Content-driven strategy creates a new breed of marketers – the content strategist

As the marketplace becomes more cluttered and competition gets tighter, it’s becoming more evident that B2B marketers need to change the focus of their strategy to attract and build trust with new and potential clients.  

A content-driven strategy is fast becoming the new marketing buzz phrase and many organisations’ marketing departments are already implementing content strategies into their marketing plans. This means that content marketers are in high demand.

A content strategy manager, or content strategist, overseas the planning, development, and management of informational content produced by an organisation. They take into account what the content is, what it can be, and how to curate content so it communications the key values of the organisation.

"Specialists in this area need to have exceptional communication skills as well as a talent for balancing high-level strategic thinking with a detailed understanding of the nature of the content they're working with" said Oli Templeton, sales and marketing recruitment manager at Robert Walters. 

Specialists in this area need to have exceptional communication skills as well as a talent for balancing high-level strategic thinking with a detailed understanding of the nature of the content they're working with

What is a content-driven strategy?

A content-driven strategy is about telling your brand story in a compelling way that offers value to your potential clients, builds their trust in your brand and moves them into action to interact with the brand. Content-strategy is about being understated i.e. not screaming about your brand but providing information that offers value and illustrates that your brand is what it says it is.

Why is there a shift in focus to a content-driven strategy?

Your clients and potential clients are now driving the conversation. Through the use of search engines they are able to be targeted on the kind of information they are looking for, filtering out all of the irrelevant content. This means simply ‘selling’ to your target audience will no longer be as successful because they have the opportunity to explore the market in a more thorough way.

Advantages of a content-driven strategy for your company

• Increases search engine result rankings
• More visitors to your website or blogs
• Increases tweets and ‘Likes’
• Increased client acquisition
• Brand awareness
• Builds trust and loyalty in the brand
   

Channels to drive your content strategy

• Website – articles, press releases
• Social media
• Industry blogs
• Client case studies
• eNewsletters
• Videos
• Whitepapers
• Industry updates
• Events
   

What skills you need to be a content strategist

A content strategist is a fast paced and important role, as it represents the voice and image of a brand, driving communication with every word and image.

Highly developed communication skills are a must, with the ability to develop a clear strategy to inspire and engage the audience; they must devise and implement improvements to best practices, tools, and processes.

"Decisions should be based on credible metrics and well-reasoned analysis. They should have a strong understanding of their users/consumers, and how to anticipate their needs by understanding behaviours," said Oli Templeton.

A content strategy manager is usually required to have a bachelor or masters degree in a communications or media discipline, or extensive online editing and/or content strategy experience.

As content-driven strategies become more of a focus it’s creating a new breed of marketers – the content strategist. However, generalist marketers will still need to up skill and have an understanding of emerging technologies and how to use them to deliver the brand’s story to the market, as it will also be part of their job description to help role out these strategies.