We like a good hiring survey here at Firehead and have had this one from content marketing platform Kapost bookmarked for quite a while. If you’re a content marketer looking for a new job, its Content Market Hiring Handbook could be useful reading before you apply for a content marketing job or go for a job interview.
So, with content one of the fastest-growing areas of marketing, what exactly are employers looking for when it comes to employing a content marketer?
Writing/editing is the most desirable skill
The 2014 Kapost Content Hiring Survey, which surveyed 522 manager-level marketers, lists the top qualities as follows:
- 94.5% writing/editing
- 64.64% ability to collaborate across departments/teams
- 56.9% sales or marketing experience
- 44.75% A solid understanding of our sales and marketing structure
- 38.1% SEO expertise
- 24.3% graphic design / web development
- 10.5% video production
A clear signal that writing/editing skills are the most important quality in a content marketer for the majority of employers.
Journalism is the most desired degree (but experience is just as important)
The survey also asked about desired degrees and majors. A degree in English/journalism was the most popular choice (37.5%), with marketing/advertising coming in second (20.45%). However, 37.5% were looking for 3-5 years of content marketing experience rather than focusing on the degree.
What’s the pay like for content marketers?
Typical pay for a content marketer was:
- $41.5k (£26k or €38k) for an entry-level content marketer
- $60.5k (£39k or €55k) at mid-level
- $103k (£66.5k or €94k) at director-level.
Other relevant skills
Other tips that Kapost report as desirable in a content marketer include:
- Self-reliance and a nose for subjects people will care about
- Baseline skills of writing, design, video production
- Ability to tell compelling stories
- Good relationship skills and the ability to collaborate across departments
- A professional and up-to-date LinkedIn profile
- Hybrid skills across old and new marketing tactics
- Active participation in social media
- Has a showcase reel of social/content/writing impact and analytics work
- Knows which blogs/books to read to keep skills up to date
- Can quantify impact on business.
For the full report and guide, download it from Kapost here: Recruit the Dream Team – The Content Marketing Hiring handbook.
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- The Content Strategy Jobs Landscape – the skills, education, experience, character traits, salary expectations and more that employers are looking for when hiring a content strategist
- What do employers want? We survey 30 content strategy job adverts to find out…
