10 SkillsYou Need in Your Content Strategist

A guide to hiring a top content marketing strategist

A Publication by Denhoff Media

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Community Builder

2. Education Driven

3. Writing Ability

4. Visual Content

5. Results Driven

6. Lead Generator

7. Social Enthusiast

8. Content Distributer

9. Search Engine Optimization

10. Story Teller

A strong strategist is able to build a community on the web that values great content and shares it with their personal following. A strategist is able to build an audience that is a competitive advantage for the business, and helps the business reach bottom line goals.

Vice President of Marketing Insights at Exact Target, Jeffrey Rohrs, shares the idea of building a proprietary audience.

According to Jeff there are three types of audience members.

» Seekers: People who are regularly searching for information.

» Amplifiers: When your audience turns into your marketing. These individuals share your content once they have found their answers.

» Joiners: These are people who become apart of your community by giving you permission to contact them. Joiners are the ultimate goal.

Community Builder

Attract and Nurture

Skill One

“Audience development is a responsibility, primary to marketing.”- @jkrohrs

An experienced content strategist understands the importance of educational content. Content that helps the buyer solve their problems.

» Ask the audience what their problems are » Listen to audience conversation » Distribute educational content where your community

spends their time » Give your audience what they need, in the form they want it

Education Driven Solve Problems

Skill Two

““Remember, customers don’t care about you; they care about themselves and their problems.” - @JoePulizzi

Content Marketing Institute

Whether long or short form, being able to write copy that is intriguing andeducational is essential for any piece of content.

A content strategist must be able to write for the reader as well as the search engines. Written content needs to have substance and provide answers for the end reader. Written content on the web should include various forms of media. Images, graphics, and video can help enhance a written piece online.

For examples of content writing select any title below.

» 6 Steps to Boost Your Facebook Post The power of social media allows you to reach a targeted mass audience. At Haley we are always looking to draw inbound traffic to your job boards. For a reasonable price, and a high return, Facebook allows brands to boost their status updates.

» Your Six Second Commercial – Using Vine as a Marketing Tool Commercials can be expensive. The cost of production, props, and time to edit footage can be too much for many small companies. How can you use video without paying for the cost? The answer is Vine.

» Morning Coffee With a Side of Buffer Your job as a business is to provide educational resources to your audience. If there are any articles, blogs, or videos that you find will be a great resource for your employers or candidates, simply share it to your company page. The easiest way to share is Buffer.

Writing Ability Persuasive and Entertaining

Skill Three

For print or web, a content strategist must be able to produce graphically appealing content. The strategist should stay up-to-date with design trends and be able to engage an audience visually.

Great content strategists have experience with design for marketing print pieces, social media, eBooks, slideshows, infographics, and websites.

A content strategist who has experience with the tools below can separate themselves from other candidates.

» Adobe Creative Suite: Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, and Dreamweaver. » Infographic tool PiktoChart and cartoon video tool PowToon. » Video editing tool Final Cut Pro

Visual Content

Skill Four

How are posts performing on social media? Which keywords and content topics

generate the most traffic to my website?

» Social sites provide quality analytics including Facebook Insights, LinkedIn Analytics, Twitter Analytics, Hootsuite, and Buffer.

» Use Google Analytics on a regular basis. Analyze content traffic, visitor behavior, and conversions.

» Guide visitors through a funnel to an ultimate goal and conversion. This may be a form submission, landing page, or specific URL.

Results Driven

Skill Five

While content can engage and drive traffic, it also needs to help reach business goals. A content strategist can start with business goals and work backwards. Create content that not only helps the audience, but also generates leads for the business.

» By attracting your community with content, you are able to gain their trust.

» Once trust is developed, and you as a business are seen as an education source,

your audience will provide contact information for more content and services.

» Create funnels through your marketing initiatives; send people to landing pages

and contact pages that help generate leads for your sales team.

Lead GeneratorAttract and Convert

Skill Six

Social media allows people to connect with one another across the world. It helps brings friends, families, and professionals together. Facebook has over 1 Billion users, LinkedIn has over 250 Million users, and Twitter has over 500 Million users.

» A business has the opportunity to socialize and communicate with their

loyal followers in real-time. Providing customer service and education through

content is essential.

» Providing followers with content and a story helps nurture relationships and

improve customer relations.

» Businesses have the ability to amplify content to a much larger audience on

on social sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram,

Vine, Pinterest, and Google+.

Social EnthusiastEngage and Interact

Skill Seven

Content can be distributed through print and web media. Using owned, paid, or earned media businesses can develop a relationship with their community and generate leads to drive business goals. Find what your community is searching for, where they reside on the web, and what time they need your support.

» Owned Media: A channel under brand control. Owned media is used to build long

lasting relationships with current and potential customers.

» Paid Media: A channel leveraged through payment by a brand. To attract and

convert potential leads.

» Earned Media: When customers become your channel. If a company provides

users with a great experience earned media can be very positive. Listen to earned

media and respond.

Content DistributerTime and Place

Skill Eight

Owned Paid Earned

Website | Blogs | Mobile Display Ads | Search Ads Reviews | Social Chatter

Search engine optimization is essential for all content on the web. While great content can be produced, it means nothing if it cannot be found. All content should be optimized for search engines and social media sites to find based on their algorithm. There are thousands of factors within search algorithms. Content strategists need to focus on a few main components of on-page SEO.

» Page Title » Page URL » Headline » Sub-Headline » Meta Description » Tags » Links

No matter how optimized content is, it must be substantial and share worthy.

Search Engine OptimizationDrive Organic Traffic

Skill Nine

A truly great content strategist is able to tell a story using text, imagery, video, and audio. Every brand has a story.

A content strategist needs to tell the story of the brand and the people behind it. If you are able to tell a story and draw an audience, your audience members will begin to trust the brand.

By trusting your brand, audience members join your community. People trust public opinion. If your community becomes a part of your brand story and shares your story and content with their personal audience, your community will continue to grow.

Story Teller

Skill Ten

Personalize and Captivate

Once Upon A Time

Speak with Kyle

Looking for more information?

If you would like to learn more about how to hire a content marketing strategist, contact Kyle Denhoff today.

Some other resources include:

Content Marketing Strategist Resume Template

LinkedIn.com/in/kyledenhoff

@Denhoff_

kdenhoff@gmail.com