I wrote this blog to answer the most common questions I get about how I got into B2B/tech content marketing—mostly so I don’t have to keep typing out the answers over and over again.
Fact: The best content marketers are extremely lazy.
In this blog, I’ll cover:
- The skills you need to become a content marketer (at a B2B or tech company, specifically)
- What it’s like to be a content marketer
- Tips for applying to content marketer roles
- Helpful content marketing resources
Table Of Contents: The Most Common B2B/Tech Content Marketing Questions
1) How do you make the transition into content marketing?
2) What skills should I highlight on my resume?
3) What software skills are needed to be a content marketer?
4) How would someone with writing experience pitch themselves?
5) How would someone with no writing experience get a content marketing job?
6) What’s an average day like for a content marketer?
7) What attributes or skills do I need to climb the content marketing career ladder?
8) Is content marketing a lucrative career path?
9) Are there formal qualifications for becoming a content marketer?
10) How will my success be measured as a content marketer?
11) What red flags should I be looking out for in a content marketing role?
12) What are your top content marketing resources?
1) How do you make the transition into content marketing?
I worked as on online editor for a B2B beauty magazine. (Writing experience—check! ✅)
I quickly became interested in understanding web analytics, email marketing and social media engagement. So I took classes in analytics, did a lot of (free, online) reading, and forced myself to track and measure the results of experiments I did with the things I learned. (Self-taught digital marketing/analytics experience—check! ✅)
I also began working with clients on sponsored content and really enjoyed it. (Experience with writing for brands—check! ✅) This last task made me realize I wanted to “do” content marketing.
Around this time, someone I used to freelance write for (the incredible Cassandra Jowett!) had an opening for a junior content marketer on her team at a growing tech startup. The connection helped me get my foot in the door, and the rest is history.
I went from high heels at press events to hoodies real fast!
So—like most jobs—it took hard work, curiosity, timing and a personal connection to get into B2B content marketing. Your path may be similar. Gain some writing and marketing skills, and you’ll be on your way.
2) What skills should I highlight on my resume if I’m trying to switch into content marketing?
If you can highlight any of your experience in as many of the following areas as you can, it should help you get noticed:
- Writing/editing for a business—blogs, ad copy, website pages, etc.
- Leading the creation of digital content assets, likes ebooks, white papers or brochures
- Multimedia creation/production skills, like videos, infographics, quizzes, etc.
- Setting/managing the content calendar for an online publication, newsletter, website, etc.
- Any content-related data analysis skills, or knowledge of web analytics tools, like Google Analytics
- SEO knowledge—how to write content and optimize it for web, and/or knowledge of SEO measurement/tracking tools or methods
- Managing/working with freelance writers
- Email campaign or newsletter management
- Social media management and/or analytics experience
- Public Relations experience—writing press releases, pitching media, writing for newspapers, helping write presentations/speeches/articles for executives, etc.
- Light graphic design skills —including experience selecting visuals or working with a graphic designer
- A list of technology you have experience with (to show you’re tech savvy and pick up new tools quickly)
- Research skills
- Knowledge of the audience you’ll be writing for, or expertise in their field
- Paid acquisition experience (Google Adwords, social media ads, content syndication, etc.)
Note: Having a bit of experience in all the things listed above will help you out at a smaller company where you may be asked to wear a lot of hats. At a larger company, many of these functions may be handled by other team members (a social media manager, graphic designer, PR coordinator, etc.). Order or highlight your skills according to the main tasks set out in the job ad.
3) What software skills are needed to be a content marketer?
Most companies will expect you to have experience with Content Management Systems (CSM) like WordPress, Drupal (barf), etc. Basic HTML skills can help here, too—but those are becoming less and less necessary as content platforms get better. If you don’t have direct experience with these tools, try to demonstrate that you have the ability to learn new technology quickly—because you’ll need to learn about the marketing technology your team uses and stay abreast of trends in this space ALL THE TIME.
You should also try to gain knowledge of content analytics software. Most expect Google Analytics basics, or something similar (some use Adobe or other platforms). However, having the ability to analyze web data (views, time on page, conversion rates, etc.) is often more important than knowing a specific tool.
Knowledge of SEO tools like Moz, Conductor, etc. are extremely valuable, as is the ability to make a content plan based on SEO keyword research to improve rankings.
If a company is small, their content person may manage social media, do PR, and do light graphic design/photo editing. So, knowledge of social media management tools (like Hootsuite or Buffer) and ‘listening’ tools (like Radian6) can be useful, as well as basic Photoshop editing skills. Cheap and/or free tools (like Canva or Venngage), and an understanding of where to find good images for your content is also helpful (free, or otherwise).
In B2B tech, having an understanding of SalesForce—a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system—and/or marketing automation tools—like Marketo, Pardot, Oracle, etc., which are basically more complex MailChimps—are huge advantages. B2B marketing teams heavily rely on these tools to track and measure their success (leads sourced/converted into buyers). However, these tools are often owned by other team members. You’ll need to work with them to track the success of your content in the sales/marketing funnel rather than have to know the nuts and bolts of these platforms yourself. But, if you get the chance to learn more about these tools, you’ll be better equipped to advance your career.
^^^Me, every time someone asks me to make a Salesforce report…
Not having knowledge of these tools isn’t usually a deal-breaker. But some experience with them can help you get your foot in the door faster.
4) How would someone with writing experience pitch themselves for a content marketer role?
Many companies are open to hiring someone with more writing experience than marketing experience—especially since finding an experienced content marketer can be hard. (There aren’t a lot out there…yet.)
Since the goal of content marketing is (usually) to attract an audience, and convert them into buyers as efficiently as possible, you should highlight related projects you’ve done, such as writing sales brochures, ad copywriting, managing content budgets, etc.
Another task content marketers often take on (depending on the size/maturity of the company) is to help craft a corporate voice and product messaging. So, highlight any technical writing, copywriting or general messaging work where possible.
Also, if you’ve written content that relates to the industry the company you’re applying to works within—that’s your in, baby! For instance, if you’ve created/edited content about accounting, and the company you’re applying to sells accounting software, share that content first. Some companies may even find this is more important than experience as a content marketer—but usually only if the audience they sell to is difficult to write for due to the technical nature of their job. (Ex: developers, digital security professionals—basically, any role where it will take more than a cursory amount of research to write a decent article for that audience.)
5) How would someone with very little writing experience get a job in content marketing?
Get together a writing portfolio. If you don’t have one, ask to write things in your current job. Create things (videos, blogs) for your own website or Medium page or publish on LinkedIn. Or take a business writing class of some kind.
Then see question #2 about resumes. 🙂
6) What’s the nature of the work like? Could you break down an average day?
At a fast-paced company, no two days will feel alike. Often, you’ll have a hum of ongoing content projects you’re working on, such as blogs, ebooks, etc.
But there will be plenty of “Hey, the CEO has a great idea for a blog! Can you write it now?” Or “Hurry, we need this collateral looked over for a thing we decided to do last minute!”
Also, there can be a lot of meetings with stakeholders (your VP, exec team, sales, etc.). You’ll need to carve out time (read: BLOCK IT OUT IN YOUR CALENDAR AND USE ALL CAPS WHEN YOU DO SO PEOPLE KNOW YOU’RE SERIOUS ABOUT NOT HAVING A MEETING BOOKED AT THIS TIME) to focus on creating content.
Do not put that meeting over my lunch break, Sharon!!!
You may also manage freelancer writers or an agency if you’re trying to create a lot of content quickly and don’t have the internal resources (time, staff, etc.) to pull it off.
It can be tough to write stellar content and keep up with the day-to-day requests and distractions of a B2B tech company or startup. In fact, you may have to learn to be a content air traffic controller instead of the content creator you’d rather be—meaning you’ll spend more time strategizing, editing and giving direction vs. creating everything yourself. This will depending on how much content your company expects you to make, your budgets, if you have content team members above and below you, etc.
A lot of people will try to turn you into the company’s de facto copyeditor. You’ll need to do your best to focus on just the most prominent, public-facing tasks. Then, spend some time teaching people about the tone and voice you want to project so they can (hopefully) do things themselves—especially for internal projects.
You should also set aside time each week, or every few weeks, for data analysis and tracking. This may be part of your entire team’s routine, but getting in the habit will serve you well when it comes to proving the value of the content you produce, and deciding what topics/content types to double-down on. No content marketer can ever do this enough. I repeat: no content marketer can ever do this enough.
7) What attributes or skills do I need to climb the content marketing career ladder?
The ability to manage others, learn new technology quickly, stay on top of content trends, and use data to make a solid content marketing strategy.
That equates to people management skills, a desire to learn, an analytical streak, and the ability to sell your strategic ideas to the higher-ups.
Also, gaining a wider breadth of marketing knowledge will help you communicate better with your marketing VPs/CMOs, and other teams—all of which will make it easier to justify a promotion.
I’ve been lucky to have great mentors who taught me about different areas of marketing. But, I also asked an annoying amount of questions to gain more knowledge, and sought out my own educational opportunities.
8) Is content marketing a lucrative career path?
There are tons of companies looking for content marketers right now. (Publish date of this blog: April 2019.) And, while there are tons of great writers out there, there’s not a lot of great writers with experience in marketing. This means anyone with a bit of experience can do fairly well in terms of salary—if a company values having an experienced content marketer.
It’s also a growing field, which makes it more lucrative—especially in large cities where there are lots of tech companies and startups.
Tech companies be making it rain for marketers!
In terms of pay, salaries are highest at the top/sexiest startups. This is because they have the most funding and desire top talent so they can grow quickly. Older/bigger tech companies with robust HR teams tend to pay less. Salaries are also a bit higher in tech centers like Toronto/San Francisco vs. a second-tier city, like Waterloo/Denver.
Junior positions often start in the mid 50-65K range ($CND). As you move from a junior role to a manager level, and eventually a senior manager or director, you can expect to eventually climb towards the 80-100K mark. Some directors can start above that by 10-20k—but these roles aren’t common, and it really depends on your level of experience and the company you’re applying to.
To make more than that, you’d have to find a company hiring a VP of Content. This would likely be a HUGE company where you don’t directly manage most of your content producers. I’ve never worked at a company like this, so I have no idea what an executive salary would be.
I will say that you’d likely increase your salary faster if you made the switch from just doing content to being a general director/VP of marketing or a demand generation role. But you’ll need to gain a breadth of skills first, especially around paid acquisition, product marketing, lead generation, etc.
9) Are there formal qualifications for becoming a content marketer?
There isn’t a formal program or a governing body that will designate you as an “official” content marketer in any meaningful way (to my knowledge).
Here are a few educational tools that could help fast-track your success in this career path:
1. SEO fundamentals—I think a short course that’s a couple hours long would be all you need to get started. To be honest, SEO is an art, not a science. Plus, Google changes so often that you basically just have to keep reading up on this stuff to stay on top of things. Some great SEO resources are:
- https://moz.com/blog
- https://ahrefs.com/blog/
- https://searchengineland.com/
- https://www.searchenginejournal.com/
2. A content marketing course—There aren’t a lot of courses that I know of, but my mentor Cassandra Jowett has taught one at George Brown College in Toronto. May be worth a shot to look for one.
3. Digital analytics—I took a distance education course at UBC in this. This has to do more with overall website conversion and optimization principles. It’s a useful tool to have in your back pocket as you’ll likely end up either running your company’s website or consulting with other members of the marketing team to improve it.
4. Google Analytics basics—Learning this tool will start to teach you about how to analyze content data at a basic level. They have free online instructions.
5. A general marketing course—This could be anything from a college program that covers a number of topics or picking a specific area, like paid social or SEM (Search Engine Marketing). These kinds of courses will teach you some fundamentals about conversion rates and testing content (even if it’s just ads—the same principles can apply to content). It’s more of a “bonus” skill, but it could help you out in the future.
Pragmatic Marketing courses have been recommended to me, but they are more focused on general product marketing than content alone.
Note: You could probably find many free online articles that teach you about this stuff. I recommend taking paid courses when you have zero knowledge of a subject. For things you have some experience in, start supplementing your learning in online communities or by reading blogs. This will help you realize if there’s more out there worth formally learning.
10) How will my success be measured as a content marketer?
Here are some ways you may be measured (listed from most to least important, IMHO):
- Influence of content on sales pipeline ($) and new business revenue
- Quality of leads generated from content
- Number of leads generated/converted from content
- SEO ranking
- Blog/website traffic; Views” of your content (another “meh” metric)
- The amount of content you create (This is the WORST metric to track long-term, but when you’re first building out your team/function, it may be the best you can do.)
11) What red flags should I be looking out for in a content marketing role?
No one has ever asked me this, but I just want you to beware of the laundry list content marketer job ad.
Many small companies will need you to wear many hats as a member of their marketing team. But if you’re responsible for managing 10 channels, writing an award-winning blog, doing all of the company’s PR, creating the voice of the company, doing all product messaging etc.—you’re probably going to be doing ten things ineffectively instead of a few things really well that will *actually* drive impact from a lead generation perspective.
Wow, I won’t even have time for washroom breaks! How exciting!
Many tech companies spread themselves (and their young, eager-to-please employees) too thin by trying to do everything instead of just focusing on nailing a few key projects or content pieces. When you see these job ads, ask a lot of questions to assess if the people you’re going to work for are reasonable and understand how much time it takes to write a good blog, or how much it costs to produce videos, or how hard it is to have effective PR if you don’t have enough time to maintain relationships with tons of influencers and press members. (Hint: You won’t as a one person team.)
Also, ask what kind of goals they expect you to achieve. If they don’t know, you may be OK with that ambiguity, especially if you’re just getting started in content marketing. But an experienced marketing leader should be able to give you a few ideas of how they’ll directly measure your impact, even if they can’t say exactly what those numbers are yet. And working for someone experienced is often the best way to accelerate your learning.
12) What are your top content marketing resources?
Some useful websites/blogs for content marketers include:
- http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/ – The Holy Grail for newbie content marketers.
- https://blog.kissmetrics.com/ – Great general marketing advice/ideas.
- https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing – Search for some of their seminal pieces on content marketing strategy and historical optimization are very valuable.
- https://growthhackers.com/posts – A great marketing community with case studies in marketing, analytics, SEO, etc. Sign up, and they’ll send digests of the top content.
My favourite people who write about content marketing are:
In terms of books on content…honestly I have only read general writing or grammar-focused ones (often because they’re so boring they help me sleep at night 😂). 99% of business books bore me to tears, so I tend to avoid them. I will say that anything that teaches you how to be a better storyteller can be valuable to your career.
Congratulations—you’ve made it to the end of this blog. You must *really* want to be a content marketer!
If you found this blog really long and intimidating, please don’t be scared. You don’t need ALL of the skills I’ve listed above to become a content marketer. I just wanted to make an exhaustive list because…well, I’m a content person, and we like to share information. 🤓
Content marketing isn’t necessarily a career path for people who always want to be left alone to write. If you take on a junior role—where there’s a senior content marketer above you—you will likely spend most of your days quietly plying your craft unperturbed in a corner. And if that’s all you want, that’s OK. But, if you want to get promoted, you’ll eventually spend more time setting the direction of the content strategy vs. being the person to create every piece within it.
However, it’s really fun and rewarding career for those who enjoy communicating with others and want to get into marketing. It’s the best career decision I’ve ever made. So, if you like being creative and crunching data, please come join us!
