Marketing is a fascinating and continuously evolving field of work. For this reason, you might be considering pursuing a degree in marketing. Whether you’re thinking of getting a diploma, a bachelor’s, a master’s, or even a PhD, a marketing degree can provide an immeasurable amount of value to your life.

As you prepare to venture on this new educational adventure, you may be wondering what skills you need to ensure your success. Below, we’ve compiled a list of seven skills you should hone as you prepare for your marketing degree. By improving these skills, you will set yourself up for prosperity in both your education and career.

1. Writing Skills

When you study marketing, you’ll quickly learn the importance of conveying ideas, particularly through the written word. Marketing copy should be succinct, engaging, and must include relevant information. In marketing programs, you’ll learn how to write various types of marketing documents, from marketing strategies to proposals.

As a result, it’s vital that you prioritise your efforts in ameliorating your writing skills before commencing a marketing degree. You can improve your writing skills in a number of ways, but the best technique is extremely simple: just write!

Becoming a better writer is just like improving any other skill – it requires practice. With that in mind, make writing a daily discipline. It could be as simple as writing in a journal, recounting the events of your day or outlining your goals for the future. Over time, as you grow more confident in your abilities, you can try writing blog posts on marketing-related tasks or write practice templates for brands you’d like to work for. By doing this, you will make sure you walk into the first day of your marketing program as prepared as possible.

2. Interpersonal Communication Skills

Communication is integral to your success in the marketing world. At its core, marketing is about getting people interested in your product or service, and enticing them to make a purchase. As a result, interpersonal communication is one of the key skills you will want to hone before embarking on a marketing degree.

One study suggested that the importance of interpersonal relationships in marketing lies in the competitive nature of the sector. This study, which analyzed marketing in the Nigerian hotel industry, suggested that interpersonal relationships are “an important competitive weapon” because of their “potential in eliciting friendly interaction that fosters commercial friendship, emotional attachment and loyalty to the service providers.”

If you would like to succeed in your marketing degree, improving your interpersonal communication skills is a must. By refining your abilities in this area, you will have a stronger capacity at connecting with and establishing positive relationships with colleagues, managers, and customers alike.

3. Creativity Skills

The marketing world is characterized by its innovation and competitiveness, and thinking outside the box is a must. In order to stand out in the industry, you need originality – and creativity is the main driver of originality. It allows you to distinguish your product or service offering from your competitors, and to appeal to customers in unique ways. It allows you to examine the world through a different lens and find opportunities in the most unexpected of places. According to Marketing Week, creativity is “the oxygen of the marketing world” and enables us to “generate new ideas, push the boundaries of how we see our world today, and sustain future growth.”

For all these reasons, creative thinking should be one of the top competencies you prioritise when prepping for your marketing program. Rather than approaching problems from a linear angle, a creative mind will come up with agile solutions, no matter the issue at hand. Whether it’s coming up with an interesting new business idea, developing an app, or finding different ways to convert customers, you will be better prepared to tackle any assignment in your marketing degree and any real-life challenge in your marketing career.

4. Collaboration Skills

Collaboration is highly valued in the marketing sphere, as it brings multiple perspectives and ideas to the table. This kind of diversity is priceless because it allows businesses to understand and appeal to a wider customer base. Collaboration also fosters active listening, the provision and acceptance of feedback, and deeper levels of connection in marketing professionals.

In any marketing degree (whether it is a diploma, bachelor’s, master’s, or PhD), collaboration is compulsory. In these programs, it is more than likely that most of your assignments (e.g., presentations, case studies, proposals) will be completed in groups. If you make an effort to ameliorate your collaborative skills ahead of your marketing degree, you will walk into the program more prepared to take on these tasks.

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5. Research Skills

Market research is one of the most important ingredients in marketing. Marketers need to understand their competitors, existing products in their niche, and most importantly, their customers. Market research enables organizations to gain valuable insight into all these factors. From there, they can assess where their resources are best spent, identify business opportunities, and develop strategies for growth and development.

Since research is such a vital component of the marketing profession, it is one of the focal points of any marketing degree. When you study marketing in any capacity, you will learn how to effectively conduct market research, and how to summarize your findings. You will also learn how to integrate your research findings into your marketing strategy and subsequent business decisions.

By exploring some of these market research tools yourself, you can improve your abilities to prepare for a marketing degree. Some of the most widely used and powerful market research platforms at present are:

• Attest
• Google Trends
• Answer the Public
• Social Mention
• Remesh

By navigating these tools firsthand and seeing their capabilities, you will give yourself a competitive advantage when you begin your marketing studies. These skills will serve you extremely well when you are completing assignments and will also benefit you in the long run of your career.

6. Adaptability

Marketers are constantly seeing new emerging trends, practices, and standards. Marketing is also known for being a particularly demanding field, with tight deadlines and last-minute projects often popping up.

As a result, marketing professionals need to be exceedingly adaptable. Any successful marketer will not only understand the unique challenges of the sector, but know how to adapt their practices to overcome them.

Adaptability may seem like a difficult skill to develop, but there are purposeful steps you can take to improve it before moving into a marketing degree.

For instance, make a conscious effort to shift your mindset. Rather than viewing change as a daunting prospect, see it as an opportunity for improvement. Additionally, force yourself to take risks. By leaving your comfort zone, you will have a better idea of how to handle all kinds of situations with confidence.

Are you ready to take these skills to the next level with a marketing degree? Consider an RMIT Online Master of Marketing. This 100% online program will provide you with the chance to put your abilities to use, from anywhere in the world.

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Pursuing a marketing degree is an exciting and fulfilling endeavor. Not only will it offer a great deal of personal achievement, but it will act as an excellent springboard into a prosperous marketing career. To guarantee your success, it’s important to refine a few key skills before beginning this new educational chapter. By honing these six skills, you will start your marketing degree on the right foot.

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