Content marketing is growing exponentially. But the ladder of growth for content practitioners is missing most of its ladder.
While many organizations see content marketing as a functional strategy importance (forgive us while we're at CMI patting ourselves), most don't know how to build a career ladder for this functionality (and we stop patting ourselves).
In most of the businesses I visit, I'm confused about where these content practitioners should live in the organizational structure. Worse still, I see many people hitting dead ends.
To move forward, talented content creators must move on – meaning they leave the team and possibly the brand.
That's a problem for content teams — and the industry as a whole. The practice of content marketing cannot be part of the strategy of the business if practitioners cannot reach the highest positions in the enterprise.
If you're not giving talented #ContentMarketing practitioners a way to get ahead – you're forcing them to move out. That's the problem @Robert_Rose wants to fix via @CMIContent. Click to post a Tweet
Why formalize a content career path?
World Economic Forum January 2020 report, Tomorrow's Work , projects that job openings in the “sales, marketing and content” category will be second-highest behind only healthcare. And, within that category, the report calls content marketing strategy a core priority for further study for students who want to explore these job opportunities.
Job openings in sales, marketing and content, will be the 2nd highest after healthcare, according to @wef Jobs of Tomorrow Report via @CMIContent. Click to Tweet The number of companies building in-house marketing agencies is also on the rise. In 2018, National Association of Advertisers published research revealed that 78% of their members said there was “some form of internal agency” compared with 58% In 2013. Of the services these in-house groups provide, content marketing saw an uptick. largest: 75% of content marketing handled in 2018 compared to 34% In 2013.
In 2020, ANA report in the world of marketing after COVID was found “50% of survey respondents identify their in-house agency as the 'most important' resource for creating new advertising assets."
All these numbers add to this: Content marketing practitioners and content strategists face a positive environment for job opportunities. Companies very need talent for the internal creative and content marketing functions they are building and increasingly trusting on.
So, what's the problem?
Children have the final content
The problem lies in the relatively low career ceilings in marketing and communications. Regardless of whether they are individual contributors or team leaders, most content marketers and Content Strategist All have only three options when they reach the senior management level. They can:
- Shift to a more traditional marketing role, leaving content marketing and content marketing strategies behind
- Leaving the company to move to another company
- To build a solo practice
I want to change this.
Senior content marketers have limited options for advancement. @Robert_Rose wanted to change that via @CMIContent. #ContentMarketing Click To Post a Tweet
Why we need a content career ladder
When I was the CMO of a fast-growing startup, a mentor told me that hiring someone is the only really expensive thing a company does. And then he added, “Make sure you do it carefully.”
If hiring is expensive, it means losing a good employee. People say Replacing a leaving employee costs an average of 21% of their annual payment.
But the answer is not simply forcing content practitioners into the traditional marketing career ladder. If businesses aim to turn every marketer into a brand-selling machine, they're missing the point of the experience economy – and jeopardizing their ability to retain talented communicators of the future. .
Your HR department almost certainly already has an established career ladder for traditional marketing roles. In other words, do they have a description of what it means to be an entry-level marketing professional, a marketing executive, senior manager, director, etc.
But few organizations have a consistent path for content practitioners. I know because I have been asked many times to help the organizations that create them.
I'm not suggesting roles, titles, or even the type of team you should build. (If you're interested in my recommendations for those, read on 7 Core Roles of 2020 Content Marketing Teams .)
I encourage content leaders to work with their HR to establish a formal career ladder for the content team roles you have now (and the roles you want to build). . This gives everyone on your team something to move on and understands the skills and expectations for moving into an advanced role.
# Content leaders must work with HR to establish a formal career ladder for content roles or @Robert_Rose via @CMIContent said risk losing their best employees. Click to post a Tweet
Sample content marketing career ladder
A career ladder is a practical route to advancement to higher levels of responsibility, salary, and authority.
I created this basic content career progression example to help content leaders customize the career ladder for their team. It shows one direction for leadership roles (strategic and people management positions) and one for specific skill positions (writer, videographer, visual designer, etc.) individual collaborator level.
The team leader path shows progress from manager to director, senior director to vice president of content (or Content Director ) of the CMO. The individual collaborator pathway for skills positions shows advancement of three levels.
Click to enlarge
Wherever your team members fall down this path, you've created somewhere for them to go (and the requirements to get there).
A few things to note about this model:
- Although individual collaborator titles may be named differently (design director or design team lead instead of design director), levels 1, 2, and 3 are generally more appropriate for managers, supervisors, and other professionals. director or senior director title for compensation.
- Individual contributors can move up to the top (I find that this almost always involves a small step back in title, as noted in the diagram.)
- Roles can converge as a team member progresses up the ladder. For example, as a content strategist moves into director and senior director positions, the role may merge with that of a content marketer as responsibilities expand to include the role of a content marketer. leadership of both.
Sample career level description and responsibilities
As I mentioned, this article is not about what team roles you need or what your team structure should look like.
But to help you develop your own ladder, I've created this template that shows the leadership path for a content marketer or content strategist from beginner to VP of content.
The level description shows the characteristics of each level:
- Entry level coordinator. Just learned. New to the team. Work to support a single function.
- Manager. A performing artist. Solid skills in their role, can start managing and building relationships
- Manager. A seasoned manager can effectively and efficiently manage and drive change, as well as lead the team.
- Senior Director. Skilled team leader with considerable management experience. Comprehensive strategic and business management skills.
- Vice President of Content. Dynamic and effective leader, capable of managing multiple teams and developing talent.
The chart also lists growing responsibilities for each role:
- Entry level coordinator. Write and/or manage editorial calendar . Create basic content and/or coordinate work across channels or teams.
- Manager. Create and manage content calendars. Write , edit, proofread, and help evaluate content performance. Manage small teams, freelancers and vendors.
- Manager. Management and measurement group and channel for efficient distribution and balance content marketing efforts. The management team is responsible for the content standards, including SEO structured content, and content management.
- Senior Director. Guide all aspects of content marketing and content strategy , which includes groups that manage owned, earned, and shared media. Manage the team and be responsible for resource provisioning across content performance models.
- Vice President of Content. Create and oversee all aspects and deliver global content initiatives across multiple platforms and formats to drive engagement with consumers and audiences. Directing and supervising content business activities, administration , technology and standards-based operations of the content. Manage overall teams that create standards and best practices (both people and technology) for content creation, distribution , maintenance, content retrieval, and content repositioning. Own groups across all owned media experiences.
Start discussing career content
I have put together this framework to provide a career path for content practitioners.
Content Marketing and content strategy model Your team will determine the number, type, and seniority of the people who fill your team (and how your team scales over time).
You'll note that the frame shows the vice president of content transitioning to a more traditional marketing director role or to an extensive marketing leadership role. The point is that content responsibility should be part of that leadership role.
Think of the framework as the beginning of the content career ladder discussion, not the end.
It's great that content marketing has grown to the point where companies need a career path for valuable content practitioners. Now it's time to actually develop one.
Cover photo by Joseph Kalinowski / Content Marketing Institute
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