The role of the content marketer has become increasingly vital as organizations recognize the significance of content for revenue growth. According to a report by Koyne Marketing, nearly all organizations agree that content marketing is essential or very important to their revenue growth, and more than two-thirds of them are planning to boost their investment in this field in the coming years. However, despite this, many companies still struggle to define and fully utilize the potential of the content marketer role.
One of the reasons for this is that many organizations still haven’t clearly defined the responsibilities of the content marketer. Instead of placing it at the forefront of their growth strategy, content marketers are often left to their own devices, which leads to a lack of clear job descriptions and inadequate tracking of revenue results. In fact, the report reveals that 27% of companies still aren’t fully tracking the revenue resulting from their content marketing efforts.
Given the significance of this role, organizations need to have a clear and comprehensive job description for the content marketer. However, finding such a description can be challenging as most job descriptions only focus on the tactical, day-to-day tasks of a content marketer without considering the strategic importance of the position.
Hence, we decided to bring a more inspiring content marketer job description to address this gap. We have explored an open community of forward-thinking content marketers, to share the skills and experience needed for content marketers to boost client engagement and brand advocacy and (as a result) drive revenue.
This article presents the results of our research, providing a comprehensive and well-rounded description of the content marketer role that can be used as a guide for organizations looking to hire or develop their content marketing team.
Job overview
- Content marketing is a strategic necessity for companies to gain a competitive edge, especially in the B2B space.
- The role of the content marketer is to build stronger relationships with customers and target audiences through engaging marketing campaigns and creating a community of fanatic brand advocates.
- Content marketers directly benefit sales and marketing teams by increasing customer advocacy, identifying cross-sell and upsell opportunities, and increasing loyalty and retention.
- This position requires creative communication and marketing skills to engage and motivate content advocates.
- Content marketers act as a liaison between the audience and the rest of the organization and should be able to work independently and collaborate with other departments to reach business goals and create an incredible customer experience.
Your typical tasks
- Marketing Campaign Management: Understanding of campaign life cycle, assisting in developing marketing strategies alongside the manager, conducting research, and creating presentations.
- Analytics: Monitoring Google Analytics, analyzing website traffic, and making recommendations to optimize pages.
- Email Marketing: Creating and building emails for email marketing campaigns
- Content Writing: Writing content for the company blog, website, and social media channels
- Website Management: Building webpages, creating landing pages, and updating the website
- Community Management: Managing and creating content for social media channels, using CRM to manage customer relationships.
Personal qualities
- A strong passion for serving and understanding customers
- Interpersonal skills to nurture customer relationships and work with cross-functional teams
- Creative marketing and communication skills
- Analytical skills to measure the effectiveness and ROI of customer engagement efforts
- Strategic thinking to help reach marketing and sales goals, build a stronger brand and improve the customer experience
Knowledge and previous experience
- Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Marketing, or Business
- Previous experience in Customer Service, Customer Success, or Account Management
- Technical expertise in the latest digital marketing software and tools, including Customer Relationship Management platforms and marketing automation platforms
- Experience in creating and executing marketing campaigns that drive customer engagement and advocacy
- Strong writing skills
- Ability to write compelling copy
- Having graphic design capabilities is a plus
- Familiarity with lead generation, B2B or B2C marketing, and sales processes
Strategic responsibilities
- Developing solid relationships with customers to increase renewals, referrals, and cross-selling and upselling opportunities
- Creating and leading customer engagement and communication programs, such as workshops, annual conferences, in-person/virtual events, awards programs, onboarding, and ongoing nurture campaigns.
- Staying in touch with customers to ensure their continued success throughout the relationship lifecycle
- Working with marketing and sales to achieve business objectives through customer advocacy initiatives.
- Identifying key customers who can act as a marketing channel through case studies and speaking opportunities, etc.
Tactical responsibilities
- Crafting and sending customer emails
- Maintaining and recruiting for customer engagement and advocacy programs
- Keeping a library of updated customer success stories
- Conducting customer satisfaction surveys to drive organizational change
- Developing a customer lifecycle campaign program and working with marketing operations to implement it
- Creating special marketing content for account management/customer success to assist at-risk customers with training
- Identifying happy customers for upsell, cross-sell, and advocacy opportunities
- Communicating product feedback from advocates to the Product Management team
Growth opportunities
- Director of Customer Marketing
- Director of Advocate Marketing
- Director of Customer Success or Customer Success Manager
- Customer Acquisition Manager
- Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)
- Vice President of Marketing
- Audience Segmentation Manager
- Chief Customer Officer
- Chief Digital Officer
Hard skills to look in content marketing candidates
A content marketer should have the following hard skills:
Social media literacy
Social media literacy is crucial for content marketing positions in today’s digital landscape. As people often discover a brand on social media before visiting its website, social media is not just about knowing how to post on various platforms but also understanding how to use it strategically to grow a business.
Social media expertise is becoming increasingly important for content marketing job descriptions, as it is a vital part of promoting and distributing content. In large teams, there may be a dedicated social media team member for each platform, responsible for scheduling content, responding to customers, creating and curating content, analyzing competitors, and tracking performance metrics such as reach, engagement, and ROI. Hiring managers should look for well-rounded content marketers who understand how to create good content and promote it effectively through social media.
Content creation
Content creation is a crucial aspect of a content marketer’s role, but it is not always mentioned explicitly in job listings. Content creation involves producing various types of content, such as infographics, videos, blogs, podcasts, and social media posts, from ideation to publishing.
It is essential to mention the specific types of content needed for the role in the job description to attract the appropriate candidates. This includes specifying whether you need social media content, video content, data storytelling, blog content, listicles, or long-form content. By clearly outlining the content creation requirements for the role, you can ensure that suitable candidates apply for the job.
SEO knowledge
While SEO knowledge is not always required for content marketing roles, it is becoming increasingly important, as it is being mentioned in nearly 40% of job postings of content marketers. SEO experts can help content marketers to determine what type of content customers are looking for online through keyword research, which is a vital strategy for creating compelling content.
SEO is rapidly changing, and content marketers must stay informed about the latest tactics and Google search changes. Candidates should gain knowledge of SEO by reading case studies, following authoritative SEO-related websites and blogs, and following leading SEO experts on social media.
Soft skills to look out for In content marketing candidates
A content marketer should have the following soft skills:
Interpersonal skills
Interpersonal skills are the most common soft skill mentioned in content marketing job postings, with it being mentioned in over 54% of job listings. Interpersonal skills are essential because they demonstrate a candidate’s ability to collaborate with others, and a content marketer must collaborate effectively with their team.
Good interpersonal skills include listening, working well in a team, being dependable, and showing empathy. Even if a candidate has the necessary technical skills, if they lack good interpersonal skills, it will negatively impact their ability to work well with their team. Interpersonal skills are essential for creating content that connects with people, and it’s a critical factor for the success of a content marketer.
Strong work ethic
A strong work ethic is just as important as good interpersonal skills and technical knowledge in content marketing role. Even if a candidate has exceptional talent, if they don’t produce much output, they may not be able to deliver results and will likely be let go if there are budget cuts.
It’s essential that content marketing candidates show up and work hard, and demonstrate their work ethic to the team. This will help them to be recognized and valued for their contributions to the team and organization.
Growth-oriented mindset
Instead of focusing on performance alone, it’s essential for new hires in content marketing to have a growth-oriented mindset. This means they should be dedicated to continuous learning and development, open to constructive feedback, able to adapt to change well, willing to improve, and able to see themselves long-term within the company and that their own career goals align with the company’s future.
Creativity and time management
Skills such as creativity and time management are not emphasized as much in job postings, but they are essential for a content marketer. Creativity is necessary for creating compelling content that stands out in a given vertical and outperforms competitors. Time management is vital as content marketers often have to manage multiple projects at once and must be able to prioritize and manage their time effectively.
Conclusion
The field of content marketing is growing and evolving, and companies must have a team of skilled and experienced content marketers to stay competitive. The job of a content marketer requires a mix of technical and soft skills, including knowledge of SEO, interpersonal skills, a strong work ethic, a growth mindset, creativity, and time management.
By understanding the skills that are in high demand in the industry, companies can attract and hire the best content marketers. If your team lacks these skills, it’s never too late to start learning and developing them. The internet offers a wealth of resources for learning and improving in these areas. By investing in the skills and development of your content marketing team, you can ensure that your team is well-equipped to create effective and engaging content that drives business results.