Today, content marketing is one of the most in-demand careers across nearly every industry, and it’s growing. According to a report from the World Federation of Advertisers, as many as 75% of in-house content creation teams had been created from 2015 to 2020.
As many as 95% of those respondents also relied on external agencies for some of their content needs as well. This isn’t an isolated incident of growth, either. According to Research and Markets, the content marketing industry is estimated to grow in value by $584.02 billion from 2023-2027. All of this illustrates the dedication of companies to a robust content marketing strategy. These types of plans require skilled content marketing specialists to devise and execute them.
Organizations are looking for people with the ability to strategize and create content that not only supports a brand’s unique image, but helps it connect with its target audience. These skills are invaluable for today’s companies, because they promote brand awareness, generate leads and make a business more discoverable online.
Content Marketing Specialist Job Description
Before deciding that content marketing is the right career path for you, you must understand the role of a content marketing specialist.
The responsibilities of a content marketing specialist may vary slightly depending on the environment and industry. However, in general, content marketing specialists are responsible for researching, planning, creating, and managing high-quality content. This includes but is not limited to content that will be published on a brand’s website, blog, social media, or other channels.
Oftentimes, content marketing specialists will work closely with other departments within an organization, including teams like sales and design. Creating internal or external customer- or client-facing collateral that is informed by the business’s mission, goals, and marketing approaches often requires complementary assets from these departments.
Common Mediums for Content Marketing Specialists
While certainly rooted in traditional marketing practices and processes, content marketing also demands creativity. As a content marketing specialist, you should have the ability to plan and produce written content as part of an overarching marketing strategy.
However, content marketing is more than just written copy. Successful campaigns deploy an array of content over multiple mediums and across various channels. Some of the most popular today are:
- Articles;
- Blogs;
- Video;
- Short-form videos;
- Podcasts;
- Infographics;
- Interactive content;
- eBooks;
- Whitepapers;
- Case studies.
Whether it’s writing a classic blog, generating a video script, or developing messaging for a whitepaper, you’ll have to learn about a variety of preferred mediums of content depending on the industry. This includes providing content that engages the business’s audience, aligns with the brand image and feel, and serves to enable the company’s other marketing initiatives.
Content Marketing Specialist Salary
On average, content marketing specialists in the U.S. make about $55,068 annually, according to Payscale. However, this salary can vary depending on your experience, the industry, and your employer. You can especially see this in the average salary range — the upper 10% of earners make more than $79,000, while the lower 10% make less than $38,000.
There is also a potential for career advancement if you start as an entry-level content marketing specialist. Eventually, you may become qualified to become a marketing manager. In this field, marketing managers stand to make median wages of $135,030 annually, with the top 10% earning more than $208,000, and the lowest 10% making less than $77,680.
What Skills Do Content Marketing Specialists Need?
To be successful as a content marketing specialist, there are certain skills that you should have, or at least be interested in developing, as you prepare for a career in the industry.
- Writing ability: Content marketing specialists often prove strong writers — and many even start as entry-level content writers or content editors. They must have a comprehensive understanding and command of language and grammatical rules, and be able to create copy that is compelling to a target audience.
- Creativity: Content marketing is about more than just writing content for a blog post. It’s also up to content marketing specialists to ideate creative concepts to back campaigns, including the overarching theme, content topics, headlines, titles, and more. All of these concepts should speak to the target audience of the company.
- Knowledge of content strategy development: Those who are seeking these types of roles should have strong time management, planning, and scheduling capabilities. Oftentimes, a marketing campaign will stick to a rigid schedule and release certain content according to a specific cadence to execute a campaign. In doing this, marketers can help lead prospects through the sales funnel and support a conversation. However, these capabilities all rest on the shoulders of a content marketing specialist and their ability to plan, project manage, and schedule content.
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) knowledge: SEO is the driving force behind most content marketing strategies because it’s what helps content get noticed on search engines and bring in organic traffic. Understanding SEO means understanding how certain factors can affect a page’s position on the web, or how likely platforms like Google are to recommend it to users. Things like mobile friendliness, user experience and optimized content that includes keywords are just some examples of those factors.
- Research skills: When creating content, particularly within written assets like blogs, white papers, and ebooks, content marketing specialists must include robust and thoroughly researched sources to support their points. Linking to these strong sources within a piece of content can even help bolster a page’s SEO.
- Graphic design skills: While not a necessity, graphic design skills can be desirable skills for a content marketing specialist. Digital content specialists in particular can make use of these skills as visual and multimedia content become more important to online visibility.
This list is not exhaustive. Since the field of content marketing is constantly changing, so should your set of skills. As companies look for more effective mediums for reaching different audiences, you’ll need to be ready to adapt at a moment’s notice.
Content Marketing Specialist Education Requirements
A specific degree isn’t always required to become a content marketing specialist, however, most positions require at least a bachelor’s degree in a related field. Degrees in marketing, business, and communication help to provide some of the necessary skills for succeeding as a content marketing specialist.
Pursuing an advanced degree can help a candidate to stand out in a competitive job pool. Degrees like a master’s in marketing can demonstrate to employers a dedication to the field, and help illustrate knowledge and skills.
Sources:
World Federation of Advertisers, “Creative in-housing hits 57% among multinationals, WFA report”
Research and Markets, “Global Content Marketing Market 2023-2027”
Payscale, “Content Marketing Specialist Salary in 2023”
Forbes, “Why Your SEO Strategy Should Include Multimedia Content”