Content marketing is one of the most valuable assets to your website. As a method of inbound marketing, it’s a way to bring in organic traffic and boost your engagement levels just by publishing new, interesting content. It’s not that simple though. Being a content marketer is hard work and only someone who is dedicated to curating and promoting the best, most relevant content would be a good fit.
According to the Content Marketing Institute, only 30 percent of B2B marketers consider their businesses to be effective at content marketing. That means a ton of organizations aren’t taking advantage of content marketing as the lucrative tool it is and you could be the one to steal their thunder instead.
If you want to succeed at a career in content marketing, here are four skills you need to harness.
1. Having the eye of an eagle
Have you ever stumbled upon an article you were really interested in reading only to be turned off by the lack of grammar, punctuation, and correct spelling? You wouldn’t be the first. Unfortunately, it’s too often that these errors — which are completely avoidable — show up in even the most research-backed articles. The lack of attention to detail displays carelessness and could result in fewer views, shares, and overall engagement.
It’s essential that you possess the eye of an eagle when editing and reading through content. You have to be able to catch even the tiniest mistakes because they could put a dent in your credibility and hinder your content’s full potential. It’s helpful to use a tool like Grammarly that can pick up on spelling errors, run-on sentences, passive voice, and more.
2. Using SEO to create content
The most useful skill in being a content marketer is knowing how to optimize for search engines so that your content is at the forefront of Google. Most people don’t even make it to the second page which is why it’s crucial that content marketers make SEO a top priority. This means conducting keyword research using tools like Buzzsumo or Google Keyword Planner to help you find topics that resonate with your audience and are relevant to their interests.
Content marketers should also know to take advantage of long-tail keywords because they’re geared towards a niche audience and can expand on specific topics. It’s also important to create long-form content since it gets shared nearly twice as much as short-form. Long-form content is able to go in-depth about topics that most marketers only scratch the surface of and shows readers that there are data-driven statistics behind what’s being said.
3. Researching skills
Before even beginning a project or article, it’s required to do research. Why? Because the best articles and blog posts have data to back up their claims which make them stronger pieces. The more you can articulate your point and bring statistics and studies into the mix, the more credible your work will be, and thus the more engagement it’ll garner.
There’s too much content on there that only scratches the surface of the topic it’s exploring without really going into detail or explaining in depth. The best content teaches its audience something new, and without research, it’s difficult to prove a point. Always do your research before beginning any project.
Map out your target audience by creating buyer personas and figuring out what content they want to see. Evaluate old content and determine what worked and what didn’t. Look at your competitors to see what’s working for them.
4. Promoting like a pro
Have you heard that creating content is 20 percent of the battle while promoting it is 80 percent? Any decent content marketer knows that the real struggle lies in getting your content out there and not curating it. This is because it’s easier to come up with ideas for stellar content, but getting it in the right hands is another ordeal.
You need to come up with a content promotion strategy that will get your content the attention it deserves. This starts by creating content that’s relevant to your target audience and either entertains them or solves a problem. People are constantly searching for solutions to their issues, and if you can provide them with that, you’ll see your engagement start to stack up.
Use social media and email marketing as tools to promote your content and get the word out about it. With 2.7 billion social media users worldwide, it’s kind of impossible not to find your target market on social channels. Look up the latest trends in your industry to see where you can plug your latest article while helping someone else out. Post links to your content regularly with relevant or branded hashtags that let users know it’s you.
Wrapping up
If you want to excel in a content marketing career, it’s important you know what skills are required to handle the job. It isn’t just about writing blog posts and publishing as many as you can. You need a strategy that ensures you come up with topic ideas that match your target audience’s interests, you do your research, and know how to promote it to the right people when it’s time. What other skills are needed to be a content marketer?