What Does a Content Marketer Actually Do?
Maybe, “what don’t they do?” is a better question. Either way a content marketer takes on many roles to create a successful marketing campaign. Content marketers have to create content, distribute it and then analyze it as they start the whole process over again. Here are just a few of the hats a content marketer has to wear:
The Creator
Content marketers are part creators. As creators they are an active planner in the content editorial calendar; pitching ideas and headlines to create content that will be helpful to the audience. Creators are also innovators. They are constantly looking for new forms of content to add to their toolbox, everything from infographic creation to interactive content. These new approaches to content add variety to their strategy to increase audience engagement.
An essential role of being a content marketer is to have excellent communication skills. Weaving a story throughout their content marketing strategy to convey a message. Content marketers must understand their business and build a compelling story around it to engage the audience. The creators also have to be their own editors, they have to understand how to use digital tools, and think ahead looking at the larger strategy.
The Scientist
Content marketers are part scientist and researcher. Good content is helpful, great content is helpful and data-driven. Data helps content marketers not only understand their product better, but their customers and competitors. They research before (or while) they create to determine the right topics for their audience, and to find the best way to share that content with the right presentation.
Analyzing data to include in content is also a great way to drive traffic. Visualizing relevant statistics in an infographic or a few graphs to help the audience understand the data. Data gives content more authority. Content marketers learn to tell the audience a story with their data in content like case studies and how-to guides. They become an authority in their industry and then create content to showcase their knowledge.
After publishing, content marketers continue to analyze. They track website and social traffic, A/B test share language, and analyze how their content reaches their audience. This process provides valuable data to help improve their content marketing strategy.
The Influencer
Content marketers are networkers and influencers. As an expert, content marketers can become influencers in their industry. Using this leadership to grow their own network, helps to promote the content and the associated brand. This influence comes with developing unique perspectives and by participating in the industry community.
A content marketers job doesn’t end after creating content. The next step of the content marketing strategy is to distribute content across many networks. A content marketer knows the best ways and times to publish to different social media networks and uses his or her network to reach an even greater audience.
The Listener
Content marketers strive to be great listeners. Creating and promoting content is great, unless it doesn’t help the audience. Keeping their audience in mind, content marketers work to create valuable content that will help solve their audience’s problem. They can monitor their audience through social media tools and analytics. Then, working with the sales and customer service departments, they brainstorm ideas for their editorial calendar.
Listening also applies to keeping an eye on their competitors. The benefits of monitoring competitors include: what content is working for them, and what the audience is saying about them. This information can then turn around and be used to improve their own content marketing strategy.
So content marketers are the multi-tasking masters, and this was just a basic look at what they do to develop and execute their content marketing strategy.
I’ve created this fun and quick quiz using ContentTools, to help identify which marketing trait you are a master of.
So what type of Content marketer are you? Agree? Disagree? Let us know in the comments!