3 Core Competencies of a Highly Effective Content Marketing Specialist

What Every Content Marketer Needs to Know in Order to Be The Most Productive in Their Industry

All companies, both large and small, need competent content marketers who are decisive, innovative, adaptive, culturally astute, effective communicators, and who are dedicated to lifelong learning.

Content marketers serve to provide brand awareness, and direction to customers and clients, as well as ongoing education. They work hard to inform people, develop themselves, and create an essence of community within the organizations they serve, as well as with external shareholders.

For content marketers to be effective within their particular organizations and industries, it is important to consider the impact content has on each member of the organization, both external and internal.

We’re talking about the economic climate (external), as well as the culture of each organization (internal).?Climates?rarely stay the same for very long.?Culture, on the other hand, has more of a longevity factor to consider.

This is what forms the basis for what every content marketer does day-in and day-out. This basic understanding of the current environment is influenced by technology, the level or measure of consistency, and the overall thought leadership that is established.

With that said, continuously educating oneself about the industry or field one is in, as well as consistently acquiring personal and/or specialized knowledge for the sake of personal growth, is only part of becoming a competent content marketer.

Content marketing succeeds when the content marketer effectively acts and applies these core competencies. As one moves from B2C to B2B to even internal messaging, these competencies take on different nuances and complexities.

An example of a highly effective content marketer is based on his/her ability to focus on the overall mission of the organization they serve.

In fact, at the organizational level, the content marketer is expected to continually share and express the vision and mission of the organization through every form of communication that is sent out, while at the strategic level, the same content marketer’s focus would be on leading change and shaping an entire institution for future success.

What Does it Mean to Be Competent?

Many define competency as being “smart” but the truth is, that definition is an uneducated, lazy person’s way of defining the term.

You see, being competent is more than just being smart. Let me put it to you like this: Take the terms?wisdom?and?knowledge?for example. Knowledge is not exactly wisdom, but it takes wisdom in order to effectively use knowledge in the right way.

Some have said that?knowledge?is knowing?how?to do something, but?wisdom?is knowing?when?to do it. The same can be said for being competent and smart. Being smart is all about possessing certain knowledge, but being competent is all about knowing when to use that knowledge.

In other words, where?knowledge?is more?science,?competency?is more?art. This is why being dedicated to life-long learning is essential to being a successful content marketer.

In fact, before we get into these three core competencies, let me put it to you like this: As a?content marketing specialist, you should most definitely continue to educate yourself about the company you work for, and the products or services your company offers, but even more than that …

… it’s important to develop the?habit of learning?and?studying new things that are outside the scope of what your company does?in order to refuel your mental tanks of?imagination?and?innovation?— this is where true?creativity?is nurtured.

In fact, it was Jim Rohn who said:

“Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.”

Now, with that said, let us dive into the three core competencies of a highly effective?content marketing specialist.

1. Thought Leadership: The Ability to Influence and Establish Agreement With The Marketplace

“Leadership is influence, nothing more and nothing less” — John Maxwell

This is one of the most profound interviews you may ever hear about the subject of?thought leadership?and the ability to establish agreement within your market and community base.

Grant Cardone:?What does power mean to you?

In this interview, Ezra Firestone answers the above question by stating that the ability to generate resources that produce a surplus is power.

However, with that said, I think it’s important to make the following distinction:?Power is not in money but in resources.

Grant Cardone:?Can you have power without money?

When asked the second question above, Ezra Firestone stated,

“Yes, it is hard to have power without money, but when you get a certain number of people in agreement … agreement is control. And agreement is also reality.”

Grant also inserted that “money only has value to the degree that a group of people agrees with it.” With that, Ezra went on to say that another definition of power — if you don’t have a lot of money — is to get a lot of people unified on an agreed-upon reality (remember, agreement is reality).

To that end, Ezra also mentioned that one of the fastest ways to get an agreement is to reach as many people as you can. And you achieve that feat through mass production of content. This is why content marketing specialists,?that are skilled in this area, are extremely valuable to the marketplace.

2. Teaching: The Art of Effective Communication

It has been said that the best way to learn something is to teach it. Now, I know reading that for the first time might sound a bit odd so let me clarify it a bit more.

You see, the more effective you are at communicating a certain thought or idea or concept the more confident you become in the information and knowledge that you’ve gained.

The truth is:?As I’m writing this and, in essence, teaching you these three core competencies, I am also learning more about them as I am “teaching” them.

Moreover, the better I am at effectively articulating and communicating these ideas, the more competent I appear to my organization, industry, and audience.

With that said, watch this insightful interview and I will share some more thoughts below.

“The number one most important element in order to have successful persuasion is credibility. And the number one way to gain credibility is to be introduced through someone who is perceived as credible.” — Adam Michaels

Now, in this interview Adam and Grant talk about?teaching?and?training?with more of an internal focus (such as teaching and training a sales team), but just as you use content to teach and train your internal teams and department heads, the same is true for your ability to “teach” and “train” your audience, new prospects, and/or leads about your business and its products or services.

You see,?it is through content that a company begins to appear more and more?competent?and capable of providing the solution to the problem that their particular market currently has, as well as appearing?trustworthy.

To that end, before a prospect ever buys a company’s product or service, they look to their website (or to the internet) to “educate” themselves on what that company has to offer. And they do that through content. This is why developing this particular?competency?is so important.

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