How content marketers can transform your business in 2022 

In this competitive B2B marketing landscape, businesses need to make substantial investments in building content marketing programs. Why? Because content marketing has been proven to deliver resounding success for businesses in all sectors. As one of the most effective methods of growing audience engagement, developing your brand presence, and driving sales, it’s essential to build out your content marketing strategy and team for business growth. 

But how do you find top content marketing talent right now, and what additional skills do you need to look for in the marketers you interview? Below, we review the role of content marketing, including the benefits of having a team that can produce consistent, high-quality content, and how to find the best people for your business this quarter. 

Copywriter vs. content marketer 

Copywriting is sales at scale, with copywriters mainly being responsible for website copy and advert copy. This is a core skill in itself, with skilled copywriters having the ability to distill a clear message into just one line that converts. Content writing is slightly different. Great content makes people think differently, meaning that content writers need to be master storytellers with their primary goal being to educate, entertain and provide value. Content can still convert, but the main goal will usually be evangelising a brands point of view in order to convert the reader and giving additional value in long form copy such as blogs and guides. 

Content marketers are the perfect blend of creativity and strategy. A content marketer will think beyond the story to really understand customers' wants and needs. How and where do those audiences consume content? In which format? How should they be targeted? What are the current trends in your industry? And how can you stand out against competitors in the same market? Candidates with the ability to answer these questions are in very high demand amongst the companies we speak to here at Michael Page Marketing & Digital.

Why is content marketing SO important?

In an ever-changing world, content marketing has become more and more important for businesses across most sectors in the UK. Good content marketing is essential in today’s landscape because it allows your business to react to current trends and climates, as well as answer your audience’s questions, which helps build brand trust over time. Good content can help you to develop relationships, improve conversions, and generate leads. In today’s market, customers expect high-quality, consistent content from their favorite brands.

According to HubSpot's most recent The Ultimate List of Marketing Statistics, content creation is a top priority for 80% of marketers with content marketing accounting for 26% of B2B marketing budgets.

The changing skills of a content marketer 

Successful content marketers need to have a flair for writing and creative thinking, but these aren’t the only important skills they need. When looking for a standout content marketing professional for your team, it is critical to find people with the below skills:

Understanding of sales funnels 

Just like other marketing channels, the ultimate aim of content marketing is to turn your website visitors into leads and your leads into customers. Hiring content marketers that know how to use and understand the sales funnels and can build out robust content plans around the different stages of the buyer journey is essential. 

Planning and research skills 

Achieving success with content marketing requires planning. Unlike some other forms of marketing, content marketing requires considerable time and consistency before you get tangible results. Research also comes into play at different stages of content marketing, an example being audience research, which provides insights into their needs and the types of content that will provoke them to action.

This means good content marketers need to have the ability to create pieces of content that fit into a wider strategy. And to create an effective strategy, marketers have to understand their audience’s needs and how their pieces of content will meet them.

SEO skills 

Post-pandemic, many sectors have been undergoing digital transformation as the world becomes more tech-savvy and more and more businesses increase their online services. This means that traditional content writers have also need to develop digital skillsets. 

Search engines are one of the biggest sources of valuable traffic to websites. To capture more organic traffic, marketers need to optimise their content for search engines. And more importantly, they need to optimise their content for keywords that potential buyers are likely to search for. In light of these, marketers need SEO skills, especially as content marketing and SEO are so closely intertwined.

Content promotion skills 

Creating content is one part of the content marketing equation. But content promotion is the other part, one that few people pay close attention to. Common platforms to promote your content include social media, blogging communities, and email. By promoting your content to social media followers and email subscribers, you’ll increase traffic to your content.

Another promotional skill that marketers need is outreach. This includes reaching out to influencers who can promote your content to their audience or for guest post opportunities.

Data analysis and technical skills

The ability to analyse data and use digital and measurement tools is critical for a content marketer. For instance, For instance, marketers need to understand the key performance indicators (KPIs) for different content marketing campaigns, and how to track them. For instance, what are the KPIs for brand awareness, lead acquisition, or customer acquisition campaigns?

Similarly, a content marketer might need to upload their content using a content management system like WordPress. Furthermore, they will have to draw insights from tools such as Google Analytics or other analytics tools.

How to attract the best content marketers on the market

There are a few key things that businesses can do to attract the top content marketing candidates in 2022. The first is offering a good salary. In recent months there’s been huge increases in salaries for marketing roles across the UK - to attract the best, you need to make sure you’re offering your candidates attractive and competitive remuneration. 

Want to know exactly what you should be offering top talent? Download our Salary and Skills Guide for Marketing & Digital in 2022 for a comprehensive breakdown of the most in-demand skills and salary ranges across the UK.

As we move further into the post-pandemic ‘new normal’, high salaries, and flexible working are becoming standard offerings for most marketing roles. On top of this, you also want to be offering marketers clear career development pathways, as well as opportunities to upskill, retrain, and develop both their professional and personal skills whilst working for your company. For more tips on how to upskill your marketing team, read our full article here. 

For more advice on attracting and retaining top marketing talent, or for help on finding your next marketing superstar get in touch with Michael Page Marketing & Digital today.