Content marketing done well requires a mix of Skittles, we mean skills, and abilities. Much of the time, content marketers need to have both creativity and analytical perspective. While no two content marketers are alike, they usually have some of the same traits. Whether you are a content marketer, aspire to be one, or need to hire one, certain attributes build the ideal content marketer. There are six traits of scary-good content marketers worth exploring.
What Makes a Content Marketer Successful?
To find success in any pursuit requires time and dedication. Content marketers have to be all-in when it comes to executing a content strategy and a content plan. Being an achiever as a content marketer also has a lot to do with the team as a whole and the technology that supports them. We’ve found that content marketers who find success often have the same traits. Let’s look at each one.
Trait #1: Desire and Drive
A content marketer can be a great writer or highly organized, but without desire and drive, their overall performance will resemble that of a zombie. Content marketers need to have the desire to be a top thought leader and informational resource for the market.
If content marketing is a chore to them or is carried out in a bare bones-like fashion, it’s not going to generate the return on investment that’s expected.
As a content-focused company, you certainly understand that content is prolific and accessible. You’re not only competing against your competitors, but also so many other mediums that take up the time of your audience.
Becoming that go-to resource for your customers requires passion. The more passion a content marketer puts into their content plan, the more likely it is to treat (or trick) your audience to relevant and interesting content.
You’ll find that those with desires aren’t afraid to make mistakes and take some risks. This is a good thing because content marketing is about trying something different, learning from it, and moving forward.
Trait #2: Imagination
An active imagination can do two things: keep you up after a scary movie and/or make you an excellent content marketer. Without that, no matter how efficient your content workflows and the mechanics are, the process can’t keep moving. It’s true sometimes, ideas don’t run freely.
However, there are ways to be creative about idea generation through various exercises. To produce a lot of ideas, content marketers need a healthy imagination. With imagination, they can weave a web of stories and find compelling ways to keep attracting buyers.
Content marketers express imagination best when they have the ability and support to do something different. Imagination doesn’t stand on its own here—data can help feed the imaginary beast. With content analytics, you can understand how your content performs and your audience’s preferences. Having these ghoulish insights can lead to more imaginative, yet data-driven content possibilities.
Trait #3: Foresight
Content planning is critical to any content marketing operation, but it can be a ghastly effort. Content marketers with an innate ability to think ahead and prepare a solid content plan can help teams shape the future, even in the most turbulent of times. Without this foresight, you may wind up haunted by missed opportunities.
Even the best content marketing fortune teller, though, should have some infrastructure surrounding them to support their visions, such as a great creative team and a content marketing software platform. The software can help to break down all the steps and requirements for each content project. When everything lives in one central graveyard and is accessible and transparent to the entire team, it makes a content marketer more likely to succeed.
Trait 4: Decisiveness
If a content marketer is mummified by decision-making, it’s not going to be a fulfilling career. Those in the habit of reaching decisions promptly while also understanding there’s room for change excel at content marketing.
This type of mentality is ideal for content marketing as the industry requires a lot of decision making. Some are major; others are minor. If content marketers have been empowered to make decisions, they can concoct the right spells for what comes next.
Flaky decision-making in content marketing can lead to inconsistency in messaging, monstrous content collaboration, and a failure to connect with audiences. Being decisive doesn’t mean that missteps won’t be made; it’s how the person learns from mistakes that matters most.
Trait 5: Persistence
A content marketer who has desire and imagination must also have persistence. They can’t be someone who vanishes in a puff of smoke at the first sign of lack-luster performance metrics. Content marketing is a long-term approach to generate traffic, leads and revenue. It won’t happen by the light of the full moon.
Content marketing isn’t something you just try for a few months then move on to the next goblet of fire. It’s something that can build your pipeline for years to come. It must be consistently executed and improved upon based on the performance of content.
Content marketers have to bury themselves in their work and remain committed to their goals and strategy. Without this long-term commitment, content marketing doesn’t have the opportunity to deliver on your expectations.
Trait 6: Storytelling
Content marketers rely on their crafty ability to tell stories to guide almost everything they do. Storytelling is most often in the form of the actual content being carved, but it’s also a pertinent skill for content marketers throughout the project process.
Storytelling is necessary for idea generation, understanding your buyers, setting the brand’s voice and tone, and the overall management of content operations. Without the ability to weave a good story, it is very hard for content marketers to thrive.
Storytelling is about engagement. Content marketers must examine whether their tales resonate with their victims (we mean audiences). Your internal team must also be on the broomstick. Do they understand the value of content marketing?
Being a spellbinding storyteller means you can develop a vision—one that others will be drawn to and want to be a part of, both internally and externally.
Content marketers have a cauldron of traits and skills. Those that rise to the top have these six attributes as a foundation. Content marketers can focus on bewitching their audiences with these gifts to ensure their spells are successful.
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