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 (IDC, Kenan Systems, Prospero (mZinga) and Millipore). Today's post is the second in a two-part series highlighting effective attributes of content marketers. You can read part one here.
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 more important characteristics to look for in your next content marketing superstar - or, if you're lucky enough to have a team, these are the skills they should have.
1. Creative Writing Talent- Good spelling, punctuation and grammar can make or break your content marketing efforts. Attention-grabbing titles draw in your readers, enticing them to read content. Getting readers to view a post and click for more information is a valuable skill in the world of content marketing. A good storyteller doesn't just market. Anyone can say, "We give our customers personal attention", but it takes a special marketer to tell the story without saying that. Precision is key when it comes to online marketing, where every word and every sentence counts. It requires clear purpose to keep each aspect of the content precise.
2. Basic Coding & SEO Knowledge- Thanks to the evolution of technology, it's easier than ever to do more on the front end of websites. Having some basic HTML know-how can enhance your content tremendously. For example, basic HTML was used to develop this quiz as a blog post: What’s Your Content Marketing Animal Spirit? While content quality reigns supreme, SEO is a powerful tool and should be used to your advantage.
3. Industry, Product & Customer Knowledge- Marketers should work with other departments of the company to ensure they know what they're writing about. Interacting with other parts of the organization also opens up opportunities to source ideas and content from internal experts. (i.e., crowdsourcing) They should also attend industry events (online and in-person) and set up Google Alerts to stay up to speed on what's happening in their industry.
Probably the most valuable aspect of all is knowing your customer, and understanding how they think, feel and act. It starts with knowing what your audience wants to learn, what they already know, how they search for your content, and what places they most frequent online. Your content marketing efforts should be based on those questions.
4. Resourcefulness- Within content marketing, there is so much to do, and not enough money to do it all - never mind time. However, a resourceful marketer knows how to get around these issues. Superstar marketers know that there will be obstacles from time to time, but that never stops them from creating quality content. Instead, they are solution-minded individuals who keep looking for new and innovative solutions. For example, they tap into the power of curated content from independent sources to complement their own created content. This better leverages resources and adds value to the audience. The best marketers use a content marketing mix of 65% created and 25% curated content.
Learn more about content marketing traits that are crucial to the success of your next content marketing superstar from Curata’s infographic. You might also like the Oracle Marketing Cloud’s Modern Marketing Essentials Guide to Content Marketing.
