Content Marketer Job: What It Takes

What it takes to be a content marketer

The internet has created a host of opportunities and possibilities for many people, changing how many business functions are conducted. One field that is experiencing this is marketing, which has evolved with innovative marketers looking for new ways of reaching a wider audience. Connecting with users via content is a sure way of getting noticed, this has given rise to the need for qualified content marketers or writers in every business.

Content marketers typically create captivating and compelling videos, articles, and emails to help companies reach out to their audience. As companies embrace content marketing more, find out just what it takes to be a much-sought-after content marketer.

Types of content

While blog content is the traditional form of a content writer, there are actually many different forms of content that are considered important as the way people consume content has changed greatly over the last ten years. Videos are now incredibly popular, and with the rise of live streaming, the future of video content is very bright. In fact, statistics indicate that by the end of 2017, video content will account for 69% of all internet traffic. Companies are also investing in writing in-depth pieces and white papers to be seen as the experts in their field.  

Job description

So what does a content marketer actually do? Here is what a typical content marketer’s job looks like:

• Ideating and creating relevant content that will drive traffic to your website or your client’s website.
• Coming up with campaign ideas which increase customer engagement, drives traffic to your website, increases leads, and sales. You will often be required to support campaigns by coming up with compelling content for your website or your client’s website. Thus, your initiatives should help in meeting a campaign’s objectives.
• Ensure that all content on your website is consistent with the brand’s voice, tone, and quality.
• Sharing this content on channels typically used by the target audience. So after creating your content, you must publish it and use channels such as social media and email newsletters to reach to your audience. Your preferred channel will depend on where most of your target audience is.

Key capabilities

It is clear that content marketing is at the heart of marketing initiatives and involves more than just creativity. Therefore, you will need to be experienced in;

• Researching, creating, editing, and publishing compelling content which a company’s customers actually want and which passes on relevant information.
• Measuring the results of your published content and more importantly, specific campaigns. Thus, you will need to be skilled in using tools such as Google Analytics. Additionally, when you learn how to measure your own content, you can clearly tell what is working and what is not, and adjust your strategy accordingly.

Roles in content marketing

Content marketing has evolved to encompass different aspects of the work it typically involves. The available roles are as follows;

• Digital content writer: This is the most common. A big part of marketing involves writing so a digital content marketer’s job comes from a long history of effective marketing techniques. As a digital content writer, you will be responsible for working with other digital marketers to develop web content for your clients or company, which will effectively improve your web presence. Typically, a digital content writer researches, writes, edits, and publishes content which is readable and informative.
• Content specialist: In this role, you will be tasked with maintaining company, professional and regulatory policy for the company across different web pages. Thus, a big part of it involves coming up with content strategy and producing customised content for different audience segments.
• Web content manager: This encompasses all the above. It involves taking responsibility for all the information that appears on a company’s site and requires a very close collaboration with designers, developers, and editors. Moreover, you will ensure that the website does not get into copyright issues and work closely with developers to resolve any problems on the site.

Important skills

Content marketing is an exciting career path and can have great outcomes. The best part is, you can work for an agency, a company that needs a full-time content marketer, or even as a freelancer. You get the chance to work closely with different stakeholders to come up with ideas and you can really express yourself. That said, here are some of the most important skills needed to excel;

• Marketing/ PR: At the heart of content marketing is the ability to come up with content that is tailored to needs of your target audience. Therefore, you will need marketing skills so that you can be able to reach your target audience and get a good return on investment of leads. Moreover, you must know how to execute a good publicity strategy in order to win over the hearts and minds of your target audience.
• CMS skills: There are many content publishing tools available but the most common one is WordPress. Therefore, you need to be familiar with at least one CMS.
• Editorial skills: Your message is not good enough if the target audience has does not understand it. Editorial skills will need you to have the ability to research and write content in a coherent way, bearing in mind your target audience.
• Strategy skills: You must know how and why to go with certain messages at certain points. Learn to use different pieces of content at different times, what angles to take and how to distribute the content.
• SEO Skills: You need to know how to format your article properly so that it can be found on search engines. It is not enough to write a great article which no one reads.

Some of the most important skills to have as a content marketer are the ability to think creatively, research deeply, write clearly, and communicate effectively. So, what qualifications are important?

1. A Bachelor’s degree in any communication field (PR, Journalism)
2. A Bachelor’s degree in marketing

These are the most important skills but having graphic design and videography skills are an added advantage especially since different forms of content work well for different audience segments. While it takes great researching, writing, and editorial skills to become a content marketer, you need to be able to get your content out there for it to have a return on investment and help the business meet its targets. 

Are you a qualified Content Writer looking for an opportunity in this industry? Find one today.