Top 10 Marketing Skills to Learn with an MBA in Marketing

MBA stands for Masters in Business Administration. MBA is a post graduate master degree course which generally takes place over the duration of two to three years.

There are a number of streams to pursue an MBA. This includes accounting, applied statistics, business communication, law and ethics, managerial entrepreneurship, marketing and marketing analysis.

It also includes elective courses. Universities and colleges across several countries offer part time and full time as well as distance learning opportunities for students. MBA is essential to reach the managerial status in a particular job profile.

Amongst all these, MBA in marketing is one of the oldest streams in management studies. Marketing is a basic skill required in an organisation.

For this reason, an MBA course in marketing is so popular. It offers job opportunities with handsome salaries in various posts where an individual will achieve a managerial role, for instances as marketing manager, brand manager, sales manager, etc.

An MBA in marketing is basically the subject of sales and services, promotions, advertising and study of consumer behaviours. To pursue an MBA course, the student should possess a good percentage in the graduation degree on any subject.

But the courses include thorough learning of some basic qualities that are very essential in the marketing line. Here are the top 10 qualities which you need to develop if you are pursuing an MBA in marketing-

1. Communication- Effective communication is very necessary for gaining and working in a leadership role. This doesn't mean that it has to be established with the clients only. A good communication channel should be maintained with the employees also. This eases up the matters which could be difficult to solve for real. Moreover, if you are working with others and at the same time inspiring them, it can draw out the line between success and failure. If you are well connected with the people whom you are managing, they will feel free to come to you or contact you in case they face any problem. You can then openly discuss the problem with them and ultimately come up with a solution. The same process applies to work with the clients as well. Communication not only refers to the way you are speaking with the people but also with the way you are interacting with people. Thus while studying the course of MBA, you need to develop this particular skill for a successful career.
2. Strategic thinking- This is an important quality that you need to develop as an MBA. You have to think strategically and logically at the same time. Being there in the present state, you have to think out a clear picture of a bigger state of your company. Once you do this, you can design out the plans effectively after this. The workforce, steps to approach clients and measures to promote your organisation's brand value totally depends on this strategic thinking. You have to assume beforehand about the outcomes of the steps you take as well. And for instance, you will have to prepare for multiple plans. Suppose one of the steps is not coming out as an effective one, then you need to follow the other one. But strategic thinking does not necessarily mean that you will have to design every plan by yourself. Arrange meetings with the other experienced post holders in the company and talk with the employees to learn about their opinion as well and then implement your plans accordingly.
3. Leadership skills- A good manager must possess the skills of a leader. The person will possess leadership skills by taking an undertaking of the functional roles by his or her undertaking. The work of a good leader is also to inspire those who work around him. Being a leader, you have to work in such a way that your employees feel like getting valued and getting enough attention. Moreover, there may be certain conditions when the organisation may undergo some critical instances. In such a case, it is the sole duty of the management to take some bold decisions. Or the management needs to guide the people about the fact that they need to stay calm and everything would be set alright. The right course of action is to be taken by a good leader. It is not easy to develop good leadership ability or skills. One must develop the necessary qualities to develop the quality of reading certain situations in order to become a good leader.
4. Entrepreneurial skills- Entrepreneurial skills mean certain skills that provide you the ability to judge the market and provide improvements in it through creativity and techniques. In this particular type of skill, one has to develop the capacity and willingness to organize and manage a business keeping in mind that it may come along with certain risks. Being an entrepreneur, one has to recognise the commercial potential of the invention and organize the capital accordingly. The talent and resources that are available should be used well so that an invention could be turned into innovation. Entrepreneurship captures other innovative activities associated with a company in addition to smaller activities that are a part of the business. Developing this skill will help an individual to inspire other people. It will help others to gain confidence before taking a risk. This quality is very important to develop because it is of the utmost importance that the management body should inspire their employees. In turn, this will help the organisation in the path of success.
5. Time management skills- Another thing that is taught during the short time of the MBA course is learning time management. One has to finish a number of projects in time and at the same time complete the course syllabus for each semester. This grooms the students to learn how to complete a task in time. This skill is particularly necessary because, in a company, there are time-based projects. And here the management body has to ensure that it is finished in time. This will also help an organisation to win over the trust of the clients. Good time management abilities allow an individual to complete more work in a shorter time and thus lowers the amount of stress and leads to a successful career. For effective time management, it is important that you have to know about your goals. Then you have to set your priorities about the that which of them are most important and which are less. This habit is not only needed to become a good manager in an organisation but also in every major aspect of life.
6. Strong noting skills- If you become a manager in marketing at a well-built organisation after your MBA course, does not mean that you don't need to learn anything further. As an employee from the higher tier of an organisation, you need to develop proper listening and noticing skills. You have to keep an account of the things that are going on or trending in the market. You have to listen to what your colleagues have to say on a particular decision. Noticing features that are relevant to your work will surely keep you miles ahead of your rivals. It would also help you in decision making in certain cases. Once you have the information, you could act out with confidence. Also noticing helps you to see that where the fault has been and how can you act to modify it. If you are listening to your employees and keeping notice of their interests, quite naturally you will win over them and they will stay beside you and support you no matter what happens.
7. Teamwork- For achieving success in a company, you have to believe in hard work and at the same time you will have to believe in teamwork. All of us are common with the phrase-"United we stand, divided we fall". Unity and teamwork are very essential components of success. It is possible that people always don't work with the same ideology. But while working for greater interests, it is important that all have to cast their differences aside and work together to achieve good results. This quality is developed a bit from the college days when a group of individuals is assigned a particular project. All pupil in the group learn how to perform together so that they can achieve their common goal. Especially in the case of marketing, a company has to deal with a group of clients. Each of these clients has a different mentality. It is not possible at all for a single person to understand the market. The necessity of a team game arrives at this point, where each member of the marketing department are assigned with a specific task and they have to work together with the same ideology and with co-operation to achieve success for their company.
8. Dream- Dream provides us with the ability to see the bigger picture. It doesn't matter on what grounds you are dreaming, but you have to imagine the future where you could see your goals are achieved. This will motivate you to work harder and not give up under hard circumstances. While studying MBA, of course, you do dream about setting yourself at a much higher career level. The same quality should renew in yourself once you get a job as a marketing manager. You have to dream about a successful future. A future where you can see that you have achieved the goals of your company. Talk to other people about your imagination, tell them what do you want to achieve and if valid, you will win the support of your fellow people as well. In short, it can also be considered that your dream can set you for the right course of action.
9. Analytical skills- For possessing the managerial role in marketing, you need to develop the skills of analysing certain situations. It also includes the ability to apply proper logical thinking that can break any complex problem into simpler parts and then provide solutions for them. A leader has to apprehend the position of his team when he had to act in a certain condition. Learning the ability to analyse certain situations, one must be observant, learn how things do work and work on his or her problem-solving skills. They require the use of logic and good reasoning to understand a situation and then draw conclusions from the analysis. Analytical skill abilities include critical thinking, data and information analysis, research, communication, and problem-solving. Some of these qualities are present in a person while the other qualities have to be developed during one's course of study.
10. Ability to take criticism positively- If you are a leader, you will fall under the microscope several times for the decisions you take. People will criticise you if you fail sometimes. But in such cases, you should learn how to stay quiet and answer through proper action. You should not react or try to hand out an excuse. Such steps will only make the situation look like it was all your fault. During studies, if you fail to obtain a good score in a certain subject, you are likely to be criticised by your teachers, friends, and parents. But you have to keep your cool at these times and then prepare well for the second chance. In the same way, in a corporate world, whenever you face criticism, take it lightly and learn from your mistakes. This will allow you to perform better next time. Also preventing the chances of any argument will project you as a respectable character, and prevent the chances of creating a messy situation in the long run.

These qualities are of course essential to be successful in the long run, but hardworking and working smart have no substitutes. You have to learn how to put tremendous efforts into work and when and where to put them.