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7 Skills You Need to Succeed in Project Management Marketing

Do you have these skills to succeed in Project Management Marketing?

By Kimberly ClarkPublished 5 years ago 6 min read
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Project management in marketing is a growing field among digital marketers and agencies. Companies in nearly every sector are depending more and more on project management teams to implement and track client work, delivery, and communications.

Both on and off the web, some of the most prominent industry sectors include manufacturing, product design, digital marketing, website design, and so on.

Project Management roles in marketing can include any specific objective that the company wants to fulfill, whether it’s website design, or redesign for a small business, or a marketing campaign for some innovative new product or industry startup.

These projects almost always require a team of professionals who must be led by someone who is capable of solving marketing execution problems and to ensure the outcome is successful for the company and the client.

The project management role in marketing includes planning, strategic goal setting, logistics, staff and client liaison, remote work team supervision, and reporting.

If you are looking to advance into project management roles, you are going to need a very particular skill set in order to stand out from the growing competition in this lucrative career.

These are skills that will enable you to advance in a career as a project manager.

There are at least seven specific skills that will put you on the path to a new project management career.

Let’s examine these seven important project management skills now.

Communication

Communication is perhaps the most important skill for a project manager to have—especially if you are working with remote teams. Your interpersonal skills must be top-notch in order to communicate and provide effective direction to your team in a way that motivates and moves them to act.

If you fail to be a good communicator, then your team will be less likely to have a clear picture of what needs to be done.

Good communication means you must exhibit good public speaking skills, the ability to train and negotiate tasks, as well as an even temper.

While project managers are not usually involved in client acquisition, they are critical in the process of maintaining good relationships with clients and fostering long term partnering.

Leadership

Leadership skills coincide with good communication skills. However, a good leader is someone who not only knows how to communicate effectively, but whose language and disposition are also able to keep their team motivated and productive.

Furthermore, good leadership involves being able to spot talent, reward good work appropriately, and avoid the drama of putting the wrong people into the roles.

Marketing is a complex aspect of any business. Good project managers must be able to lead by example in terms of work ethic, structure, and delivery of service objectives.

Time Management

It is easy to waste time if you are not managing it carefully. Make sure your team is actively working on the appropriate tasks that need to be done. Good planning means knowing how to allocate tasks in relation to time, deadlines, and both client and company goals.

Time is wasted when poorly equipped project managers:

  • Put the wrong people in the wrong jobs
  • Fail to communicate project objectives
  • Fail to provide the resources necessary for task completion

Time management means delegating responsibilities where needed, rearranging schedules, and multitasking so that deadlines are met, and team goals are accomplished.

This is not as easy as it sounds. The people within your team will be applying the pressure of their own circumstances to the communication mix, there will be delays, correspondence with other departments and clients. And so, a good project manager will need to know how to prioritize each of these streams while avoiding unnecessary distractions.

Learning to say no, being able to allocate decent time to staff issues and client demands are all skills necessary to maximize the productivity of your team.

In addition to gaining experience in these areas in order to advance, it is also imperative that you undertake at least some project management training from a reputable provider.

Negotiation

Project managers in the marketing sector must be good negotiators. You will be negotiating with staff interests, client expectations, and the agendas set by senior management.

If you are good at handling negotiations, aiming for win-win relationships, and ensuring good outcomes for each stakeholder, then you are in the right job!

The key to good negotiation is finding a middle ground where all parties can be satisfied that their interests were being heard and attended to.

Naturally, there are limits in every negotiation, and so marketing project managers need to be able to carefully prioritize those things that are going to bring about the project outcomes without damaging relationships and burning bridges.

Project managers often walk a thin line between competing parties and competing interests. Tactful discussions, and a willingness to find creative solutions when team priorities cause potential conflict are key negotiation skills to develop.

Risk Management

Every project manager in marketing must assess the risk of a project. This requires them to have a plan, which outlines the possible risks of a project to clients, and to the agency you work in. You also need to ensure you are managing risks associated with your team.

These risks are not only about physical risk, but financial and emotional risks as well.

Marketing careers are notorious for burnout, largely as a result of the burden of expectation placed on those in the industry.

Project managers should be monitoring their own level of risk management at both a personal and professional level. if they are not able to properly manage and minimize the risks in their own environment, they are unlikely to succeed at managing the risks that those in their team face.

The project manager should also be capable of finding solutions to potential risks, as well as handling the consequences.

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking in marketing is a more important skill for a project manager than many realize. When you are a good critical thinker, you are able to be objective when evaluating a situation, and more inclined to find solutions that are dispassionate rather than emotionally driven.

Good critical thinking in marketing and managing marketing projects means putting your own ego to one side, and truly listening to other parties.

It means recognizing the limitations of others and being able to judge the mood, progress, and productivity of your team—minus the aggression that often accompanies high-risk marketing projects.

So often, untrained project managers in marketing let their personal feelings influence their judgments. This is a sure recipe for disaster when managing a tightly knit team.

Critical thinking teaches you to have the discipline to put aside your prejudices, and do what is right for the project.

Humour

Marketing is a creative field, and humor is a great way to navigate the challenges as well as find solutions. The workplace does not always need to be stifling and dull.

Most people who enter marketing and succeed have a flare and creative approach to their work. Good project managers will channel this creativity, allow some laughter to break the tension, and ensure a cohesive team by participating at the ground level with their peers.

Austere, distant, and indifferent project managers are not likely to succeed in marketing.

marketing teams have a lot of stress to deal with at their jobs. It helps if they have a project manager who has a lighter side.

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