Recently I came across an article about Sundar Pichai, Google CEO, about how he successfully re-marketed one of his very successful projects to the key internal stakeholder, after being shot down on the first attempt. This prompted me to think deep about the key marketing skills required for project managers to succeed in real world. When I posed this question to my colleague Mr. Ayyappan, Head of Marketing at Wrench Solutions, during one of our casual conversations after a formal meeting, he shared these practical insights about the key marketing skills required for project managers which will help them to succeed in an ever-changing market environment.
10 key marketing skills required for project managers

1. Communication Skill : 90% of the project manager’s time goes into communication. When I learned this from the Project Management Institute’s Project management body of knowledge two decades back, I thought it is slightly exaggerated. Later I corrected myself when I really understood the complexities involved in project communication. Now, it is getting further reinforced by my colleague Mr.Ayyappan when he vouches for Communication skill as the number one skill required for project managers to be successful in today’s distributed team environment. According to him, ‘Communication skill (no need for a great command over the language. Convey the message clearly to the stakeholders. Less of adjectives and more of action verbs. Assertive communication)’
2. Interpersonal Skill – Products are getting more and more complex. Successful products calls for intensive collaboration. Interpersonal skill (be inclusive. Connecting with multiple professionals at all levels. Keep the environment at a high energy level. Be jovial. No need to show off. Mingle with the team)
3. Analytical skills – High power, high interest stakeholders understand numbers much better than any other form of data. According to Ayyappan, number focus, ability to analyse numbers from a 360 degree perspective is very important.
4. Collaboration – Collaboration with other teams (multi-depts collaboration. Marketing is purely dependent on others’ inputs. Get your work done smartly from others)
5. Budgeting skills – Budget preparation, allocation, and distribution.
6. Adaptiveness – Be flexible. Ability to learn and adapt quickly (not all your campaigns will work out)
7. Market awareness – Scan the market continuously and align with the market trends.
8. Presentation skills – (Packaging all the raw content in marketable form.)
9. Focus on strengths – Accept the weakness and focus on the strengths.
10. Relationship building – Following the process won’t work all the time. Relationship with the relevant stakeholders will take you to the next level.