However, besides making an entire career out of marketing, having sales consultants, designers, operational managers, financial advisors, and even developers on your team, with the essential marketing skills, can change the way you conduct business for the better.

It allows you to network

One of the marketing skills that will benefit you, regardless of your profession, is that of networking. It’s about understanding that networking goes beyond merely making business connections and that reaching some sort of mutual benefit is the only goal. In marketing, you understand networks as relationships that require constant attention, and not only in the moments where help is needed.

Marketers are great listeners, and that is also a skill that will come in handy in the business environment. It’s not always about making known the fact that you know better. Certain clients may be dubbed 'difficult', but that’s only because everyone is hearing what they’re saying and not listening to the concerns behind the defensive statements.

Being able to listen is a skill that requires you to take an interest in what someone is telling you and reaffirm that you are, in fact, present in the conversation and not simply waiting for your turn to correct what has been said. Marketing is all about listening to an audience's needs and meeting them where they are to give them the information they’ve been looking for.

It gives you storytelling skills

On the other side of listening, we have storytelling – something marketers are great at. Marketing strives to make a memorable impact through compelling content and campaigns, and they do this through telling stories.

Every client service team in the world could benefit from this skill. It's not about lying to the client at all. It’s about being able to communicate what a company has to offer in a way that is relatable and testimonial.

When you are able to communicate to get people to understand, and not just to impress, you’re more likely to find loyal customers and be a sought-after brand experience.

You can stay on top of trends

Trends are always changing, and marketers need to be on top of it all if they want their content to stay relevant and relatable. This means having a knack for sourcing research on current affairs and industry insights. You can benefit from this by knowing the best way to keep an eye on competitors and by finding a creative way to stay ahead and reaching out to the target audience.

Monitoring is something that goes very well with being on-trend and staying current. Having the skills to monitor both the internal and external influences on your company, and the business it conducts, is extremely handy.

Being able to take in all the current information on consumer, competitor, and company activities, and combining it into one report that is able to direct your next steps, is an extremely valuable and insightful skill.

The best way to do business is to base it on all the available information, not only on the random strands of data that presents itself from different sources. Yes, that information is also important, but it needs to be understood in the context of everything else as well, and not just on its own.

Marketing gives you unconventional creativity

When you’re in the marketing department, you’re in the creative department. Marketers are forever brainstorming new ideas for content, interactive campaigns, and ways to get an audience involved in a brand experience.

So another skill that will most certainly prove handy in your profession, is that of unconventional creativity – being able to do more than just think outside of the box. Every industry has their problems, but not every company has the type of mind that will be able to find a solution.

It’s not always about thinking from the expert's perspective. Yes, their opinions and expertise may be needed when it comes to following a solution through, but when it comes to understanding the perspective of a user or consumer, you need the mind of a marketer. Then, all the different perspectives can be brainstormed together to find one solution that will benefit all.

Needless to say, if you haven’t thought about introducing marketing courses to every single employee yet, you really should consider it. The benefits will be evident in the quality of work, and the shift in even the general way people think. Business relationships will benefit and the mindset towards work will be around creating a brand experience for customers – something every customer is concerned about in today’s world.

For more information, visit www.rogerwilco.co.za. Alternatively, connect with them on Facebook or on Twitter.