Top Required Skills For Content Marketing Specialists - Semrush

Top RequiredSkills For ContentMarketing SpecialistsWorldwide Research

Content Marketing jobsworldwide researchSEMrush Academy analyzed 10000 ContentMarketing vacancies on Monster and Indeed,two large job search sites.We analyzed job offers in the UK, Canada, the USA,Australia and India to find out which skills employerswant to see in their ideal candidates.We reviewed job vacancies for Content Writers,Content Managers, Content Marketers and ContentSpecialists.2

The research geographyNumber of job offers reviewed worldwideCanadaUK350 job offersreviewed1000 job offersreviewedUSAIndiaAustralia4000 job offersreviewed2,400 job offersreviewed200 job offersreviewed3

Most required cial searchThe above data represents the employer's requirements mentioned in the job offers and can differ for each particularjob offer. The percentage shows the number of mentions of a particular skill in the total number of SEO job offers.4

Top-10 skills requiredin the content industryUSAIndiaCanadaSocial Media47%Social Media40%Social ng23%Editing16%Editing22%Presentation23%Email Marketing5%HTML18%HTML14%Written Communication5%Email Marketing15%Email Marketing11%WordPress5%Presentation13%Written Communication11%Web Analytics5%Written raliaUKSocial Media52%Social ation15%10%Email Marketing9%Email MarketingPresentation8%HTML9%Written Communication8%WordPress7%WordPress7%Written Communication7%The percentage shows the number of mentions of a particular skill in the total number of SEO job offers.5

Most Asked QuestionsAbout Content MarketingSEMrush decided to explore what people would like to know about contentmarketing and identify areas that lack information.The results show that most questions refer to content creation and contentmarketing strategy. Such questions as “What is a content marketer?”and “How to become a content marketer?” are in the top 10 list as well.KeywordSearch Volume *How to do content marketing?2,640Why content marketing is important?2,540What is content marketing strategy?1,610What are content marketing examples?1,000What is a content marketer?730Which best describes the content marketingand inbound marketing relationship?730How to create a content marketing strategy?650What is B2B content marketing?560How does content marketing work?530How to become a content marketer?440* Sum of average monthly search volumes for US, UK, AU, CA, IN6

Most desirableContent Marketing skillsA good content specialist requires a widerange of skills. Besides having perfect literacyand communication skills, a strong knowledgeof human psychology, courage and a proactiveapproach, it is crucial to understand SEO strategies,manage research and marketing campaigns and befamiliar with HTML and WordPress platforms.Creating engaging content and having excellentcommunication practices based on actual marketingresearch as well as familiarity with differentmarketing models makes a content specialist highlyin demand and competitive in the labor marketWriting good content is just one step; to makecontent reach an audience, an understandingof SEO mechanisms is strongly recommendedfor a content marketing candidateA basic knowledge of HTML tools, WordPressand other platforms is important for a contentspecialist who is expected to be comfortablecarrying out multiple tasks7

Key TakeawaysThe most important skills for a content marketingcandidate are knowledge of social media, familiaritywith SEO, experience in marketing and an awarenessof research methodsCandidates should also have good editing skillsand be familiar with presentation tools and graphicinstrumentsIt is appreciated if a candidate has a high levelof email marketing knowledgeA good content specialist has a broad outlookand should be familiar with the technical aspectsof creating pages and posting content on differentplatforms and social networks8

InterviewAshley WardDigital Marketing StrategistIn order to really succeed as a content marketerthese days you can’t just keep writing, you haveto pay attention to how technologies are changing.One of the latest and biggest changes is voicesearch. Sure, we saw how it took a lot of time to reallyhave an effect on digital marketing, but for us contentmarketers — let’s pay attention to how people aresearching. Let’s take our own phones and see how weare verbalising our searches.And make sure — are we providingcontent that satisfies those searchers?Some of the top requirements for a content marketergo beyond just writing. You really need to have a goodfoundation of SEO. No, you don’t have to be an SEOexpert, don’t be afraid of all the technological jargonhere, but you need to have a basic understandingof what kind of keywords to use, how keywordswork, and duplicate content issues — a lot of differentissues in terms of text on the web. So it’s not justabout putting paragraphs together and coming upwith a great topic, you have to have a good understanding of SEO as well as social media.9

Because social media is going to bewhere you distribute your contentand where users are actually telling youif they love it or hate it.The most important thing for a content marketer isknowing what topic to write about, because you needtopics that users are searching for, and that searchbots are ranking for. On top of that, you also need thekeywords to be relevant for the topic. So, you haveyour primary keywords, but you also need supportingkeywords. Aside from just being able to SEO optimize,you also have to be a good writer.Run through your text. See if you cannot just optimize it for bots but forusers too.What really makes the difference between a goodcontent marketer and a great content marketer? It’ssomeone who can do it all. You’re writing on a topic,you’re telling a great story, regardless of whether it’sfor a plumbing client or a brand new restaurant. Youknow which words to use, you know which keywordsto use, you know the topics to write about and youknow how to actually measure the results and getmetrics back, to find out not only if users engagedwith it but what kind of engagement you received.Did you get any money back from the content thatyou produced? Did you reach any of your goals?Many times we content marketers we produce!And we forget the very important part. A great content marketer always goes back to see if there wasROI produced, and if there wasn’t . why not?10Ashley WardDigital MarketingStrategist

Expert CommentsNatasha WoodfordDirector clockworkTalentSEMrush data echoes what clockworkTalent sees in the UK — a fairly maturedigital marketing region, although still evolving.As the data shows Content Marketing jobs vary but they are also evolving as theindustry develops, team skills deepen or headcount increases with specialist hires.We find Email Marketing, Social Media, TechSEO and Editors to be the firstjobs hired independently in a Content team. Our most popular job to be appliedfor is Social Media. Although it needs to be emphasised whilst it is popular, thereis still a lack of polished Social Media campaign management experiencein the industry.Casie GilletteSr. Director, Digital Marketing at KoMarketingSkills Requirement: The top skill is social media, which really surprised me.To me, a good content marketer needs to be able to understand the targetaudience, the brand voice, and be able to research, write and edit efficiently.I would agree that SEO is important and CMS experience is always a bonus butsocial media is far less important when we are hiring content roles. I supposeif we are tying social media to the ability to write engaging content it makes sense,but those two things don't necessarily go hand in hand.11

Andy CrestodinaCo-founder and the Strategic Director of Orbit MediaI'm glad to see that research is near the top. Great content is data driven,so content pros with research skills have an edge.It's surprising to see that writing and editing skills aren't more common jobrequirements. How can you do great content marketing without these skills?Maybe they are left off the job description because they're taken for granted.Analytics is missing. This worries me. It suggests that employers haven't realizedthat there are three parts to the job: creation, promotion and measurement. If youaren't measuring results, you're not getting smarter. You are destined to lose.Who would you want on your team: a strategic thinker who can analyze contentperformance, or someone who's good at sharing articles on Facebook?Chad PollittCo-founder of Relevance, Professor of Digital MarketingGenerally, the number one skill on the list in my mind is research. Researchis critical for producing content that people gravitate towards. If it’s good contentSEO isn’t the biggest deal these days. As long as the technical baselinesare set on the publishing platform up front and a basic knowledge of metadatais understood, a content marketer should be fine with it. Social media as a skillneeds to be divided into paid and non-paid. They’re two completely separate skillsets, neither of which I would rank in the top four. If passion was a skill I would saythat is the number one must-have for a content marketer. It can make up for a lotof the other skill categories that might be lacking.12

Kelsey M. RaymondCEO of Influence & Co.It’s obvious that content marketers need to be good writers and editors,and have a knowledge of social media and SEO, but one skill set that I believeis often overlooked in content marketing teams is the skill to pitch your contentto different online publications. If you don’t have anyone on your team who canbuild relationships with editors and journalists and pitch them on including yourcontent in their publication, or a quote from you in their articles, then you’re goingto have a hard time gaining a new audience for your content.13

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foundation of SEO. No, you don't have to be an SEO expert, don't be afraid of all the technological jargon here, but you need to have a basic understanding of what kind of keywords to use, how keywords work, and duplicate content issues — a lot of different issues in terms of text on the web. So it's not just