Today’s marketer needs to be the quintessential renaissance man or woman. I say renaissance because it has a distinctly different connotation than the more ordinary expression of that idea; the so-called jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none. The reason why is because that Jack-of-all-trades ethic is exactly what it takes to be the master of the one called marketer. What other position deals with such a broad range of tasks? Marketing encompasses nearly every business skillset in the book except for maybe certain facets of IT. Who else must wear the hats of strategists, creatives, sales staff, management, and brand ambassadors all before lunch?

Marketers are the ones who have to know what kinds of brands messages to craft, in terms of voice, perspective, audience values, CTA styles, and communications platforms. And this all hinges on subtle details like whether or not their employer is looking to monetize website traffic directly, or just generate foot traffic through their storefront. For these, and many other reasons, staffing a marketing department with new hires can be among the most critical decision and company can make. To be effective, marketers need to know a lot, do a lot, and be a lot. The list of qualities that makes up the best marketers would be nearly endless, but here are five general personality traits, that anyone looking to hire marketers should look for.

Flexible Thinking

As mentioned before, marketing involves a lot of moving parts, and campaigns tend to take on a life of their own. Even though it never hurts to be graced by unexpected good fortune, today’s marketers need to live by the credo of making their own luck. Good planning and preparation, based on solid, data-driven market research go without saying. But a really good marketer understands the art of pivoting when necessary.

Whether it’s an unforeseen change in market conditions, an update to search engine algorithms, or unforeseen, serendipitous opportunities, marketing agility is a function of flexible thinking. Because there’s no such thing as a hands-free marketing campaign, marketers should understand how to use real-time analytics to track and constantly reconsider questions that their data uncovers, and then apply those answers to create a fluid evolution in the strategy.

Eyes on the Prize Mindset

A good marketer should probably have a few technical certifications under their belt like Google analytics certification and Brightedge certification. But they shouldn’t allow those marketing tools to define their skillset. If for example, they deliver a report on a marketing campaign and the report does nothing but explain a few key metrics like impressions, and promoter scores, but fails to tell the whole, big-picture story, that’s not likely to be good enough. And that campaign isn’t likely to deliver results in the end. Marketing campaigns involve a journey and a destination. Good marketers never lose sight of that desired horizon.

Brand Ambassadorship

Because marketers act as liaisons between so many departments within an organization, as well as the public, brand ambassadorship should come with the territory. A good marketer should not just understand the brand identity, they should also embody it as much as possible. Brand ambassadorship isn’t just about talking to influencers, or flattering them with praise in hopes of getting social media shares and/or mentions. They need to BE the influencers. You want a marketer who can build and nurture client relationships, brand awareness, and subject matter authority without coming across as fake, or contrived. Marketers who can do that will really be able to move the needle for their company.

Driven by the Vision

If you follow the previous point, then this will come automatically. For marketers to succeed as brand ambassadors, and industry influencers they need to understand how to engage WITH people, not just talk TO people. The highest objective of really great marketing is to educate and converse with an audience, not to endlessly pitch goods and services. There should be a central vision, an organizational sense of purpose at the center of the marketing message. Great marketing is great storytelling, and the real crux of the story should always be about what problems the product solves.

Live in the Trenches

Good marketers must know the difference between a boss and a leader. They cannot hesitate to get their hands dirty and perform some of the nitty-gritty tasks of a campaign. Not only will that instill confidence, loyalty and camaraderie within their team, but it will also intimately connect them to the finer details of the campaign, which will mostly likely lend them insights they wouldn’t have if they were only delegating tasks to a team of subordinates.

There you have it! Marketing is an extremely critical business function that operates in a fluid, ever-changing environment. Today’s marketers undertake the task of building customer relationships and management relationships and all the in-between action from SEO to video marketing that puts customers and management on the same page. It’s a lot of moving parts to deal with, and each campaign takes on a life of it’s own. So, there’s no real complete unified theory, no formula for the big picture start-to-finish marketing campaign.