Blogging has recently gained pace and businesses have started realizing its immense power and have started using Content Marketing for leads. While this entire concept is still new to the world yet there are a set of skills that you must keep in mind while hiring a content marketing company or professional.
It is rather difficult to find a suiting professional considering that content marketing is not introduced or acknowledged as a specialized course or career in most universities. The following is a list of skills that you must consider while hiring a content marketing professional. While these are basic guidelines, you can also customize the list according to your needs and requirements.
1. Compelling, Flawless Writing
While most people have the skills to deliver a piece of writing, you have to look for the one who not only can write but also possess the ability to use flawless grammar. Along with this look for someone who holds additional knowledge of SEO, content writing software and other latest tech tools (that most businesses do not take advantage of and miss out).
Tweeting texting and other forms of one-second dynamic modes of communication have taken a toll on people's use of spelling or even basic grammar. You have to find someone who is well versed who understands the seriousness of your business and takes his/her role seriously. Bad grammar can affect your brand value adversely.
The best way to evaluate a candidate could be your run an eye on work done by them previously. You can also scan their work on Grammarly or Hemmingway App. Delivering a flawless and grammatically accurate article is a long-termed skill and comes only with years of thorough practice.
2. Homework
An in-depth and content-rich article is always preferred by the public. And primarily for this reason a lot of big names like BuzzFeed and Business Insider have included journalists in their teams who are experts in doing research. These people add credibility to the content and make it premium. Here are a few questions to ask a content marketing professional:
- Does he research the targeting audience, their demographic and their interests?
- Does he research competition and the mistakes they have done that can be taken over by us and corrected for our good?
- Does he talk about the company's products and get to know about its uniqueness so the content can be eventually developed around it.
There is no one way of gathering all the information. You just need to find the one who is willing to go to the extra mile to find the appropriate context and background on the subject.
3. Data-Driven Content
Just like how a content marketing professional has a way with words, similarly, the best one has a way with numbers too. It is important to create data-rich content. Data raises a sense of reliability and trust in users and garners more shares throughout.
Numbers tend to be more realistic, trusted and add authenticity to any written matter. A professional will always crunch numbers and find unique ways of presenting it. Many marketers conduct their own surveys and polls to come up with intriguing data insights for the company and brand. This gives you backlinks without even running an entire campaign for it. You have to look for someone who is all in to put these efforts for you.
If you want to drive a great ROI from your content marketing efforts, then it's important to create the kind of posts that resonate the most with your audience. A good content marketing specialist will always keep an eye on your audience to stay on top of what they want.
4. Consistent Publishing and Management
Content Marketing is best delivered as a strategized plan. You will only be able to see the desired results when you implement the plan successfully. Documenting your content marketing strategy is one of the most important steps.
All content marketing professionals stick to their deadlines strictly and know what damage will be done to their business if they miss out on even one of the scheduled events. Most professionals plan out their month, week or even the entire year in advance. They use tools like Trello to stay organized and keep all team members and clients on the same page.
Content Marketing Professionals should follow the SMART framework, stay motivated and adhere to deadlines.
You can test your candidate by asking her to make a SMART content plan that serves your business agenda.
5. SEO and Design
Days are gone when only text could do the trick. In today's day and age, a whole recipe is needed. It combines text, graphics, images and more. Find a professional who can handle all. Everyone has a Graphic Designer in their team but honestly, you need a marketer who can at least play with tools like Canva to create rough designs of what he exactly wants.
Similarly, writing SEO optimized content can be equally intimidating. But a general overview is necessary to make sure the content ranks well on the top search engines. It is also important for writers to have knowledge of the lingo of your brand's niche so that they can craft content that appeals to your target audience.
Conclusion
Digital Marketing costs way less than general marketing and generates over 3% more leads. And this is the reason why it has overthrown traditional marketing from the center of the table. It is time you consider great digital marketing professionals for your business; and content marketers are the first step in that direction. We hope this article will help you in your quest. We would love to hear your feedback in the comments sections below.
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