Content marketing is a strategic system of relevant, valuable and credible information that attracts, wins over and retains customers. The goal of content marketing is to drive consumer engagement and ultimately profits. Below explains the science behind this fascinating field and explains the skills needed to enter the field of content marketing.
The Science of Content Marketing
Psychology, which is the study of how people behave, explains what motivates, impresses and influences people. From a collective standpoint, sociology is the study of human social behaviors and organizations. Content marketing heavily relies on many psychological principles and sociological research to create engaging content. Content marketers strive to understand why consumers do what they do and what convinces them to behave in desired ways.
In order to create content that pushes consumers to take action or engage companies in some way, content marketers must understand the which emotions encourage sharing, buying and loyalty. They must understand the social psychology of brands, consumerism and materialism. Content marketing even draws research from anthropology and cross-culture psychology to create specific and meaningful content for diverse demographic groups. Culture isn’t purely based on geopolitical boundaries, but includes subcultures of various social movements and organizations.
What are the Required Skills of Content Marketing?
Content marketers need creative problem solving skills, which involves organization, innovative thinking and imagination. There is always a need to create content of all types and occasions, so content marketers will approach every project with different concepts, preferences and recommendations. Content marketers must learn how to develop a standard system that effectively and consistently solves very different types of problems. The system should use predictable techniques, such as brainstorming, and non-traditional approaches, such as consulting with experts and experienced professionals.
Content marketers need training in both journalism and creative writing. Journalism training will help them establish and present important facts and data with impartiality. Creative writing will ensure that hard facts are buried in meaningful, engaging and entertaining content. Content marketers need research skills and research tools to collect the necessary data. Interview and intelligence gathering skills will help them ask the right questions and identify the most useful information. Finally, storytelling skills will use elements of psychology, such as curiosity, suspense and connection, to motivate readers to keep reading and take action.
Content Marketer Job Description
Digital content marketers are responsible for creating and editing written content across various digital platforms. They perform keyword research on target topics and write content for blogs, websites, social media platforms and even white-paper updates. They edit content in a variety of subjects and style-types. They must have a keen eye for sublime typos, grammatical errors and overall narrative flow and readability. They continually strive to find and capitalize on opportunities to improve content quality and reader engagement.
Digital content marketers work closely with design teams to create visuals and advertising teams to synchronize activities. They collaborate with the marketing team to set content goals, client strategies and strategically plan. They must manage and prioritize simultaneous projects with short deadlines. Content marketers must be comfortable receiving critical feedback for content that needs written improvement. Content marketers should be familiar with popular publishing platforms like WordPress and other content management system (CMS) platforms.
Anyone who wants to become a content marketer should pursue a marketing degree, which is the best academic choice for future content marketers. These degree programs provide classes in consumer behaviors, marketing research, advertising practices and brand management. These programs examine the emerging issues that are transforming the digital and print media landscapes with respect to marketing.
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