5 Top Skills To Becoming a Successful Content Marketer
By: Malachy Chidera
Tags: Copywriting Tips, Content Writing, Content Marketing Tips, Content Marketing, Copywriting

Everyone has heard of content marketing. In fact, almost everyone is in the business of creating content. The influx of content has made the marketplace an overwhelming avalanche of words(texts), graphics, videos, infographics, and so on…

And without a doubt, it has continued to cut short the attention span of consumers in the marketplace.

Still, consumers need content as much as businesses do. The problem is not in the creation of content. Because everyone can create content. The problem is in the creation of content that has a unique message and that is tailored to proffer solutions to the immense pain points of your consumers.

So here’s the hack; your content marketing needs to be a solution to an existing problem of your consumers.

There’s no assumption of what this problem is. All you have to do is get on the research wheel and drive down on that path.

Content marketing is no longer an in-know strategy that can be maximized only by marketers. It is a tool that every business needs, whether small and medium businesses.

Very few companies know how to maximize content that stands out from the buzzing crowd. And these companies are in search of people who can think and be creative.

This is why you need to buckle up and fix yourself as an authority in this field.

For you to be an authority… You should be able to cultivate the habit of

Research on your avatar. Know the in-trends of your niche. Write more regularly to be able to build up and flex the writing muscles.

You are under the fire to be productive and create value that resonates with your consumers. This is why it is important to create a high-value offer (HVO) that cuts across the generic.

Content marketing is tricky and is something that changes over time. Successful content strategies in the past have been tweaked to fit the present demands of the consumers by not only arresting new pain points but finding ways to discard old tactics that have been used over and over again.

It is important to not only have the right attitude as a content marketer but to as well cultivate the right honest-to-God skills that will make you have authority, make companies search for you and your expertise, and in turn, bring revenue into your pocket.

Related: 10 SUCCESSFUL TIPS ON HOW TO CREATE A WEBSITE FOR YOUR BUSINESS

Here are 5 skills you can cultivate now to become an authority and a successful content creator.

1. Find your unique voice

This can be one of the daunting tasks for a writer that seeks to stand out from the crowd. According to Henneke, A strong voice helps us stand out in a snot-green ocean of boring content. A unique voice helps us bond with our readers, enticing them to come back to “hear” our voice again. An energetic voice makes us feel good about our writing.

In other words, the best writing voices make it seem effortless, your customers end up feeling like they are sitting across you and chatting with a cup of coffee. These voices are clear, concise, friendly, and easy to understand. Learn to say no to the use of generic terms, cliche, and technical jargon while communicating with your consumers. Big grammars and jargon could be a best practice for classrooms but obviously not for day to day consumers. This is because nobody wants to rack her head hacking words jampacked with no value. In fact, it is no longer news that the attention span of people is dwindling. So, the question is how can you keep your consumers’ eyes fixed on your content for at least 8 seconds and more without losing them?

Do you want your works to be read?

Do you want people to come back to your site again and again?

Good!

That’s simple.

All you have to do is to make your content snackable for your readers to be able to digest quickly and easily. Put in efforts into the art of practicing writing that is easy to read for your readers.

According to Malcolm Gladwell in Outliers, it takes 10,000 hours — or ten years — to become the best at your craft. Some studies have disputed this, but his suggestion still stands: you won’t get better without practice.

Simple grammar tools can help you put your writings in check.

With the help of the Grammarly plugin, you can now write with no fear. And again, it is free to use.

Check it out.

2. You are an out-of-the-box creative Thinker

Digital platforms have occupied a larger percentage of our lives.

With about 3.48 billion social media users in 2019, the worldwide total growing by 288 million (9 percent) since this time last year.

The massive influx of people climbing on the digital ladder should help you understand that people are becoming aware that they are being marketed to. In fact, nobody intentionally loves to spend money.

So, what does all of this mean for modern brands and the marketing content they produce?

In short, it tells us that the old ways of advertising don’t necessarily work on the consumer “trained” for modern-day consumption.

This is why old and boring marketing tactics should be eliminated. Using stale tactics to get active responses from modern consumers is the highest height of madness.

Albert Einstein is widely credited with saying, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.”

This is the time to think out of the box. Think of new tactics. Ground yourself in the happenings and events in your niche. Split test what’s new and effective.

3. Cultivate a ruthless attitude to research

Don’t tell me you are shy away from research. Or better still, research can be boring, stressful, daunting, and work overload. Or probably, you just can’t find a site that has not only an avalanche of knowledge but an all-knowing experience, ideas, and knowledge.

I hear you say you want to be a successful content marketer…

Well, I, too, wish there’s a shortcut. But hell no! there’s no shortcut to it.

This is why there’s no better way to add rich and valuable insights than conducting some well-thought-out, carefully planned, and thorough research.

Research is central to effective content marketing. By this, you understand not just your consumers, but also your business. When this is done, even your readers will know that your writing and knowledge are not based on assumption but through thorough research.

4. Listen more and be great at it

Every marketer must first listen. Asides from the feeling of importance by humans always wanting to be heard, customers too who are humans who want to be heard. As a marketer, submerge your ears to listen and control your mouth to ask only the right questions and at the right time.

There’s no gimmick about listening. It’s either you are listening to what tickles your consumers, their complaints, their pain points, their stories, their indecisive nature coming to play, and so on… or it’s either you are not.

The art of listening will give you an edge to enter into the head of your consumers. You will see things the way they see things. And want to proffer solutions to those problems.

Not only is listening great to becoming a content marketer. You have to empathize with your readers.

The ability to empathize with your consumers is arguably one of the most important skills. And it affects everything from increasing your conversions to creating more compelling and clickable subject lines and creating a better user experience.

5. Tell a captivating and compelling story: everyone loves a story.

“If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.”

I love this quote from Rudyard Kipling because it rings true for virtually everything we read, listen to, or watch on television. Wherever a good story is involved, we’re more likely to enjoy what we’re hearing or reading, and (importantly), we’re much more likely to remember it. That’s why the business world is so big on stories. Because when it comes to attracting new customers and letting those customers know about the quality of their products or services, stories rank among the most effective types of communication. (AWAI)

But the sad tale of this all is that not all content marketers are storytellers. Most people like to think of themselves as creative, yet they lack the ability to coin stories. Even the most experienced bloggers and content marketers are not necessarily storytellers.

This is not to say that storytelling is not learnable. In fact, more people and companies inclusive are incorporating storytelling. Moreso, statistics have it that storytelling can boost conversion rates by 30%. And even b2b marketers are fast-moving on content. For instance, 62% of B2B marketers hold storytelling in high regard as an effective content marketing tactic.

When creating your marketing strategy, don’t forget about the bigger story: what makes you human?

In today’s fast-paced, overly-automated, and digitally-driven society, humanity is becoming the new premium.

According to Forbes, the internet constantly rewards us with convenience and instant gratification, making the human touch increasingly more scarce and coveted.

In this environment, businesses can no longer afford to be faceless entities. To survive, businesses need to connect with audiences, pull at their heartstrings, and engage with them on a much deeper level than seen before. That’s where brand storytelling comes in.

Brand storytelling is the cohesive narrative that weaves together the facts and emotions that your brand evokes. In addition to giving your customers reasons why they should buy a product or service, businesses need to start sharing the story behind their brand, why it exists, and why this matters, consistently across all communication.

Ask yourself: what do you want to be remembered for? What is the message you want to transmit to your audience, and what do you never want them to forget?

It’s not enough to have a quality product or service, you need to know how to talk about it in a way that differentiates you from the crowd. That is why brand storytelling is so important.

Instead of throwing facts, statistics, and testimonials at your audience, focus on making your brand thoughtful, memorable, and real. Wrap your message into a story that transports people, simplifies information, and provokes an emotional response. Use narrative to share your brand’s history, challenges, successes, and value propositions — no other brand can copy your story.

Storytelling will not only increase your brand favorability in your audience’s eyes, it can also be up to 22 times more memorable than facts.

A good story should be:

Contagious

Easy to understand

Emotive

Believable

Useful

Inspiring

Closing thought:

To cultivate the right content marketing skills is not rocket science. It needs dedication, hard work, and consistency to get on over and with it. And to give you the voice that your business deserves. A voice that will soothe your consumers and force them to hand you their wand of cash.

Are you ready to get started?

Do you need an effective content curator and marketer to be able to ship out the right words for your consumers to ride on? Words that over time has been credited to creating conversions, creating leads, and bringing in truckloads of cash for your business?

Well, you don’t need to go through this vigorous stress of finding the right content.

At Baysuit, we have a team of experts that are ready to walk the walks for you and your business if you give us the go-ahead order by reaching out to us at Baysuit Inc

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