Analysis of Basic Attributes and Personality Traits Required by Digital Marketing Profession

Introduction

Digital technology has “shaken marketing at its core” with almost all of current marketing subsumed into some form of digital marketing across most businesses and industries (Wind & Mahajan, 2001). Digital marketing can be defined as the process of applying digital technologies to achieve marketing objectives. In order to stay competitive, companies need to embrace digital marketing, and B2B – Business to Business companies are not an exception to this.

The B2B sales cycle is much longer and more involved than that of B2C – Business to Consumers businesses. Furthermore, reaching a business customer and influencing them to make a decision requires a far different approach. Nonetheless, online presence is just as essential to B2B companies as it is to B2C companies, and digital marketing is slowly proving its importance in the B2B market. 52% of B2B brands say blogs are the strategy most critical to their marketing success (Geek Chicago 2017.)

Digital marketing encompasses the use of diverse digital technologies and techniques available to promote and market brands or products (Niveditta & Padmavathy, 2017). A marketing executive directs the marketing of a company’s products or services. Marketing executives know the company’s product line, historical market, potential market, media costs, media response, and budgeting issues. Marketers often have to be intimate with a number of advertising media such as radio, television, phone solicitation, mail campaigns, and promotional events. Their most difficult task is determining how best to take advantage of any or all of them to promote their product. In addition, “You have to knowwhen to sell your own product, and when to mow down the other guy’s product,” said one New York marketing executive.

Marketing executives have no formal educational requirements, but most employers require a college degree. Valued courses include marketing, statistics, advertising, psychology, sociology, business, finance, economics, and history. Communication skills are very important, so any writing experience is appreciated. Marketing executives need know their product line and its unique features, so special requirements may apply for those in science, mechanical, medical, or computer-based industries.

Problem statement

Marketing, especially through online platform, is one of the most difficult as it demands constant meeting target needs and bring the products or service of an organisation fresh in the minds of consumers. Multinational companies today employ the service of digital markets to ensure that the right information about the company product and services are constantly distributed to its targets. However, it is surprising to note that more and more digital market finds them leaving their jobs because of the demand to constant meet demands and competition on the online space. Evidently, there are still more digital gurus who are occupying the web and running the shows, and getting the best results.

This study is a follow up on a study conducted in 2016 by Mallik which sought to identify some attributes and personality traits of marketing executives. He paid attention to some traits such as being open to new ideas, conciseness, extraversion, and agreeability as a response trait of marketing executive. His findings however clearly showed that personality traits and attributes were required for respective executives in their chosen field of profession.

So as a build of his study, this study intends to focus on digital marketing professionals and some of the gender issues that are exhibited in this line of profession. The study will also highlight more attributes that can be constituted as a trait to digital marketing professions which Mallik could not include.

Objectives

The main object of this study following the problem statement is to carefully examine and the basic attributes and personality traits required by digital marketing professional while identify gender issues that may arise in that field of profession.

Specific objectives

• a. To identify and examine some attributes of digital marketing professionals
• b. To identify some dormant personality traits that has not been exploited
• c. To investigate gender difference in the digital marketing field
• d. To know the expectations from employer which is most required skill for a digital marketing professional

Research questions

From the main objective of the study, these questions come to mind and by answering can achieve the objectives for this research:

1. a. What are the attributes of digital marketing professionals?
2. b. Are there any dormant personality trait of digital marketer? If yes, what are these dormant personality traits?
3. c. What are some of the gender issues that exist in the digital marketing profession?
4. d. Which skill is most required of a digital marketing professional by an employer?

Significance of the study

The findings of this research inform the public and private businesses on the required skills to look out for in digital marketing professions, solution to gender issues in the workplace with regards to this field of profession, and the general attributes and personality of digital marketing professionals

The outcome will also result in useful information to other amateur digital marketers would want to take on the digital world. This study will highlight skill of other digital marketers who have been in the industry for so long. This would help other amateurs build their skills to meat professional standards.

The research in this study fills the gap in the literature across several disciplines engaging in digital marketing studies. In the marketing literature, suggested vanes for research include investigations into how “digital activities generate quantifiable marketing outcomes” (Lamberton & Stephen, 2016), and calls for greater awareness of models and theories across other disciplines, including consumer behavior and economics, for analyzing digital marketing effects (Kannan & Li, 2017). Echoing this need for cross-discipline cognizance, one marketing journal editor suggests future marketing studies use concepts from other disciplines to research problems (e.g. econometric models) (Grewal, 2017). According to Hess et al. (2016), in academic research considering digital transformations, there is a lack of empirical inquiry. Additionally, this study to the body of knowledge of online marketing strategies Other themes birth would be the attributes and personality traits of digital marketing professions, managerial requirement of what skill is expected more and some gener issues within the field of profession. It will also help inform future research in this area.

Scope of the study

The scope of the study is confined to Accra only, this is due to the limitation of time, effort, and resources and also largely because most successfully businesses have their headquarters in Accra. Digital marketing professional will cut across the banking institutions, manufacturing industries, and telecommunication network companies.

Literature review

Literature review seeks to describe, summarize, evaluate, clarify and or integrate the content of primary reports. As previously established, Lamberton and Stephen’s (2016) digital, social media, and mobile marketing (DSMM) framework provides the overarching research context for this work what focuses on just the digital marketing aspects. The chapter cautiously surveys three noteworthy topics which lie at the focal point of the investigation

Theoretical review

The Big 5 model

The Big Five Model of human personality reduces the large number of personal adjectives to five main personality traits that form the acronym OCEAN. (Caprara, et al., 2001; Goldberg, 1990) (1) Openness to experiences; (2) conscientiousness; (3) extraversion; (4) agreeableness and (5) neuroticism, represent a complete set of traits that could capture personality differences (John & Srivastava, 1999; Myers, et al., 2010). The Big Five Model is a groundbreaking concept in personality research because of the rare stable nature that individuals’ attributes have. Marketing scholars see in this an opportunity to transcend the stable nature of attributes of the Model into corresponding stable consumer behavior traits and long term purchase patterns.

Empirical studies

Overview of personality trait

Personality traits have not been a major focus in marketing. The main way customers are distinguished is by their needs. Based on this, relationship marketing (Sheth, Parvatiyar, 1995), and more specifically, CRM, are based on the idea that an individual approach is needed for every customer (Winer, 2001; Verhoef, 2003). That is, marketing efforts are focused on what customers want, but not on what they are. From a theoretical perspective, the overview and analysis of a literature review will offer a chance to deepen scholars’ understanding of both personality research and marketing research, by connecting important findings in different studies.

Essential characteristics of marketing professionals

To make it in the marketing world, you have to have more than business expertise. When hiring, CEOs and recruiters have all wanted to know what are the qualities of a successful marketing executive, and marketing professionals should know these qualities if they want to get ahead in their careers. According to industry experts, successful marketing executives need to have these seven essential characteristics.

Skills and competence

A study conducted in New Zealand (Gray et al., 2007) surveyed the importance of skills across three stakeholder groups—marketing managers, students, and academics. Every group noted willingness to learn among the three most important skills, followed by problem solving nominated by marketing mangers and students. In addition, marketing managers valued three areas of specialized knowledge, specifically marketing communication, marketing research, and consumer behavior. This finding matched that of O’Brien and Deans (1995), who found that employers value problem identification and research and analytical skills. Students focus more on the knowledge areas of consumer behavior, product and brand management, and the content of marketing communications rather than the research, analytical, and applied aspects of the marketing discipline (Gray et al., 2007; O’Brien & Deans, 1995). Although views on the importance of different skills vary among various stakeholders, there is some agreement that marketing graduates have to be well versed in marketing knowledge and possess a range of analytical and soft skills that are essential for their career development (Kelley & Bridges, 2005).

It has following three elements:

1. a. Mastery over market place: Marketing manager must know the market and target customers habits verywell. The moment, you are in business, everybody expects you to be knowledgeable person, you need to perform to their expectations
2. b. Ability to take right decisions quickly: Many time marketing manager has to take spontaneous decisions – say within few seconds – and of course the decisions should benefit the organization. Out of 10, even two decisions go wrong, marketing manager may be kicked off
3. c. No pending work: Marketing manager is supposed to prepare quotations, reply customer’s letters reply inter-office memos, prepare for big tenders for govt. customers, disburse dealer’s claims, etc., very occasionally, marketing manager need to go on tour also. The desirable trait could be, in all situations, he must able to vacate his incoming mail tray on daily basis. Top management never likes a marketing manage