7 Important Skills Needed for Inbound Marketing Success

The world of marketing is always changing, and not only are best practices constantly evolving but so too are marketing techniques overall. In fact, today, there are multiple different subsets of marketing, and each demands its own skillset and knowledge base. In the world of inbound, many skills are transferrable from digital marketing and interruptive marketing. Still, there are also unique skills that an inbound marketer must have to be successful, including the seven we’ll discuss here today.

Modify your content to fit your audience on each social media channel. 

1. Social Media Marketing Savvy

Social media is one of the most important platforms for inbound marketing, and while it may seem like a simple tool that anybody can use, social marketing is a nuanced art that takes both practice and experience. For example, the content you share on Facebook should be tailored for that medium, versus what you'd post on Twitter or Pinterest. Moreover, social media isn't just about sharing, but also about engaging, getting involved in conversations, and educating people about your brand.

2. Content Creation Cleverness

It’s an old adage in the world of SEO that content is king, and while that is still true, there's a caveat: that content has to be high-quality, relevant, interesting, shareable, and educational. It’s no longer sufficient to crank out low-quality content that’s stuffed with keywords and calling it SEO. The content you create now is integral to your rankings, but that content must be authoritative and well-written.

3. SEO Capabilities

That’s not to say that keywords and SEO are no longer important, but the world of search engine optimization is much more sophisticated than before. SEO today does still involve optimizing content with a few choice keywords, but it’s also about using meta descriptions and title tags strategically, making content local, and much more.

4. Digital Marketing Know-How

Digital marketing encompasses a number of different skills, and there are elements of digital marketing that are crucial in inbound marketing as well, including the ability to track different metrics, use different analytical tools, and the ability to test and evaluate campaigns.

5. Mad Mobile Skills

As mobile usage continues to increase, marketers need to

invest more in mobile marketing to stay competitive.  

Mobile marketing is another facet of inbound marketing that can also fall under the purview of digital marketing, though there are still skills involved in mobile that are also non-interruptive tactics. A few of those skills that inbound employs include:

• App development
• Designing responsive and mobile-friendly websites
• Ecommerce strategies that make mobile shopping easy
• Mobile traffic and eCommerce analytics

6. A Knack for Analysis

Although it has been mentioned a couple of times already, it’s important to note that in the world of inbound marketing, analytics are so integral that this is a necessary skill unto itself. This is because you must be able to look at how your website, social media efforts, blog, content, ads, and other marketing efforts are performing. Otherwise, you'll never know which campaigns are successful, what needs to be improved, and what should never be repeated.

7. Website Building Abilities

Getting customers to a website is one of the chief goals of inbound marketing, and that website must be optimized to convert visitors into leads and leads into customers. Associated skills, therefore, include things like web development and design, product management, knowledge of CTA placement, and other optimization best practices.

Inbound marketing, while related to other forms of marketing, requires special abilities as well, because the strategies, tactics, and best practices are unique from other marketing forms. Among the most important skills for inbound marketing, success are a deep understanding of engaging content and social media, the ability to optimize content and websites for the most success, and the ability to analyze data and track the metrics that indicate success.