No, Content Marketing Is Not a ‘Soft Skill’

No, Content Marketing Is Not a ‘Soft Skill’

Reader Comments (7)

  1. This is a dangerous article, Sonia.

    There are a bunch business that only measure their Content Marketers by the metric of “post got published on time”.

    Those same businesses call in the assassins to rewrite a sales page for a high fee, while the soft content writers assemble the latest newsletter.

    I once had a client through an agency who spent money on content, but didn’t much care about it. I had to make my own metrics and hold myself accountable, just to not go crazy.

    Return visits was my kpi. Could I write content that makes people want to come back again and again?

    Thankfully, the plan worked. People returned again and again. And lo! They even submitted leads at a higher rater than ever.

    The agency still uses that work as a case study, even though I’m not there. I linked to it in my name if anyone is interested.

    • I have seen *so many* content and marcom writers get sidelined for an “assassin” with a little bit of strategic focus. Partly it’s execs and project managers pigeonholing, but a lot of it is also that writers ourselves need to claim that “assassin” side and realize that we can handle it.

      Return visits is an excellent KPI, thanks for sharing it!

  2. This makes so much sense, Sonia! Everyone has always focused on creating that “killer content”, but when I am searching to learn more about something, that is not always what I am looking for. I want something that explains and directs and I can walk away feeling like I understand more about what I was searching for. I end up reading handfuls of articles and getting the same info, and not exactly what I needed. I am off to read your next piece in the series-

    • Yeah, you have to find that balance. The work needs to be strategic, because writing is expensive. But if the work doesn’t really serve the audience, you’ll never get to a place where the strategy matters.

  3. Sonia, Thanks for writing this and thanks for sharing it this week on CopybloggerFM. Like you, I’ve been a huge fan of Joanna and Copyhackers for a while now, and I’ve been wrestling with just the argument you make, as an exercise in identifying my brand personality and defining my brand. (Sort of a poet/killer who avoids bullshit in all forms. Stay tuned.) Anyway, thanks for articulating the true value of content marketing so clearly.

  4. Just what I needed to read this morning! If only the industry would cotton on and start respecting writers more (sigh).
    Especially love the KPIs you suggest for different funnel stages – I have a similar list of metrics we use to evaluate how well we have promoted a piece (because, let’s face it, the best of content needs to be promoted if it has a shot in hell of doing its job).
    Also – as someone who has been known to describe weak content as a tiny, soft and white rabbit who may be very cute, but serves no purpose on the blog, I applaud your use of the word “fluffy”. 😀

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