Content marketing is essential for all new-age companies. But similar to the graceful duck floating over the pond, content marketing could appear and feel easy on the exterior. There is so much happening underwater.
For that reason, it is crucial to know what it entails and recruit a content marketing professional to do the job.
Several businesses go through the process of finding and hiring a content marketer. All this is to ensure that each piece of content gives a valuable outcome. Here’s how you can make the most of this journey.
What is content marketing?
Content marketing has been in existence for over a century, in one form or another. It is the process of developing and distributing appropriate and helpful content that engages a targeted group of people.
Image Source: Markigence
One of the many objectives of content marketing is to encourage visitors to take profit-oriented actions. For example:
- Blog posts could be used to get comments
- Social media posts could be used to increase engagement
- Ebooks could be used to turn a lead into a customer
What do content marketers do?
Content marketers, also referred to as content marketing consultants, are individuals who produce content that your target audience would like to read.
Plus, they make a comprehensive content marketing plan for your company. And then produce a variety of content, including videos, articles, captions for social media posts, and much more.
Image Source: Imaginasium
When creating a strategy, they include information like the perfect channels to connect with current and potential buyers, your target audience, and the kind of content they are interested in.
A content marketer has a wide range of skills that come with him when he joins your department. If the person is competent, it doesn’t matter whether you hire a content marketer as a full-time employee or on a freelance basis.
Qualities of a skilled content marketer
From a distance, it may seem simple to produce content. Anyone with a little practical knowledge, the skill to put words in a sentence, and the ability to use design software can call themselves a content marketer.
But content marketing needs proper knowledge of writing, along with expertise in promotion, business development, content planning, content metrics, and so on.
Image Source: Upland
When hiring a content marketer, you should look for the following main skills:
Excellent writing skills
A content marketing consultant must be aware of the practical details of superb writing. Blog posts are a well-liked form of content even today. But badly drafted blog posts repel visitors as well as search engines.
In fact, a CMI survey found that blog posts are one of the top kinds of content that B2C marketing professionals employ.
Image Source: CMI
Other types of written content include podcast episode writings, YouTube video scripts, subtitles, etc.
What needs to be constant in all these content types? The text should be excellent. It must attract, convince, and enlighten the audience.
Fact-finding capabilities
Both the world and your industry are constantly changing. And with that, your buyers also demand and crave constant advancements.
So you must be assured that you are being updated and on top of the developments and shifts.
For that, content marketing consultants must have a keen sense of market trends and a firm knowledge of the segments you offer your products or services to.
They should have the skill set to perform top-notch research to create content that targets your audience.
Data-oriented content
Let’s face it. Content marketing professionals deal with phrases, not numerals. Even though numbers are not the sole signs of success, they are essential.
That’s why people in this position should comprehend the story behind content KPIs. In addition, they must know about traffic sources and the efficiency of content mediums.
Image Source: FirstPageSage
Regular content creation
You should regularly post content on your chosen channels, such as YouTube, blogs, and so on.
If you are inconsistent, your target market will give up on you.
So, what is the solution? Editorial calendar.
It can help you be consistent. Your content marketer has to produce and maintain this calendar alongside posting content on pre-decided days.
Plus, he should determine the results by comparing the objectives they established for all content pieces and each individual piece. Here is an illustration of how a basic content calendar might appear.
Why hire a content marketer?
It might seem like one of your staff members can do content marketing for the company.
Why? You might believe that there isn’t a lot to do. But, is it true?
Only if you put in work, money, and hours to develop content that attracts your prospects’ attention.
But the fact is your employees might lack the hours or required expertise to produce the relevant content.
Moreover, they might not be into creating blog posts or doing voice-overs for YouTube content.
In contrast, recruiting a content marketing professional has the following benefits:
Top-in-the-line content: Content that doesn’t have pointless filler writing or even horrible posts loaded with keywords.
Regular content production: Content production is a long-term game. Even though there are urgent tasks to complete in a company, taking out time to create an article or upload a video is mandatory.
Strategic planning: Consistent marketing communication can only be accomplished through a well-informed mindset supported by a content development plan. A calculated plan – one more component of content distribution that gets you the outcomes you desire and require.
Types of content marketing hires
You have various choices in terms of recruiting a content marketing professional.
In-house content marketer
Hiring a content marketer to become a member of your company is plausible. Several professionals are qualified and experienced to fill this type of position.
Advantages:
- Member of your firm
- Well-versed with the business
- They will only focus on your company
- Could provide an amazing return on the investment
Disadvantages:
- It may seem costly for small businesses
- The position could be absorbed into others which means the company doesn’t completely understand the entire capability of a content marketing professional
Freelance content marketer
Hiring a freelance content marketer is a cost-effective way to add this crucial expertise to your department.
Advantages:
- Effective and perfect for small enterprises
- You can move from one freelancer to other based on the terms of the agreement
- Excellent for launching your content plan
Disadvantages:
- Hiring a content marketer with the required experience from the pool of professionals could be challenging
- If you are not sure of what you want, you might hire an unfit individual
Content marketing firms
A marketing agency that has a solid team of content marketing consultants could be the best option because it is a one-stop shop for all the skills.
Advantages:
- Logical for big businesses
- Economical plans could also allow small businesses to hire marketing firms.
Disadvantages:
- Could appear complex and overcrowded with big words
- The commitments aren’t in line with the results and execution at times
A content marketing firm should provide different services based on what you are paying them. They have a diverse set of skills in their organization that you might not have.
Having said that, an independent content marketing professional too can do a lot for your company.
For starters, hiring a freelance content marketer is cost-effective and saves you money which is not the case when hiring content marketers or agencies. Moreover, they could be highly skilled, knowledgeable, and adaptive while working on your project.
Nevertheless, finding a freelancer might require nearly the same work as recruiting a content marketing professional full-time.
There will be terms and conditions to talk about. Plus, you will have to take into account situations like the inability to deliver, etc.
Besides, there could be concerns about quality assurance and the need for an individual to oversee the campaign with the freelance professional.
Image Source: WEBii
Cost of hiring a content marketer
For several businesses, whether big or small, recruiting a content marketing professional majorly depends on the expense. So, let’s see the cost of hiring different types of content marketing service models.
In-house content marketer
The average annual income for a content marketing manager is $61,306, as per Glassdoor US.
Nevertheless, every content marketing consultant has a different pay scale based on their skill set, neighborhood, and expertise.
Freelance content marketer
You will have to take into account the time and money spent on the marketplace you use when determining the hiring budget.
When you hire a freelance content marketer, they can bill you on an hourly basis, per day basis, or monthly basis.
The average rate ranges from $25 to $75 for every hour.
Content marketing agency
The pricing of different content marketing agencies differs greatly along with the services they provide.
A few agencies will cost you $25,000 or more, whereas some will charge a couple of hundred bucks for simple website analysis and content audit.
Some companies offer content planning as a part of a deal with additional services, whereas few businesses let you order preliminary analysis and then lead with that.
At HypeGig, we do keyword research and competitor analysis for $2500. In this plan, we provide well-informed ideas for content plans and effective guidance for website content, blog posts, social media posts, etc.
For developing content like articles, our price is $700 for 2000+ words or roughly $0.35 for each word, along with editing. The price varies based on the words and size of the content. It usually goes from $150 for a 300-400 word blog post to $1050 for a 3000-word article.
We could also accommodate your specific needs based on your content plans, such as mini blog posts or 5000-plus words ebooks.
Recruiting your first content marketer
Just like when you hire for other roles, it is crucial to know the skill set you want in a content marketer.
Quality matters
Although it may seem intriguing to post a lot of content fast, doing so could be equally bad as never uploading.
So, when considering to hire a content marketer or a marketing firm, emphasize quality.
For instance, one high-quality 1500-word article beats three or four shoddy 500-word posts.
Image Source: Scoop.it
Forming bonds is crucial
It is appealing to give authority and control to a person who seems knowledgeable.
But even then you need to be more involved to guide your content plan in the right way. For that, you will have to establish a good connection with whoever you choose to hire.
Invest adequately in content promotion
Consistently writing blog posts is amazing, but what good is it if nobody reads them?
That’s why you require a flexible content marketing consultant who is equally focused on both expanding the email list and producing content.
Analyzing the data
You want to hire a content marketer who knows how to consider content marketing metrics. Plus, they should be familiar with your industry.
Image Source: Semrush
Creating content for your target market
A content marketer should be aware of your target market, their content needs, and the appropriate medium to engage them. You need to ensure that you hire a content marketer who has this information.
Image Source: Crazy Egg
Steps to hire a content marketer
Once you are prepared to hire a content marketer, what’s the best way to do so? Here is the step-by-step process for recruiting a content marketing professional.
Determine where your content marketing plan is lacking
If you know exactly the jobs you want the content marketing consultant to perform, you can conveniently identify a perfect candidate. This is significant while assessing big marketing firms that offer standard plans.
Image Source: CoSchedule
Assemble a list of questions
You want to hire a content marketer with the following qualities:
- Expertise in and understanding of your industry
- A solid history of achievements with both past and current customers
- Versatile services
- Should provide preliminary guidance at no charge to make the first meeting less tense
- Method of customer interactions
Skillset and expertise
Credentials or required skill sets for content marketing and numerous different fields are always changing.
Fractl assessed 1,400 job posting on Indeed.com and found the top five technical skills organized by seniority or role. These include social media, email marketing, and content creation.
Image Source: Fractl
Cost
Although high compensation does not ensure effectiveness, it is a crucial factor.
So consider the value you receive for the money you are giving to firms and professionals. But do not decide only based on the expense. Also, check out with whom you will get along the most.
Image Source: Sisu
Conclusion
You may not need to hurry when recruiting a content marketing professional because the right candidate will significantly impact your content marketing plan.
And if you want some consultation on content marketing, reach out to us for a casual discussion.
Did we miss anything? Did you try these tips to hire a content marketer? Do you have any questions or comments? Share your thoughts below in the comments section.
