biases
9) The Art of Persuasion
10) Demand Generation
Now when all these are broken down, it is quite obvious to those who are interested that these are all very important skills but there were a few that I did not understand. This is where I did my own research, so this post is for the university students like me who need more guidance in some of these points.
1. The Art of Managing up
According to 'Professionals Australia's' Dr. Janet Fitzell, being able to manage up consists of having input into how you are managed by your superior and developing a good working relationship with your manager. Why is this important? Well it encourages a more harmonious workplace environment and creates more positive communication, this eases the pressure off the manager and the worker.
2. The Cognitive Biases
This is a very critical modern day marketing technique that will be critical for any future marketers too perfect. Essentially, cognitive bias in a marketing sense refers to how a successful marketing campaign can influence a consumers rational reasoning ability, capitalising on the unavoidable human errors in judgement that we all make. Marketing campaigns are becoming more and more targeted to specific consumers who are more likely to buy the product.
As I went through that list, those were the two that I had the most trouble understanding, I hope that this little breakdown both makes sense to a marketing professional and aids the understanding of those still learning. As always, feedback is appreciated!