{"id":1301,"date":"2017-05-25T15:04:00","date_gmt":"2017-05-25T15:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/commarts.pleather.us\/2017\/05\/25\/7-traits-every-great-content-marketer-must-have\/"},"modified":"2017-05-25T15:04:00","modified_gmt":"2017-05-25T15:04:00","slug":"7-traits-every-great-content-marketer-must-have","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/m2\/2017\/05\/25\/7-traits-every-great-content-marketer-must-have\/","title":{"rendered":"7 TRAITS EVERY GREAT CONTENT MARKETER MUST HAVE"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article originally appeared on\u00a0Column Five<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Developing and promoting great content is no easy game. It takes a lot to run a good operation\u2014and the most important aspect is the people in that operation. Beyond their skill sets and knowledge base, good content professionals exhibit particular qualities that contribute to their success.<\/p>\n

Whether you\u2019re a one-person operation or a CMO in charge of a large department, work to cultivate these seven qualities in yourself and the people around you to improve your content marketing efforts.<\/p>\n

1) PATIENCE<\/h3>\n

Content marketing isn\u2019t a sprint; it\u2019s a marathon without a finish line. Being comfortable with this reality is hugely important. While it\u2019s frustrating to see tactics that used to work become less effective, or experiment with new things that fail<\/a>, it\u2019s imperative to understand that patience really is a virtue when it comes to doing content right for the long-haul.<\/p>\n

Cultivating this mindset will help you avoid burnout when things don\u2019t go the way you\u2019d like. In working with large brands and tiny startups, I know there\u2019s a learning curve for everyone. If you want to master content marketing (or anything), you need to be willing to spend time required to get good.<\/p>\n

As we know, Malcolm Gladwell says it takes 10,000 hours to master anything. Truthfully, I\u2019ve been active in marketing for over 10,000 hours myself, and I still feel like there\u2019s so much to learn\u2014in large part because things are always changing.<\/p>\n

Remember that no one who\u2019s doing this work well and making a name for themselves as a leader started yesterday. Rome wasn\u2019t built in a day.<\/p>\n

Good things take time.<\/p>\n

2) GOOD LISTENING SKILLS<\/h3>\n

Good content marketing isn\u2019t about doing what you want. It\u2019s about serving your customers first. This is where empathy<\/a> comes into play.<\/p>\n

To create excellent content marketing<\/a>, you need to get inside your customers\u2019 minds<\/a>, understand what they struggle with, and look for ways to help fix their troubles. To do that, you need to listen more than you talk. This means both listening to the challenges they face in their day to day\u2014and listening to their feedback on your product or service, no matter how harsh it may be. This outsider perspective is the key to moving in the right direction.<\/p>\n

And customers are not the only ones you should be listening to. Pay attention to anyone and everyone who\u2019s doing great work. Soak up their knowledge like a sponge. As Brandon Mull says, \u201cSmart people learn from their mistakes. But the real sharp ones learn from the mistakes of others.\u201d<\/p>\n

While opportunities to listen might not always easily and organically present themselves to you, regardless of your role, clients, or business model, make it your responsibility to create these opportunities. I find that emailing people to ask for feedback not only works well but is relatively pain-free\u2014and it scales.<\/p>\n

3) CURIOSITY<\/h3>\n

If you\u2019re bored with what you\u2019re doing, it shows in your content. The antidote? Get inspired and mix it up. Curiosity will serve you well here. (Interestingly, creativity guru and author Elizabeth Gilbert encourages people not to look for their passion in life but to follow their curiosity.)<\/p>\n

You should always be interested in learning new things, expanding your skill set, or trying a different approach. In content marketing, an always-changing field, resting on your laurels is death.<\/p>\n

Always assume that there are better, more interesting, and more effective things you could\u2014and should\u2014be doing, then go out and find them. Make curiosity an intrinsic part of your nature. I promise you will tap into some seriously awesome stuff.<\/p>\n

4) HUMILITY<\/h3>\n

There is little room for ego in content marketing. In fact, the more willing you are to be humbled, the more successful you\u2019ll be. The more you experiment and fail, the more you improve\u2014even if it feels humiliating.<\/p>\n

Humility makes you a better team player and allows you to put your customers and brand before yourself. You become more open-minded and willing to engage with others (aka listen!), which helps both personally and professionally.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a big proponent of the \u201cstrong opinions, weakly held\u201d approach to doing things. Adopting this mentality also allows you to encourage and accept constructive feedback\u2014and sometimes even help from others when needed. In the long run, this only helps.<\/p>\n

5) CONFIDENCE<\/h3>\n

While you should be humble<\/a>, it\u2019s also important to build your confidence in your content marketing skills.<\/p>\n

Confidence is the key to not letting an epic failure eat you alive\u2014and to getting back up and trying again. Rewards don\u2019t come to people who give up before they even try; they come to those who are not willing to let their failures define who they are. As Randy Nelson of Pixar says, \u201cThe core skill of innovators is error recovery, not failure avoidance.\u201d The ability to recover, he says, not some innate ability, is the mark of a creative genius.<\/p>\n

Building confidence in yourself and your team requires boldness and courage. The good news is the quicker you bounce back from obstacles, the more your confidence grows. And the more confident you are, the more likely you are to pitch that crazy-but-brilliant idea that just might bring your team to the next level.<\/p>\n

6) DISCIPLINE<\/h3>\n

Maintaining quality and consistency are vital to a successful content marketing operation, but it takes a lot of diligence to maintain. This is why discipline is the key to keeping the engine running.<\/p>\n

Creating and promoting content can sometimes be like going to the gym: four out of five of the times I don\u2019t want to be there, but I power through my workout and 100 percent of the time I\u2019m glad I did.<\/p>\n

Even when it gets hard, frustrating, or confusing, know that the content still needs to be created.<\/p>\n

Now this doesn\u2019t mean you should focus on quantity over quality simply to maintain discipline. It means you should work to strategize and follow through.<\/p>\n

Remember: The only way to track your content\u2019s success (and learn what to do better next time) is to have something to measure it against.<\/p>\n

7) SINCERITY<\/h3>\n

You\u2019ve heard about the importance of authenticity a couple million times by now. That said, there are some common traps that brands fall into in this quest. I\u2019d advise you against the following:<\/p>\n