When company leaders decide to invest in content marketing, they often redefine the roles of their marketing team.
Too often, the people working in traditional marketing departments lack the skills needed to carry out a successful content marketing initiative.
This does not mean you have to fire everyone and start over. However, you should create a team with the agility and ability to think differently. The group must be willing to abandon the old muscle memory of selling first, and instead reorient the organization to be relentless advocates for the audience.
Based upon where content marketing is today—and where things are headed—here are the five professionals you must have to build your dream team:
1. A journalist
Content marketing is fueled by storytelling, and journalists typically are tremendous storytellers. For starters, they’re curious. Experienced journalists also tend to write with readers in mind. Journalists have a natural inclination to put the audience first—even ahead of their own organization.
The best content marketing is relentlessly devoted to the needs, preferences and interests of the audience. Journalists create the “audience-first lens” that content marketing teams must have.
Additionally, journalists are comfortable interviewing sources. They have strong writing skills and are always seeking the more interesting and compelling “story behind the story.” Trained reporters can help your team brainstorm ideas, find the right people to talk to and do the heavy lifting of content creation.
2. A community manager
This jack-of-all-trades position entails promoting and distributing your content. This job might include public relations and SEO, but the primary focus should be on social media management.
Community managers don’t simply promote and distribute your content—they engage with customers and build a thriving community that keeps the audience coming back for more.
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Your community manager can also assist the team by monitoring hot topics and tracking industry trends.
3. A graphic designer
Skilled designers can turn mundane content into irresistible masterpieces.
Striking, unique artwork is one of the best ways to stand out from your competitors, and design plays a crucial role in shaping the perception of your business.
Don’t skimp on visuals; pony up for a professional designer.
4. A video producer
YouTube is now the world’s second-largest search engine. Social media titans such as Facebook and Instagram continue to favor video in their algorithms, which makes video production a hotter skill than ever before.
A professional who knows how to manage the video creation process—from concept to execution to editing and packaging—is an invaluable asset for any content marketing team.
5. A data analyst
Data-driven storytelling is a megatrend that’s here to stay.
The surest way to create original, compelling content is to use data. Persuasive prose no longer cuts the content mustard. Also, marketers must be able to prove their work is worthwhile, so it helps to have someone handy with metrics.
Hire someone who can turn your proprietary data into compelling stories. Focus on primary and secondary research to tell stories that no one else is telling.
Having a data analyst on the team—not necessarily a data scientist, but someone who can turn numbers into narratives—vaults you to the top strata of marketing teams. A stats-obsessed person is also invaluable for internal measurement purposes, as they can advise what’s working (or not) for your team.
Of course, data is useless unless you have people who can turn it into an alluring, audience-focused narrative—and then strategically promote the piece. It takes well-rounded teamwork to make the content dream work.
John Miller is the founder of Scribewise. A version of this post first appeared on the Scribewise blog.
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