Soft skills every startup or scale up marketer needs

During my career I’ve helped build many marketing teams for startups and scale ups and though obviously, when recruiting you need certain hard skills to compliment your team, you also need a particular personality that will ensure the team's success.

Based on my experience here are eight basic soft skills every marketer working for a startup or a scale up should possess:

1. Be comfortable wearing many hats every day - When building a brand new marketing team there will be many functions that won’t be filled and require attention. In my professional life I’ve grown accustomed to facing each day as a new challenge. One day I’m doing content, the next day I’m supporting campaigns, the next I’m working on investor decks, the following day I’m developing the storytelling and visual identity, the next I’m helping new brands integrate into the company, another I’m developing onboarding material, another day I’m developing strategy, another day I’m doing a podcast, I’m writing a press release, upgrading our operational systems to fit in with the budget or even choreographing an important offsite event. Succeeding in scale ups and startups means being flexible. While the team gets built the people that are around should have the capability to jump in and support whenever needed. Plus it’s a lot of fun!
2. Curiosity - Launching a brand or GTM strategies for a new product requires curiosity and imagination. Particularly if your product is new to the marketplace. There are no manuals or case studies. So even if you do take inspiration from other similar products you need to be curious and try out new ways to attract your client. Don’t be afraid to test your theories. As you build your brand you’ll have room and space to try many different avenues without the backlash that already established companies risk and in the process you’ll be able to develop never before tried tactics that work incredibly well.
3. Be patient - As soon as a marketing team is called into a startup or a scale up it’s usually because the company is ready to sell their products. This means that even before you start you have tough targets to meet. Though it may be daunting, focus first on quick wins you can achieve and have a high impact. Secondly, strategise effectively and remember growth will be compounded. The more output you create the higher impact you’ll have and this takes time.
4. Ability to let go - The more your team grows the less general responsibilities you’ll have and the more you’ll be able to focus on the job you were hired for. So, it’s important you know how to let go of projects that you’ve been working on for a long time. When the expert in the subject matter finally arrives in the team make sure you support them and pass along everything you’ve done so they can hit the ground running. It’ll be both a relief and you’ll also learn a lot from someone new.
5. Learn to unlearn - It doesn’t matter what campaign you did at this startup that was a roaring success or what your competitors did that worked for them. Yes, take inspiration from all of that but also remember that the digital world is constantly evolving so whatever worked in the past will probably not work again. Plus, you don’t want to copy and paste what you’ve done or what others have done. Lack of authenticity can cost your brand a lot both financially and reputationally. Use your imagination!
6. Encourage creativity - You’re not the only one with brilliant ideas. Make sure everyone in your team feels safe enough to share theirs and try to execute on the best ones. Every new team member represents a whole new world of possibilities. So be sure they are heard. It’ll make your job and theirs much more impactful and fun.?
7. Stay Positive - Working with a new company or launching a new product can be tough. There will be a lot of challenges and mistakes done until you get it right. So don’t be too harsh on yourself or your team. Learn your lessons and move on quickly. The most important thing is that you tried your best.
8. Listen to your team - As new team members join the company make sure you take the time to meet them and make them feel at home. You are only as strong as your team is and sometimes in hyper-growth environments a new joiner can feel suddenly lost, which can lead to quick disengagement. Make sure everyone feels involved and taken into consideration. It’s important to maintain unity and create relationships, especially if you work remotely.?

Have I missed anything? Please comment below.