Blogging started picking up steam in the early 2000s. Up until recently, businesses were unaware of the great potential that content marketing had for generating leads.
In 2018, the most effective B2B marketers spent 40% of their marketing budget on content marketing.
Nowadays, there is so much content being created that businesses have to pay social media platforms to make sure their content is seen by more people.
Content marketing has become a top business priority due to the incredible rise in publishing. Mark Schaefer has even coined the term content shock to describe this phenomenon.
But, is creating high-quality content really that difficult? The number one challenge that organizations are facing, according to the B2B report from Content Marketing Institute, is producing engaging content.
Content marketing is extremely popular in the digital marketing world, so content marketers and content strategists are some of the most in-demand marketing jobs.
There is a huge demand for content marketing skills and this is because more and more companies are moving away from paid promotion and towards approaches that require content marketing strategists.
More than a fifth of respondents said that finding and training skilled content marketing professionals was one of the biggest challenges they faced.
If you want to build or improve your content marketing team, here are the top skills they need:
1. The ability to produce grammatically sound and intriguing copy
Nothing new here. A content marketing professional should understand the basics of writing.
However, by including additional skills such as keyword research, plotting graphs in excel sheets, and running various software, many businesses tend to overlook the obvious.
Approximately one fourth of college graduates lack the writing skills necessary for success.
Twitter, texting and other forms of online communication have had a negative effect on people’s writing and spelling skills, causing a demand for content marketing specialists who can write well.
People criticized Obama’s campaign for a banner ad that contained a language mistake. The ad said we’ve made a lot of progress instead of saying we’ve come a long way.
If you want your business and marketing strategy to be taken seriously, you need to use correct language. Bad spelling and grammar hurts your brand’s reputation.
- In its poll of 1,029 UK adults, Global Lingo found that 74% of consumers paid attention to the quality of grammar and spelling on a brand’s website. 59% said that they wouldn’t deal with a company that had an obvious grammar or spelling mistake on their website.
- In another survey by Standing Dog Interactive, only 3% of the polled audience said that they didn’t mind copy errors at all.
- Here are poll results, from Tech Republic where recruiters were asked about the importance of good grammar in job candidates. As you can see, most recruiters will not hire a candidate with poor grammar.
One way to check a content marketing specialist’s grammar and sentence formation is to look at their writing samples. After you have received the candidate’s work, application, and resume, quickly scan them to get an overview of the candidate.
You shouldn’t continue with the evaluation if there are any obvious mistakes. There are two ways you can quickly check the grammar in your writing. You can upload your writing to Grammarly or the Hemingway App.
leniency regarding grammar mistakes such as split infinitives and preposition placement at the end of sentences is to be expected. The author might use em dashes to create a rhythm or to sound more like they are having a conversation.
Does perfect grammar matter when assessing someone’s writing ability?
Your writing won’t be engaging if it lacks emotion, stories, and personality. Content marketing specialists are in high demand because they are creative and know how to emotionally engage with readers.
The way a writer chooses their words, the tone they use, and how well they understand their target audience are all important factors in creating persuasive text. A small change in word choice can result in a 139% increase in conversions.
The skill of writing well takes time to develop and improve upon the more you write. The three essential features that can help you separate the wheat from the chaff are as follows.
A good copywriter knows that an effective headline, subheadings, and call to action are important to engage the reader and keep them reading. The author puts extra effort into making their resume look attractive. A persuasive call to action is also necessary to get the audience to do what you want them to.
Using the words “you” and “your” are some of the most effective ways to speak to the reader directly. You will need to write as if you are speaking to the reader directly, using either first or second person point of view, and use the same terminology they would use to describe their problem. This will help you gain their attention and trust.
Picking the right subject to write about – While you can come up with a dozen different writing ideas for your content strategy, it’s important to find new and interesting angles. If your blog posts are not interesting, people will not want to read them.
A content marketing specialist that is able to produce a large amount of content understands how to do keyword research, uses that research to help them create content, and comes up with ideas that have been shown to be popular.
There’s one more writing skill that will help you a lot. Cranking out high-quality content fast and without burning out.
The ability to write quickly is a useful skill for content marketing candidates to have as they may occasionally need to take on additional work and meet deadlines.
2. Pro journalistic-level research skills
The main reason they are so successful is because they have great research skills and they make sure that everything in their articles is true by checking it against reliable sources.
BuzzFeed is associated with casual entertainment. However, in 2011 they hired Ben Smith from Politico to be their chief editor. Ever since, BuzzFeed has expanded its investigative research team. BuzzFeed wants to be seen as a credible news source.
Business Insider has invested a lot of money into making high quality content. The Marissa Mayer biography is an example of a text that received over 1.5 million views.
The ability for a content marketing specialist to research is often underestimated. Even though it may not seem important, marketing is actually a key element to any successful business.
- You need to research your customer’s interests, pain points, and their demographic for crafting relevant and engaging copy.
- You need to identify your competitors, their brand positioning, and the content gaps that they have left for you to fulfill.
- You need to learn about your company’s products, understand how they are unique, and align your content development with it.
A skilled content marketing specialist will continue to research until she finds the answers she needs, always working on her larger content marketing strategy through useful, authoritative content.
Keep in mind that there is not a single precise way to collect all your research. Some possible methods for conducting market research are interviewing customers, using Google search operators correctly, or finding niche forums.
You could also read the comments on either your own website or your competitor’s in order to get a better understanding of what people are saying. You can use tools like Ubersuggest and BuzzSumo to understand your audience and what they like.
Research isn’t limited to your content strategy. Making your overall content marketing strategy effective is key. A solid content marketing strategist knows this well.
3. Digital strategy
The ideal candidate will have experience managing the resources responsible for publishing a brand’s content through social channels.
You need someone who is more than just a community manager and who understands the channels your audience is using. This person needs to know the nuances and context for each channel and how to maximize your company resources to drive impact across digital channels.
The first step in content marketing is to plan your content based on your research of what keywords and topics are most popular and advantageous for your website. The more regularly you create content, the easier it will be to gauge how often you should post.
It’s typically best to produce new content on a daily basis. Your blogging will become much more effective when you publish 4 times per week instead of just once.
4. Project management
An editor is someone who understands your brand and what it should be saying, and can help manage your project accordingly. I believe that editorial skills can be taught and that someone can be trained on your brand voice.
They need to be able to manage a plan and have a continuous publishing schedule, instead of having a campaign-based mentality.
5. Analytics
To be good at content marketing, you need to know how to use common analytics tools like Google Analytics and Omniture, as well as how to do things like A/B testing and multivariate testing.
Many websites have a feature that allows you to see how many of your customers are repeat customers. Analyzing your digital media analytics deeply can help you achieve your desired results.
6. Business acumen
The content marketing leader needs to be able to explain the rationale behind the content marketing strategy and show how it benefits the business.
You should show not only how much content you are producing, but also how valuable that content is to your business. This can be shown through KPIs like pageviews, social shares, etc. Examples of KPIs include:
- Content marketing campaign’s impact on your sales team’s productivity
- Percentage of business earned from content marketing vs marketing-generated customers
- Amount of money put into ad spending vs time spent working on content marketing
7. Content strategy
You need a content marketing strategist who knows how to make the most of limited resources!
The key to success lies in having a clear perspective on how to effectively mix together original content, licensed material, and syndicated content to get the most out of your media channels.
What are my potential customers thinking about on a daily basis? Put yourself in your client’s shoes. What article would catch your attention? What types of information do you research before making a purchase? BY standing on somebody’s level, you will be able to see more clearly what is going on.
8. Inbound marketing mindset
Maybe we should have made this number 1. Inbound marketing and content marketing are a mindset. You need someone with a lot of experience in getting people’s attention through classic inbound marketing techniques like search engine optimization and social media.
This means having a strong grasp on SEO and how to generate content that will capture someone’s attention.
Mindtapmarketing.com says:
Inbound marketing is effective because the internet provides a platform for users to communicate with each other. People want to be able to communicate with companies they work with online, and to have a more personal relationship with them.
They’re spot on! If you tailor your marketing to each of your prospects, you will be more likely to convert them into leads, and then customers.
It’s not just about having ads that will grab people’s attention and get them to click through to your site. It’s also about building connections with your audience so they keep coming back.
9. Social proof
Most companies expect all employees to contribute to their content marketing efforts.
Content creation and social media growth can be achieved without being a great writer or having a large social media following. Look for people who want to learn how to produce regular content and expand their personal brands.
Check to see if the person is active on social media and if they understand how to use social media to share content. Learn what brands or people your target audience wants to emulate if they were active.
10. (Bonus) A sense of humor
Life is short and we all work hard. One of the most effective ways to reach your audience is by creating funny, entertaining, and lighter content that breaks up the day. Look for job candidates who will add a sense of humor or creativity to your brand’s content strategy.
Conclusion
It’s not rocket science! No matter if you’re hiring new staff or changing your content strategy, intelligent people are key to improving your bottom line. If you want to improve your content marketing strategy, you should either hire someone or set up a meeting to discuss it.
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