While some people might think that marketing managers have nothing to do with problem-solving, that’s not quite the case. For marketing managers, one of the essential tasks is solving problems without having all of the necessary information.
Another task is making sure there’s a procedure in place to prevent similar issues in the future. That’s why certain problem-solving skills are essential for marketing managers, and why they need to come up with various creative solutions when approaching problems.
At the core, problem-solving skills allow people to take note of an issue, identify what’s causing it, design a solution, and effectively implement that solution.
Aside from that, problem-solving also involves being able to evaluate whether a given solution achieved the desired results or not. Some of the best problem solvers are able to anticipate issues and take proactive measures to mitigate their impact.
Analytical Skills
The first step of problem-solving is analyzing the issue at hand and going beyond the surface in order to find what’s causing the problem. There are different analytical strategies that can contribute to problem-solving such as research, forecasting, attending to details, analysis, and fact-checking.
For example, if a company frequently overextends its social media budget, then with the right analytical skills, a marketing manager can precisely pinpoint what’s really happening and solve the problem.
The marketing manager might find that while the social media campaigns are being created the right way, the marketing team doesn’t have the right budgeting skills to help calculate the spending properly. Then, they could develop a training program for the team that will teach everyone about financial forecasting, losses, and profits.
Sound Judgments
Another skill that is beneficial to problem-solving is being able to make the right decision out of an array of potential solutions. Developing this type of sound judgment allows marketing managers to consider the core of a problem, the potential drawbacks to each solution, how to best implement the right one, and their costs and required resources.
There are several capabilities that fall under this skill, including leadership, critical thinking and deduction, prediction, discussion, and testing.
Organizational Skills
The next essential problem-solving skill for marketing managers is being able to organize everything neatly in order to carry out the solution for a problem.
That way, everyone will be taking the right steps to achieve the desired results, which also improves efficiency and work alignment for the team. Organizational skills also benefit from strategies such as recording and filing information, and creating schedules.
Creativity
Once the marketing manager has figured out the core of an issue, it’s time to figure out different ways to solve that problem, and that’s where creativity comes into play.
There are times when the solution to an issue isn’t straightforward and requires different points of view to get to the right answer. That’s why marketing managers should be curious, and thus able to brainstorm, plan, and execute.
Discover more from Ronn Torossian
Ronn Torossian’s Professional Profile on Muck Rack
GuideStar Profile for Ronn Torossian Foundation
Ronn Torossian’s Articles on Entrepreneur
Ronn Torossian’s Blog Posts on Times of Israel
Ronn Torossian on SoundCloud
