Behind every strong content marketing team, there’s a content strategist with great skills. Someone who drives strategy for audience targeting, SEO, and promotion with the aim of achieving specific business goals.
A highly successful content strategist possesses several key traits and skills that set them apart from others in their field. Hiring the right candidate for the job is no easy feat.
In this blog post, we’re discussing the 8 key skills you need to look out for when hiring a highly successful content strategist.
Key skills to look out for when hiring a Content Strategist
1. Understanding of your target audience
A piece of content can only be as good as the audience it is created for. Content strategy involves research, planning, creation, distribution, and evaluation of content, with the goal of attracting and retaining a target audience.
A successful content strategist has a deep understanding of their target audience, including their needs, preferences, and behavior. This understanding allows them to create content that resonates with their audience, which in turn drives engagement and conversions.
2. Establishing a successful strategy
They’re in charge of developing and implementing the overall content strategy based on specific goals, objectives, results and senior leaders' direction. In order to accomplish this, they'll need to have a bird's eye view of all marketing campaigns.
3. Collaboration, teamwork and delegating
A successful content strategist is a team player and understands the importance of collaboration and teamwork. They are able to work effectively with other members of the team, including designers, writers, and editors, to create and distribute high-quality content. They also have a strong understanding of the roles and responsibilities of each team member, which allows them to delegate tasks effectively.
4. Creativity and innovation
A highly successful content strategist is creative and innovative. They are able to think outside the box and come up with unique and engaging content that stands out from the competition. They stay up to date with the latest trends and technologies in the industry and are always looking for new and exciting ways to engage their audience.
5. Strong communication skills
A highly successful content strategist has excellent communication skills, both written and verbal. They have the ability to articulate their ideas and thoughts clearly, and they are able to communicate their vision effectively to the team, stakeholders, and clients.
They understand the importance of clear and concise language and are able to tailor their communication style to different audiences.
6. Analytical skills
A successful content strategist has strong analytical skills, which allow them to measure the success of their content and make data-driven decisions. They use analytics tools and data to track their content performance, and they are able to interpret the data to make informed decisions about future content creation.
7. Excellent organizational skills
A successful content strategist has excellent organizational skills, which allow them to manage multiple projects and deadlines effectively. They have a systematic approach to content creation and distribution, and they are able to prioritize tasks based on their importance and urgency.
8. PIVOT!
A highly successful content strategist is adaptable and flexible. They are able to pivot quickly and adjust their strategy in response to changes in the market or new opportunities. They are also able to work effectively under pressure and meet tight deadlines, without sacrificing the quality of their work.
Manage an effective content marketing team with content collaboration tools
After you find the right content strategist for your team, the next step is finding the right content marketing tools to power up your team.
Right now, team collaboration might me messy, resulting in wasted resources, confusion and forgotten tasks. Having a content platform in place streamlines your efforts, team and delivers results.
Here’s an example of a content collaboration workflow in StoryChief.
But even with the right structure, the wrong tools will weigh your team down. If you're struggling with entering content from Google docs to your site, or giving writers access to your site, or keeping track of where you're publishing content and how you're promoting it, you might be using the wrong suite of tools.
When you look for a new tool, check that it includes the following features:
- Content calendar and planning
- Writer briefs and assignments
- Content optimization and reviewing
- Publishing to your blog and other channels
- Content analysis and reporting
Conclusion: Hiring the right content strategist
If you’re interviewing someone with these nine characteristics, you know you found a gem! 💎
In conclusion, a highly successful content strategist possesses a unique combination of skills that allow them to create and manage high-quality content that drives engagement and conversions, and sets them apart from others in their field.
Finally, consider using a content management tool if you're expanding your content marketing team in order to collaborate effectively.
