Your Content Marketer should be an all-rounded Inbound Marketer
There are so many content, digital, and social media marketers out there, and frankly, I’ve worked with people who claim themselves as good inbound marketers but just knows the very basic, if not less.
What is an Inbound Marketer?
Fast Fact
Key takeaway
What do Content Marketers do?
Content Marketers play a crucial role in planning, creating, distributing, and analyzing content to attract and engage a target audience. Their primary objective is to drive brand awareness, generate leads, and nurture customer relationships through strategic content initiatives. Here are some key responsibilities of Content Marketers:
Content Marketers Develop Content Strategy
They conduct research to identify audience needs, preferences, and pain points, and use these insights to shape the content plan.
Content Marketers Engage In Content Creation
They are responsible for creating high-quality and relevant content in various formats such as blog posts, articles, videos, infographics, podcasts, and social media updates. They ensure the content aligns with the brand's voice, style, and messaging guidelines.
Content Marketers Perform SEO Optimization
Content Marketers optimize content for search engines to improve organic visibility. This includes conducting keyword research, optimizing meta tags and headlines, and implementing on-page SEO techniques to enhance content discoverability and ranking.
Content Marketers Plan Content Distribution
They develop strategies to effectively distribute content through various channels such as websites, social media platforms, email campaigns, and content syndication platforms. They leverage analytics and audience insights to identify the most impactful distribution channels.
Content Marketers Initiate Engagement and Promotion
Content Marketers engage with the audience through active community management, responding to comments, and encouraging discussions. They collaborate with other teams to promote content, including influencer partnerships, guest blogging, and social media advertising.
Content Marketers Do Performance Analysis
They measure and analyze the performance of content using key metrics like website traffic, engagement metrics, conversion rates, and social media analytics. This data helps them understand content effectiveness, identify areas for improvement, and refine future content strategies.
Content Marketers Stay Updated
Content Marketers continuously stay updated on industry trends, content marketing best practices, and emerging technologies. They adapt their strategies to leverage new opportunities and maintain a competitive edge.
What to look for in your Content Marketer
For a small business owner or an entrepreneur, changing your mindset from doing it all to delegating can be difficult. It doesn’t help when you don’t know what qualities to look for and end up hiring the wrong person.
This is why I want to go through some key indicators you need in a good inbound marketer, so that you know what to ask for, and what to expect.
⬇️ Hear the full episode or read the full script below. ⬇️
What can I expect from a Content Marketer
I've watched a lot of content, social media and digital marketer’s content online, and I’ve found this quite interesting idea. A lot of them are not opened to clients who have no basic understanding of inbound marketing terms and execution, meaning things like content strategy, paid social, targeting, and SEO or SEM. They are only here to help you strategise executions, and help highlight and allocate your budget. If they are required to explain what inbound marketing is, they will not take the job. This is because the time spent is way more than the time they need to execute, hence harming their ROI.
For someone like me though, who has positioned myself to specifically help entrepreneurs, I believe in quite the opposite:
1. The first thing any entrepreneurs should look for in their inbound marketer is the ability to educate.
To be honest, if an entrepreneur already understands the basics of inbound marketing, he or she is very likely to try and execute things themselves. Even though it is likely that they will not get the results they want, hence, out looking for professional help, they will have their very distinctive point of view and accumulated knowledge from experience.
This, I think, makes it harder for the client to keep an open mind and be okay with completely back tracking and trying something new, which is often required in terms of content marketing. Therefore, an entrepreneur who wants to learn about content, social media, and digital marketing is a great client for someone like me.
They can be as blank as a slate, but if they want to learn, I am more than happy to educate them on strategies, concepts, and ideas. So, if you’re an entrepreneur who doesn’t know much about inbound marketing but wants to use it to push your brand to the next level, look for an inbound marketer who has teaching abilities, preferably someone who is patient, and can simplify concepts for anyone to understand.
2. The second thing any entrepreneurs should look for in their inbound marketer is the ability to be highly realistic.
Any types of marketing requires a budget, but we all know entrepreneurs are often running on a tight one. Your inbound marketer can be as creative and results-driven as one can be, but if he or she is not realistic when it comes to lining up his or her deliverables with the budget that you have, you’re not getting anywhere. If he or she is unable to give you multiple plans and let you see what you can achieve with your budget, and only showing you what a much bigger budget can achieve, he or she is not the inbound marketer for you.
Of course, there is only so much a tight budget can achieve, but if the marketer can let you know what might be better pushed for a later date, or what the entrepreneur can consider up taking him or herself, that helps you in understanding what your priorities should be and what can get you there.
3. The third thing any entrepreneurs should look for in their inbound marketer is if they share entrepreneurial qualities.
Though the usual reason for entrepreneurs in not hiring advertising agencies is because of the cost, one of the other reasons is because they do not take initiative as much as a freelance marketer would. Those in agencies usually only hand in what they are asked of, and when asked for new ideas, will usually use that as a lead to ask for more money.
However, what an entrepreneur needs is someone to give them ideas, to take initiative, and to hustle as hard as they do. If you end up having to chase your inbound marketer for deliverables, you have a problem. Your inbound marketer should be the one taking things off your mind, not to have you also remember his or her job. If they don’t feel invested in your brand, there is no point for them to work for you.
4. The fourth thing any entrepreneurs should look for in their inbound marketer is passion.
Ask your marketer about content, social media, and digital topics and see how they react. Do they sound very official or do they sound like they really know and love what they do?
Inbound marketing is a continuous process, and if your marketer doesn’t have the fire within themselves, they won’t be able to keep their minds fresh and updated on the changes happening in the online world. This means they are unlikely to help you push your brand forward. The process of content marketing is very tiresome and there are a lot of creating and thinking involved, so look for someone who is analytical, creative, and most importantly, resourceful in the way they create. A content marketer who knows how to utilise every ounce of what you have is absolutely gold.
5. The fifth thing any entrepreneurs should look for in their inbound marketer is honesty.
While bigger companies should look for marketers who knows how to navigate company hierarchies and effectively communicate with different team members in the department, I believe an inbound marketer for an entrepreneur needs to be able to speak up.
He or she needs to be able to identify problems and provide a solution. There is no point to brag about the brand and be indirect when it comes to identifying what can be better, he or she should give it to you as it is, and let you as the owner to make the decision. He or she should be somewhat a leader, unafraid to tell you exactly what you should focus on, and what tools and assets he or she needs to get the job done.
What is the most important role of a Content Marketer?
I have been fortunate enough to provide my inbound marketing services for clients who recognise the importance of these qualities right from the beginning. Though expert knowledge on content, social media, and digital marketing is a must, I often find them valuing the learnings they are getting during our meetings the most. Seeing them able to understand, digest, and replicate certain executions themselves makes me and my clients very happy about our relationship.
So, if you wish to learn tips and tricks on content marketing, keep yourself posted for my next podcast episode, or visit me at joycetsangcontentmarketing.com, where I have written explanations of different online strategies, blog posts, and uploaded free downloadables for you to try and kickstart your own content.
Until then, I am Joyce Tsang, a content marketer here for entrepreneurs.
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