5 Must-Have Skills for an Expert Content Marketer [Expanded]

Wouldn’t it be the best thing if you become a successful content marketer this year?

Yes, it’s about time you put your ideas into action and revved yourself to accomplish your dream of becoming an excellent content marketer.

And in this blog post, we will discuss some of the finest chops to help you succeed in this niche.

In today’s world, where content rules every platform, the demand for content providers is rising exponentially. People and companies are out trying to hire experienced content writers and marketers to help them drive their websites to the top-ranking pages of the search engines. But it isn’t only the SERP’s visibility and ranking that they are after.

Today, entrepreneurs and business people worldwide are currently focusing heavily on the consumers and ways to attract them. Customers comprise the most crucial part of any industry, whether entertainment, technology, gaming, health, etc. They drive the creators to experiment with new ideas and introduce innovative products and services to draw in the audience and keep them hooked to their brand in the long run.

But how do content marketers fit in this cycle of creating and consuming?

Well, that’s simple. Content marketers are the channel or network for delivering the services from the source to the receiver. Without the aid of these people, it is pretty challenging for the entrepreneurs and manufacturers to reach out to their target audience, understand their needs, and deliver satisfactory products to maintain the rate of engagement and subscription. Often, these organizations and companies prefer to hire content writers and marketers to help them improve their website’s visibility, boost traffic rates, and generate better ROI.

But then comes the trouble of employing the perfect content marketer for your organization. In this sea of content creators who chant the phrase “Content is King,” how do you know which person will be suitable for you?

You must understand that not every content marketer is a fantastic content creator. And the vice versa isn’t always true as well. So, here you need to know the difference between a content marketer and a content writer and how you can identify a good one for your company. And that comes down to the skills and abilities of a content marketer.

For example, the leading role of a content marketer is to develop a content strategy for a company or brand. And then comes the responsibility of putting all the steps together to ensure its smooth execution. The plan includes various stages and actions like marketing research, content writing and editing, graphic design, SEO optimization, and content distribution. On the other hand, a content writer provides various forms of content, be it white papers, SEO-based blogs, articles, SOP, resumes, etc., to their clients as per their requirements.

Many content marketers often take help from content and copywriters to create more people-oriented and short blogs on various social media platforms to speed up their plan’s implementation. It helps the company get high-quality and engaging content that its audience will relate to and come to enjoy.

But ultimately, it all boils down to the abilities and creativity of the content marketer to help this plan succeed. And it is only possible if you, as a content marketer, possess the necessary aptitudes to perform and deliver exemplary service in the industry. So, lets us look at the 5-must have skills that every expert content marketer should harbor. It will help you know what you should look for in a person you hire; or how you can become a terrific content marketer in the competitive field outside.

01. SEO Basics

No matter how good of a writer you are. If you do not know the SEO basics, things will be very rocky for you in e-commerce and content marketing. As an expert content marketer, you should know about SEO practices apart from clear content strategy and project ideas. It helps you build brand trust and awareness through organic searches over time, boost sales, and deliver immediate results.

But it doesn’t mean that you need to know every minute detail of working of technical bits of SEO or how you can implement them on your web page. As a content marketer, you don’t need to dig this deeper. But you should have a proper understanding and knowledge of Google’s algorithm and how the organic searches work for different browsers. It allows you to build an effective strategy to optimize content and make it more user-friendly at the same time.

You can rely on several SEO tools to help make your content visible and more reachable to the target audience. We also have plenty of content marketing tools available in the market that you can implement to boost your SEO ranking and get the best of it for your services.

02. Content strategy and project management

We know content-making is not easy because you have to create and deliver something that you have envisioned purely in your mind. And that’s why a content marketer needs a strategy to help them put together their idea and give it a clear and coherent shape.

And after the strategy creation, we come to the step of project management. It is another crucial skill that every expert content marketer must possess. You can aid many content-first organizations in repurposing content from case studies, FAQs, testimonials, and blogs for their email marketing, promotions through ads, etc. if you know how to drive the content creation process.

It allows your content to get good SEO measurements and thus deliver high-quality and expert material in every stage of your content marketing plan. And you can also provide a detailed report about when your content will get ready and how much more time you may need to perfect it. Elements like these establish you as a powerful, insightful, and reliable content marketer and someone who can handle the complete funnel when the time desires.

Here are some ways in which you can hone your content strategy and project management skills:

• By beginning with research and getting a clear idea of your project’s purpose until its completion
• Putting a long-term strategy with many side plans and branching themes for its successful execution.
• Detail a waterfall method (breaking your project into linearly successive phases where you must complete each step before moving on to the next.)
• Prepare a questionnaire for your project and look for possible answers to solve the inconsistencies that may become a setback for the content in the future.
• And finally, you can present the plan to the respective executives and founders for approval.

03. Editing

Editing skills are similar to playing sports; you can learn their rules and basics quickly, but it goes a long way to master them.

Now the challenging part of editing isn’t the time-consuming process or the pile of errors and content inconsistency you may have to fix but the varying styles of every writer and content creator.

To put it simply, every writer has their unique way and tone of creating content. And they carry out the editing based on it. So, if you come face to face with a piece of work already edited by a third party, there are high chances that you may end up redoing the entire thing to make it fit according to your utility, writing style, and inner voice.

And that’s what you need to work on if you wish to become an expert content marketer. You will have to discipline yourself like water and fit into your client’s language style and unique voice whenever you get any content to edit and reformat.

Remember that companies don’t look for sophistication and wordplay when relying on your content marketing service. They want your work to match their brand while having the element of uniqueness. So, you must practice your editing skills and learn to adapt to anyone’s style and tone like a chameleon while working as a content marketer.

04. Creativity and Storytelling

The art of storytelling makes your brand more memorable. It is a fact that people find messages, themes, and announcements told via storytelling more engaging, compelling, and easy to remember at the end of the day.

Let us take an example to understand it. We find it difficult to remember the names of people we meet for the first time. Whether it is 4-persons or 2, it gets messy in the initial attempt. But if you hear the same names as the lyrics of a song, you will have no difficulty recalling it.

And why is that? It’s because the tune and overall storytelling of the music make your mind feel connected to and intrigued by it. And as a result, you can easily remember most of the words from the song, unlike a conversation.

And as an expert content marketer, you should also know how to implement creativity and storytelling in your work to make it more user-friendly for consumption. It helps you target the customers and convince them to invest in the company or brand without being compulsive and forceful.

The best way to do it is by bringing the hero’s story and taking the customers on a quest where the hero (them) goes on a journey to defeat the villain (their problems, goals, or needs). On the way, they get help from a comrade who becomes their friend (the company/brand), and together they achieve victory. Not only will it be a unique way to catch their attention and keep them engaged, but it will also convince them to stick with your products and services for a long time.

05. Marketing and Collaboration

Just because the content marketer has the term market in it doesn’t guarantee that every one of them is well-versed in this field. You will be surprised to find that many experienced content marketers struggle with delivering a satisfying and top-notch content service despite their abilities. And it is because they fail to understand the basics of marketing strategies and how collaboration plays a vital role here.

A lack of collaboration and marketing skills pushes you back in your performance and becomes the reason for failures in the workspace. And that’s why to become an expert content marketer; you should focus on cultivating your marketing and collaboration skills. Together they help you understand the current trends in the industry and the cultural background of your current organization of work.

By taking the initiative to learn more, you get more accustomed to the arrangements around you and how you can use them to provide the best result. You can build a productive working arrangement and get feedback from different people to get a hold of what the audience wants at the moment. And you can then implement these facts to understand and find ways to deliver these services in the easiest way possible.

Concluding thoughts

So, these are the 5-must have skills that any pro content marketer should have. Now, whether you are planning to hire or march on the path to becoming one, you know what abilities and knacks you need to find and develop in the field of content marketers.

Also, don’t forget to keep exploring and practicing because success will eventually be in your palms one of these days if you continue to strive towards excellence. All the best!