CONTENT MARKETING SKILLS

INTRODUCTION

In a world that focuses on constantly using technology

to find innovative solutions, dismissing key skills for
marketing could be the downfall of a digital business.
Digital information has been prevalent for many
organisations – especially in this past year. However,
it’s important to understand that paying for tech and
tools without nailing the basics first simply won’t work.
That’s why having a strategy and framework in place is
important – and employee upskilling should be a part
of this.
Ensuring employees have the skills needed
for marketing in 2021 – and can tap into the power of
tech – is a recipe for success.
Ongoing training and skills refreshers are also key for
keeping up with evolving aspects of marketing. The
industry is ever-changing – for example, SEO rules are
developing all the time.
In this article, we highlight a list of marketing skills the
people in your business need in order to navigate 2021
and beyond. We also take a look at how technology
and digital tools play a role. Plus, we consider whether
in-house marketing could be just what you need.
It’s almost impossible to have a successful business

without an effective digital marketing strategy.

Unfortunately, marketing can also take a significant

amount of skill and time to perfect. From content

creation that requires exceptional writing skills to

tracking that involves high-level analytics, marketing

can be overwhelming for even the most effective

business owners.

Many local business owners give up on marketing.

That’s a huge mistake since marketing can be an

incredible driver of leads and sales.

8 CONTENT MARKETING SKILLS

Content marketers are the secret sauce many businesses

use to grow their audiences, nurture leads, and
reconnect with customers. Making that happen takes a
lot of specialized skills.

Content Marketing Skills Are As Follow As:

1. CONTENT STRATEGY
2. PROJECT MANAGEMENT
3. SEO FUNDAMENTALS
4. CREATIVE ASSET MANAGEMENT
5. COPYWRITING
6. EDITING
7. BLOG WRITING
8. CONTENT ANALYTICS AND TRACKING

CONTENT STRATEGY:
Your business could create unlimited content. But you don’t
have unlimited content resources. So what should you
prioritize? A great content marketer will help you identify
your lowest lift, highest impact content opportunities.“Content
marketers should always be strategizing and ideating,” Donati
told MarketerHire.

Typically, they’ll start with a thorough discovery process,

according to our panel of experts — diving deep into
analytics, reading your company’s existing content and
interviewing clients.The type of content they decide to create
is ultimately based on a deep understanding of a brand and its
audience. 

“If you’re trying to get the attention of 15-year-olds, we’re

going to need to look at TikTok,” Neumark said. But if you're
a B2B marketer trying to reach top executives, "maybe we’re
going to do a white paper.” 

Expert content marketers can help you figure out what kind of
content is right for your business, so you don’t get
overwhelmed by infinite possibilities. 

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Great content marketers are systems thinkers who know how

to manage content ideation, production and promotion.
The best content marketers use content calendars — built in
spreadsheets, or platforms like Trello and Asana — to avoid
last-minute scrambles. They use these calendars to keep track
of content workflows and due dates, and to store notes and
keyword research. A calendar on its own isn’t enough,
though. 

“Some brands have cohesive calendars and really inventive

ideas,” Clark said. “But maybe they're starting on copy just a
week before [publishing].” 

Expert content marketers use content calendars to plan ahead,

and ensure that when the time comes to publish, each piece of
content has gone through editing and optimization.  

They don’t just publish things as soon as they’re finished and

then go back in later to catch mistakes. Though a lot of
amateurs do. 

SEO FUNDAMENTALS

How-to guides, infographics, and checklists create the most

value for companies at the top of the funnel, according to
a SEMrush study — and even years down the road, customers
tend to find those posts via Google search.It pays to meet
customers where they are. (Literally.) Hence the importance
of search engine optimization (SEO).
“A lot of companies will provide a list of SEO terms that
they've already sourced,” Clark said. Novice content
marketers take those keywords and stuff them into blog posts
indiscriminately. Experts think critically about the terms and
the ideal prospect’s search intent to craft content that actually
solves people’s problems.  

Especially amidst annual Google core updates and privacy

updates that make paid ads harder to manage, SEO expertise
is increasingly essential for content marketers. 

It helps them navigate Google’s constantly-changing

algorithm so their content gets in front of the right audiences
— even if they can’t track that audience’s every move the
way they once could.

CREATIVE ASSET
MANAGEMENT

From video and podcast creation to graphic design,

expert content marketers have extensive foldering
systems to keep assets straight — and collaborative
skills for working with designers, writers,
videographers, and more. 

They make it easy to share assets and templates across

teams. 
Without a thorough digital asset management (DAM)
system in place, companies can lose track of their
assets, which is a waste of time and money. 

It often happens when in-house creative teams get

stretched thin. “They’re overworked, or they’re juggling
a lot of different projects,” Clark explained. 

Pros get maximum mileage out of their digital assets,

though — without letting them fall through the cracks
or overusing them. 

COPYWRITING
Top marketers agree: copywriting and content creation are
different — but related — endeavors. Both copywriting and
web content creation require writing skills, but they serve
different purposes. Think promoted social media post vs. blog
post, or punchy headline vs. informative body
copy.Copywriting has a measurable objective: conversions. It
takes a knack for writing high-conversion CTAs, targeted
landing pages, and catchy slogans for digital marketing
campaigns. 

It helps if they understand the platform they're writing for,

too.  “Being able to understand the Facebook ad marketplace,
Instagram ads... is super important,” Clark said. Content
writing comes into play higher in the funnel, and its objective
is different: providing value to the customer, by entertaining
them or solving their problems.To do it well, a content
marketer needs an ability to empathize with an audience and
communicate in a brand voice. In fact, Clark thinks of content
as “an extension of the brand.”

The best content marketers can toggle between content

creation and copywriting. Often, Lang said, they have
experience being “the only writer around” at smaller brands. 

EDITING
Editing often gets conflated with writing. But as
copywriting isn't content creation, writing and
editing skills are slightly different. 

 Writing means interviewing, researching, and

getting everything down on paper so you can
tell a comprehensive, complete story. 
 Editing means adjusting structure and syntax,
chopping unnecessary sections and words to
showcase only the best. 
“A lot of people have great ideas and can string
words together on the page well,” Reynoso told
MarketerHire. “But that doesn’t mean they know
how to organize their thoughts.”
Top content marketers have experience writing
and editing, and can ensure they publish content
only when it’s ready for your audience’s eyes.

BLOG WRITING
You need to be able to write to be a content marketer.
It’s the baseline skill. 

“Everyone — and I mean EVERYONE — thinks

they’re a writer,” said Reynoso. 

Anyone can take up blogging, but very few of those

writers know the ins and outs of good content that will
resonate with readers. And content no one reads isn’t
helpful in marketing — or anywhere.

The best content marketers are “the select few who care
about tone, quality, and creating value-add assets” when
they write, Reynoso said. 

That should shine through in a content creator's

portfolio.  If you want to go the extra mile, give a
writing assignment during your interview process, to
see what kind of first drafts you’ll be getting. 
CONTENT ANALYTICS
AND TRACKING

What’s the goal of your content and how are you

going to measure success? A great content
marketer can take their storytelling skills to the
spreadsheets.

Once you set target KPIs, expert content marketing

should be able to measure them with tools like
Google Analytics and goal/tag tracking, and create
monthly reports that mix qualitative information
and data analysis. 

Some content marketers may also be comfortable

reporting download numbers, webinar attendees,
etc., using CRM and ESP solutions like Hubspot.

CONCLUSION
Experts predict the next few years will bring more
experimentation and humanity to content marketing. 

“We're seeing more empathy-led marketing becoming

more effective,” Lang said. 

That means content marketers who can combine the

above skills with sensitivity to other people’s
perspectives are in high demand, she explained. 

If you’re looking for a Skilled Content marketer who

checks all of the boxes above, MarketerHire can save
you hours surfing LinkedIn and do the vetting for you. 

MarketerHire accepts less than 5% of applicants into its

network of marketers — and can match you with an
expert who fits your needs in as little as 48 hours.