Information in this blog post was obtained from Moz.com, Semrush Blog, and The Content Marketing Institute.
In a few short months, new grads will find themselves immersed in the world of job searches, interviews and ideally, job offers. You may be one of these new grads, feeling like the world is your oyster. The last four-ish years have been spent learning, studying and socializing with your classmates and friends. It’s been a total blast up until the point that you realize you have no idea what you want to do after college graduation.
A question you might be asking yourself as a Marketing major is “What jobs are even out there for me?” Well, one of the first decisions you need to make is whether you want your career to be analytical, creative or a little bit of both. Have no fear, graduate, this blog post will give you insight on three different Content Marketing careers to help you jumpstart that job search on LinkedIn.
SEO Marketing
Do you love analyzing data? Search Engine Optimization is incredibly important for businesses as it’s how they can strategize to get their content in front of their intended audiences. SEO experts delve into keyword research, search engine ranking data, meta descriptions, the list goes on and on. If you have a more analytical mind and are not inspired by creating content, SEO Marketing positions might be your calling. That said, SEO experts still need to understand people – after all you are trying to optimize content to actual human beings when it’s all said and done. According to Moz.com, empathy is one of the most critical skills to have in SEO Marketing.
Copywriting
On the contrary, if you are the creative type that is not so interested in the data-side of things, copywriting could be an area that you excel at. Copywriters brainstorm and write the content posted on blogs, social media posts and website pages for companies. It is helpful for writers to be experts in the subjects that they write about, especially for credibility among their audiences, so it will involve some research and other analytical skills as well. In this arena, however, you get to utilize your creative side more than SEO Marketers. Copywriters still need to have some analytical skills, and The Content Marketing Institute notes that in coming years, content writers need to refine their skills in Artificial Intelligence writing tools if they want to remain efficient and competitive in the industry.
Product Marketer
Maybe you find yourself in the middle of the road wanting to use your creative skills and your analytical mind. In this case, you might fare well as a Product Marketer. Product Marketers not only know their products inside and out, but also their customer base and buyer personas. Their marketing abilities are also wide in breadth, as they work on branding, messaging, campaign design and creation, and even research. This type of position allows marketers to use a wide range of skills in creating content and analyzing that content’s performance. Semrush highlights the importance of hiring Product Marketers is to create effective campaigns and messages that appeal to a company's customer base.
Time to Apply!
Well, maybe not quite yet! These three roles just skim the very surface of the Content Marketing world and you likely have a little more research to do. Before applying for a job, be sure to run through this checklist to prepare yourself for that exciting first step into your Content Marketing Career:
Update and prime your resume for your desired role
Research internship opportunities
Network with classmates in the industry
Know the market salaries
Prepare your Content Marketing portfolio
By doing these few things, you can make sure that you highlight the skills and experience that employers value in your desired role. Internships are a great way to earn valuable experience to put on your resume and can sometimes lead to full-time employment at the company you intern at. Networking is a great tool – the saying that it’s not always what you know, but who you know carries a certain truth to it. Being aware of the market salaries for the positions you’re interested in will help you to negotiate a salary that pays your bills and could help with that post-graduation trip!
Lastly, packaging a portfolio with all your work from college projects, your own freelance work or projects you completed in internships will be a great tool to use in applying for jobs in Content Marketing. Anyone can talk the talk but being able to back that up with tangible evidence will be sure to land you in the top candidates during the interview process! Want to refine your marketing skills before that interview? Be sure to check out my colleague Taylor's blog post on Refining Your Skills as a Social Media Marketer
Happy job hunting!
Resources
Hawkins, J. (2017, February 22). Product manager vs. product marketer: Who should you hire? Semrush Blog. Retrieved February 27, 2022, from https://www.semrush.com/blog/product-manager-vs-product-marketer-who-should-you-hire/
Stein, A. (2021, August 24). The top skills to look for when hiring your next in-house Seo. Moz. Retrieved February 27, 2022, from https://moz.com/blog/hiring-in-house-seos
Taborek, T. (2022, February 14). 5 ideas to future-proof your content marketing career in an AI age. Content Marketing Institute. Retrieved February 27, 2022, from https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/articles/future-proof-content-marketing-career
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