e are 3 core skills that will make your SEM career more successful
To advance your SEM career, you will need three skills. These skills are applicable to any industry. However, we will focus on SEM roles.
- Clear communication
- Effective collaboration
- Focused productivity
Clear communication
Clear, concise communication is essential. Communication is the foundation of every role in a company and agency.
You share information every day with clients and vendors. A unique voice and confidence will be a benefit to those who communicate thoughtfully and with purpose.
These individuals will therefore have a greater impact on the organization.
Communicate effectively in all media
There are many ways to convey ideas – via email, in-person and virtual meetings, presentations, instant messaging and many other methods. Instant messaging apps are fast and can lead to misunderstandings and errors.
Slack and Teams are often informal and conversational, so instant messaging is often done via Slack. However, it is important to remain professional when working with colleagues, managing projects, and delegating tasks via such platforms. Even in micro-discussions such as chats, take the time to think.
Email and deck presentations allow you to communicate more effectively through certain channels. Email is often used to transfer ownership of a topic.
You could ask a question and you own the answer, request data or report (you have the data), or send a task (you have the task completion).
Confirm receipt, establish a time frame for a reply and follow these quick tips.
- Be clear and concise in your message
- Adapt your message for different media.
- Use the correct language for your medium.
- Active listening techniques are recommended.
- You should proofread your messages.
Participate in successful meetings and run
Many professional lives are ruined by poor meetings. Meetings that are poorly run waste time, drain energy, and offer little value.
Meetings can also take up more time than actual work for many people. This cycle of meeting fatigue must be broken.
Your secret weapon is your meeting agenda. An agenda that is well-written will make your meeting a success. They establish expectations and set the tone. Meeting agendas give attendees the opportunity to prepare for specific topics. You should also request agendas for the meeting you are attending.
Agendas are key to a successful meeting. Clear meeting notes will ensure that the meeting is a success. It is possible to send an email instead if meetings don’t result in new collaboration or delegated tasks.
You must be able to set great agendas, take detailed notes, and assign tasks. These steps will ensure that your meetings are successful:
- Make a great plan.
- Invite the right people.
- Start early.
- Get organized.
- Encourage participation.
- Take careful notes.
- End at any time.
- Keep following up.
Agendas to be used in 1:1 Manager Meetings
Make sure you are aware of the most important meetings that you have regularly. Weekly meetings should be held with your manager.
These weekly meetings are your opportunity to discuss opportunities, challenges, and long-term plans. You should not depend on your manager to decide the agenda.
People in junior positions might feel that they cannot dictate what topics to their manager. This is false. Be proactive about your development.
These tips will help you have great 1:1 meetings with managers.
- Set clear expectations.
- Ask the right questions.
- Pay attention.
- Follow-up on any take-aways
- Encourage open communication.
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Effective collaboration
You cannot achieve success alone. You are part of a team, no matter where you work. It is important to be supportive and collaborative as a member of your team.
Establish a support network for your company. The support network should provide a place for ideas and feedback as well as help with tasks.
Learn the art of delegation, task management and how to master it
Delegation is one of the key tenants of collaboration. Both sides can benefit from delegation. You would do well to be able to assign tasks to your team members. It would also be a good idea to know how to get tasks assigned to yourself.
You should identify the tasks and skills you excel at and the ones that are difficult. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses will help determine which SEM tasks you should delegate and which ones to do yourself.
Make a list of all tasks you need to complete and assign them to the right people. Be sure to include any deadlines or other details.
Next, prioritize tasks according to their importance and urgency. This will allow you to determine which tasks you should delegate and which ones you should manage.
Clear instructions are essential to ensure tasks are completed on schedule. To ensure tasks are completed on time, monitor their progress. To keep up-to date on tasks’ status, use regular check-ins and progress reports.
Here’s a quick checklist to help you delegate tasks.
- Know your strengths and weaknesses.
- Make a list of priorities.
- Set clear deadlines.
- Give clear instructions.
- Keep an eye on the progress.
Create a support network in your company
It is possible to build a support network within companies, large or small. First, get to know your team members personally.
Ask them about their hobbies and interests. Instruct them to share their views in an open setting.
This strategy works best when you get to know your colleagues in other departments.
Let your team members know how much you appreciate them. When people go above and beyond in solving a problem, send thank-you notes. Be open to solving problems with other members of the team. SEM is about building strong relationships with your operational, creative, and analytics teams.
Here’s a quick checklist for building a support network.
- Get to know your team.
- Show appreciation.
- Offer resources and tools.
- Recognize your achievements
Always be open to new ways of helping your team
When team members have questions or need guidance, be available. This can be done by:
- Participating in team meetings.
- Quickly responding to emails
- Being available to offer advice and assistance.
You can help your team solve problems, even if you’re a senior member. SEM teams have a lot of small tasks to complete, so get involved in those tasks.
It is a great strategy to be a resource for your team. However, you need to protect your bandwidth in order not burn out. Here’s a quick checklist for being a resource to your team.
- Encourage collaboration among teams
- Provide support and assistance to people within and outside your organization.
- When possible, share your knowledge and experiences.
Focused productivity
SEM campaigns management is complex and requires many tasks.
Focused productivity is being intentional with your energy and time. Early in your career, you will discover that no one can manage your time.
You can improve your SEM career by managing your daily work and working towards your long-term goals.
Prioritization and project management should be your top priorities
SEM account management involves a variety of tasks that must be completed first. Identify the goals and scope of each task and project. For success, set realistic goals. Clear goals can help you set priorities and allocate resources.
You can monitor the progress of your projects, and adjust resources as necessary. You can keep the project moving forward by providing feedback and regular updates.
To ensure that everyone is on the same page, communicate regularly with team members and stakeholders.
This article focuses on ownership. To advance your SEM career, take ownership. You are responsible for your task and project management. Keep your manager informed about your tasks so they don’t have to.
Here’s a list of ways to prioritize tasks or projects.
- Establish clear goals.
- Make a plan for your project.
- Assign responsibilities.
- Keep track of your progress
- Communicate often.
To achieve your quarterly goals, create a system
Your manager will most likely set quarterly goals. You can still contribute and offer your insights to the process.
You can take control of your career and development. Your manager will appreciate you taking initiative in setting goals and looking for long-term growth.
You can find plenty of content that will help you achieve long-term, actionable goals. You can find a lot of information by doing a quick search.
Setting “SMARTER goals” is a high-level skill that you can take away now.
- S: Specific
- M – Measurable
- A : Actionable
- R – Risky
- T: Time-keyed
- E – Exciting
- R – Relevant
You’ll be able to approach your manager with structured, smarter goals. While your manager may have different ideas for your milestones and goals, this shows that you care about long-term development.
Here are some quick ways to achieve great long-term goals.
- Establish a goal-tracking program.
- Set specific time frames for your goals.
- Each goal should have progress milestones.
- As you move forward, celebrate your success.
- Keep your eyes on the prize and make sure you review your goals at least once a month.
Take breaks and focus on energy flow.
When discussing career advancement, this strategy should be discussed. You must be aware of your work patterns if you want to progress in your SEM career.
You may find that you are more focused at certain times of the day, such as when you analyze reports or build SEM campaigns. Review your daily work schedule to ensure it is in line with your best work habits.
Working life is full of meetings. It is impossible to get around. Meetings with clients, employees, stakeholders, team syncs and many other people can help you manage your time.
Try to schedule meetings in blocks. If you have three meetings per day, schedule them back to back.
You can create a workflow by creating meeting blocks. Focus time requires a set amount of time every day. Managers of SEM campaigns need to be able to focus.
You will be amazed at the improvements to your day when you take control of your daily schedule.
How to encourage positive workflow habits
- Daily focus time should be incorporated into your calendar
- As much as possible, schedule meetings in blocks
- To protect your restorative time, add breaks to your calendar
- To plan your day, create a daily schedule every morning.
This concludes our SEM career playbook series. It aims to help you advance your career as a search engine marketer. These are links to previous installments of our SEM career playbook series:
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The Career Playbook: An overview of a rapidly growing industry
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How to excel at your current and future SEM positions
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9 attributes to master: How to Advance Your SEM Career
The post 3 core competencies that will help you advance your SEM career was originally published on Search Engine Land.