5 Tips for Pursuing a Career in Content Marketing
Content marketing is an excellent line of work to go into, especially if, like me, you love writing. But as a content marketer myself, that's not the only thing the role requires. There's plenty more involved in the field that you need to be aware of so that you can successfully pursue a career in content marketing.
I thought, as a content marketer, that I'd write a blog post giving you a few pointers for success in the industry. So, from developing your writing skills to familiarising yourself with the right online tools, here are five tips you can use to try to pursue a career in content marketing:
1. Develop some writing skills
Writing is a fundamental skill in the world of content marketing. It's what allows you to create excellent website page copy, article content, e-commerce copy, and more. It's about more than just banging content through ChatGPT, or trying to write something with little planning or knowledge of basic spelling, for instance.
If you feel as though you need to progress your writing skills, then practise writing on a regular basis, exploring different formats and styles along with it. Things you should focus on if you want a career in content marketing include:
- Writing engaging headlines
- Structuring content effectively
- Communicating ideas clearly
- Reading blog posts and industry applications
- Analysing existing, successful marketing campaigns
- Learning how to deliver value information that resonates with a target audience
2. Know the basic fundamentals of digital marketing
Content marketing doesn't work in isolation. It's part of a much bigger picture in the world of marketing. Everything comes together at the right time to produce excellent results in the search engine results pages.
The other fields in digital marketing that content marketing works alongside include: search engine optimisation (SEO), paid per click (PPC) advertising, social media marketing, email marketing, analytics, website design and graphics, in some cases.
Having a basic knowledge of all of those fields is a great start, especially if you want to specialise in just one field - content marketing. To get a grasp on those other parts of digital marketing, you should attend webinars, take online courses or simply read around the subject to strengthen your knowledge.
3. Work on building a portfolio
One of the best ways in which to showcase your content marketing talent is to put together a portfolio of work completed. This could be content you've produced for your own personal blog, among other things, that we'll discuss shortly.
However, if you've completed an internship (read my tips for being an intern), it would be an excellent idea to put together a folder of work you've created for that role. You can either print some articles off and add them to a ring binder, or put together a collection digitally - whatever works best for you.
Essentially, any work you've completed that's related to online content creation is relevant in your portfolio, so don't miss anything out. Some of the things you should consider adding to your portfolio include:
- Blog posts
- Website copy
- Email campaigns
- Social media content
- Content strategy projects
If you don't have any content to put into your portfolio, because you're fresh out of university, for example, then you should consider starting your own blog, contributing to guest articles, volunteering for organisations, creating sample content for imaginary brands or looking for an internship in the field.
4. Gain some practical experience in the field
I know this is easer said than done. But in this day and age, gaining experience often means working for free, initially. You can everything on this list, but unless you have some tangible, practical experience behind you, you still don't have a full understanding of what it takes to work in content marketing.
usually, internships and voluntary roles are best for acquiring real-world experience in the field of content marketing. here, you'll learn how to meet deadlines, collaborate with a wider team, respond to feedback and create content that aligns with business goals and target audiences.
5. Familiarise yourself with content marketing tools
Content marketing is about more than just writing copy. Content marketers come up with ideas, they develop their campaigns and they plan content seamlessly for the best possible results and maximum efficiency.
But their job doesn't stop when the content is published. They have to follow up on the content they've put out there. This means conducting in-depth analysis using various tools. But those tools aren't just for the purposes of analysis.
They're also used to improve productivity, research topics, manage projects and measure performance. The tools you should get to know if you want to pursue a career in content marketing include:
- Google Analytics - for understanding content perfomance
- Google Search Console - for monitoring search visibility
- Canva - for creating visual content, like infographics
- Grammarly - for double-checking spelling and grammar
- Semrush - for keyword research and competitor analysis
- Ahrefs - for keyword research and competitor analysis
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I hope you enjoyed this blog post and that you found it useful. Let me know in the comments below if you have any further tips for those perusing a career in content marketing and I'll see you all again soon with some brand new content!
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