Editor's Note: Today's post comes courtesy of Michael Gerard, CMO of Curata. He is responsible for Curata's marketing strategy and all related activities. Michael has more than 25 years of marketing and sales experience, having successfully launched and sustained three start-up ventures, as well as driving innovative customer creation strategies for large technology organizations. (e.g., IDC, Kenan Systems, Prospero (mZinga) and Millipore). Today's post is the first in a two-part series highlighting effective attributes of content marketers.
Content marketing is becoming vitally important to every business as a means to engage buyers early on in the purchasing process. However, not just anyone can do content marketing - it takes someone who possesses a broad skillset to become a content marketing superstar. Here are 4 important characteristics to look for in your next content marketing superstar - or, if you're lucky enough to have a team, these are some of the skills they should have.
1. Strategic Thinker- Research has shown that more than half of all business-to-business marketers don't have a strategy. That means that they don't have a plan to produce cohesive content that their target audiences can act upon. A superstar content marketer should have a strategy consisting of goals for their content production, including:
●increasing traffic, brand awareness and lead generation
●educating the audience on product benefits or the industry
●improving SEO and customer service
●building trust, loyalty, and credibility amongst customers
In addition, content marketing metrics should accompany each goal in order to measure its success and drive continuous improvement.
2. Process-Focused- The process should be mapped out across the content supply chain. Starting with workflow through to publishing, promotion and finally, analytics. Within the process, you should have:
●defined roles with responsibilities for team members
●a logical flow for each piece of content
●an editorial calendar which tracks content stages (editorial calendar templates)
Someone who is process-focused and passionate about analyzing results makes a great content marketer.
In addition, the ability to contribute your insights and recommend changes will be an important attribute for the content marketing superstar of the future. He or she will measure the impact of their content, and evaluate ways in which they can improve their return on investment.
3. Design Skills- Since the brain processes visuals much faster than text, it is crucial to communicate with your audience using video or still images. Most people are visual learners, and that's why eye-catching graphics and infographics are a powerful means of communicating with your audience. The ability to create beautiful designs should play a pivotal role when you're hiring a content marketing superstar.
Also, video marketing skills are increasing in importance for content marketers. With more than 3 Billion video views on YouTube every day, uploading videos to your company channel can greatly enhance exposure to your audience. For that reason, your content marketer should also be able to repurpose blog posts or other media to create and edit video content.
4. Social Media Marketing Skills- Promotion is often the missing ingredient when it comes to content marketing. There's more to SMM than just posting tweets or Facebook updates, and a superstar content marketer knows that. They also know:
●on which social networks target audiences can be found;
●when the best time is to post to the right platform for maximum exposure; and
●how to amplify content across networks to reach a wider audience.
A superstar content marketer knows how to establish meaningful relationships with the industry's key influencers, who will share the content to help expand their reach.
Stay tuned for part two of this post with 4 more attributes of your next content marketing superstar, and learn more about content marketing traits crucial to success from Curata’s infographic here.
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