Despite what popular wisdom would have you believe, leadership is not an innate, born talent. It is a quality that is continuously developed over time.
That is why true leaders commit to the ongoing process of self-improvement and learning, emitting these qualities around them as well.
They take responsibility for the well-being, engagement, and productivity of employees, as well as the success of marketing campaigns.
After all, there are always new issues to identify and situations to assess and resolve.
So make no mistake: clear focus and strong leadership are key in the tumultuous marketing age we live in.
There is a long list of characteristics that make or break a leader, but here are some that really set top-performing marketers apart from the rest:
1. Great Team Player
Good and open communication is the bedrock of any fruitful business relationship. Beyond everything else, a leader establishes a vision and finds a way to communicate it with employees and stakeholders.
A team builder is a source of inspiration, passion, and respect, not fear and disdain.
Hence, a positive group dynamic can be cultivated and enhanced with great company culture and measures such as effective conflict resolution.
This requires soft skills and the ability to empathize on the part of leaders. They also need to facilitate coordination across different departments and teams.
2. Clear Accountability
Likewise, a leader must be accountable for the revenue or at least share the burden of responsibility with sales teams.
Ambiguous metrics, like brand impressions, do not reflect on the bottom line and should be used only as supporting arguments.
Therefore, marketing masters must always demonstrate how their activities impact the business as a whole.
They are also under pressure to link various marketing activities to the level of corporate strategic decisions. Once a course of action has been identified, buy-in from all stakeholders can empower the organization to move forward with laser-sharp intent.
This kind of internal harmony is something that helps everyone stay focused and maintains a sense of purpose.
3. Sound Decision Making
Ozon CEO Danny Perekalsky emphasizes that it is crucial to deliver on the promises to customers and to do so in a swift manner.
Key decisions often need to be reached with speed and conviction, as well as awareness of how they affect a user’s experience. This echoes the trend of today’s marketing becoming more customer-centric.
Marketers who are on top of their game infuse their messages with the voice of the user.
They learn how to cope with an environment where there is a lot of incomplete information and a set of pros and cons attached to each marketing tactic. These realities call for the ability to change quickly and have a long-term perspective at the same time.
4. Innovation Readiness
We are witnessing the rapid evolution of digital channels and the consequent transformation of staple marketing strategies.
Momchil Kyurkchiev underlines the importance of closely monitoring the entirety of web activity for a great omnichannel experience. He points out to the necessity of interacting with customers in real time and driving deep engagement.
Indeed, marketing champions of today are adept at implementing new ideas and work practices.
For instance, they recognize the potential of creative content like gifs and video ads to spark attention and foster a rich user experience. Not to mention the advent of advanced AI, conversational interfaces, and other high-tech novelties.
5. Looking Forward
Elad Natanson is the founder of Appnext, a prominent app monetization and distribution platform.
He is a forward-thinking marketer who highlights the fact that the app industry is changing fast and that success does not revolve around downloads. Rather, he designs solutions like Appnext Actions that deliver real, practical value and prompt people to use the app regularly.
So we must understand the daily journey and make it as smooth as possible.
Along similar lines, leaders like Elad measure the long-term loyalty of users and how they utilize social and mobile platforms. This is a way to stay on top of trends and uncover growth opportunities, archiving set business goals over a prolonged period of time.
6. Flexibility and Adaptability
There are more tools and strategies at our disposal than ever before. Marketing is an increasingly complex, all-encompassing ecosystem of SEO, SEM, paid ads, public relations, pricing, market research, and other disciplines.
Jonathan Raveh warns that putting all eggs in one basket is dangerous. Instead of this approach, leaders are better off testing various options and making decisions based on thorough data analysis.
Persistence and perseverance are key qualities that enable them to adjust, redesign, and change tools and strategies on the go.
To help innovative businesses, one must embrace smart adaptability. Through it all, customer insights are the building blocks of personal, customized, and location-based marketing tools like ads and notifications.
Always on the Ball
Marketing leaders of the digital era are highly competent, results-oriented, and revenue-accountable. They have clarity, and their efforts gravitate around a customer-centric axis.
All these traits must be practiced with disciplined consistency. It is of utmost importance to use timely and relevant tools to drive real-time performance and make informed decisions on a daily basis.
Are you ready to rally the troops around a common goal? Well, keep an open mind, experiment with different variations, and fine-tune them according to data analysis and monitoring.
The marketing job never really ends. You can always add more value to customers, test new channels and tools, spur digital transformation at scale, and keep moving forward.
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