Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Content Marketing Expert

🎯 Role Definition

The Content Marketing Expert is responsible for creating, optimizing, and scaling high-quality content that aligns with business goals—SEO visibility, organic traffic growth, lead generation, brand positioning, and customer retention. This role blends strategy, hands-on content production, cross-channel distribution, analytics, and stakeholder collaboration to deliver measurable outcomes. The ideal candidate is both a storyteller and a data-driven marketer who can translate product value into compelling content across formats (long-form articles, guides, whitepapers, video scripts, landing pages, email campaigns, and social).

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Content Writer / Copywriter focused on SEO and long-form content
Digital Marketing Coordinator with content responsibilities
Social Media Specialist or Communications Associate

Advancement To:

Content Marketing Manager
Head of Content / Director of Content
Senior Director of Marketing / VP of Marketing

Lateral Moves:

Product Marketing Manager
SEO Specialist / Organic Growth Lead
Demand Generation Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Develop and own a comprehensive content marketing strategy that aligns with corporate objectives — increasing organic traffic, improving search rankings, generating qualified leads, and supporting product launches and retention initiatives.
Plan, produce, and optimize long-form SEO content (pillar pages, tutorials, case studies, whitepapers, thought-leadership articles) that targets prioritized keyword clusters and buyer personas to drive top-of-funnel and mid-funnel demand.
Conduct ongoing keyword research, content gap analysis, and competitive content audits using tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Moz to identify high-impact topics and opportunities for organic growth.
Create and maintain an editorial calendar that coordinates content production, cross-channel distribution, campaign timing, and promotion with product, sales, design, and social teams.
Write and edit high-quality, conversion-oriented copy for blog posts, landing pages, email sequences, ads, video scripts, and downloadable assets with consistent brand voice and clear CTAs that support pipeline generation.
Optimize content for on-page SEO (title tags, meta descriptions, structured data, URL structure, internal linking) and collaborate with engineering/UX to implement technical SEO recommendations.
Own content performance measurement: establish KPIs (organic sessions, keyword ranking, MQLs, conversion rates, time on page), build dashboards (GA4, Search Console), and perform monthly and quarterly content ROI analysis.
Design and run A/B tests and content experiments (headlines, CTAs, content formats, page layouts) in coordination with CRO and product teams to improve conversion metrics and engagement.
Lead content promotion and amplification strategies across owned, earned, and paid channels including email marketing, social media, influencer partnerships, and paid distribution to maximize reach and lead conversion.
Develop and execute content for lead nurturing programs and lifecycle marketing—mapping content to buyer stages, creating segmented email flows, and coordinating with marketing automation platforms (HubSpot, Marketo).
Produce high-quality case studies and customer success stories by interviewing customers, extracting measurable outcomes, and translating results into compelling narrative assets for sales enablement.
Collaborate with product marketing and sales to align content with GTM strategies, product positioning, competitive differentiation, and sales enablement materials (battle cards, one-pagers, playbooks).
Coach and manage freelance writers, content creators, and internal contributors—setting briefs, reviewing drafts, enforcing editorial standards, and managing timelines and budgets.
Lead content localization and international SEO efforts—adapting messaging and optimizing keyword targeting for multi-market launches in collaboration with regional teams.
Produce content briefs and technical documentation for multi-format content production, including multimedia outlines, storyboards for video/podcasts, and design/UX requirements.
Maintain brand voice guidelines and editorial governance—ensuring all content meets legal, regulatory, and compliance standards where applicable (e.g., financial, healthcare, enterprise).
Conduct regular content audits to retire, refresh, or consolidate underperforming pages and to implement content repurposing strategies that squeeze additional value from existing assets.
Drive thought leadership initiatives by developing byline articles, keynote-ready content, and speaking proposals that elevate executive visibility and brand authority in target verticals.
Monitor industry trends, algorithm updates, and content best practices to proactively adapt strategy and maintain competitive advantage in organic search and content marketing.
Coordinate with design, video, and product teams to create multimedia content (infographics, explainer videos, webinars) that complements written content and increases engagement across channels.
Implement and document frameworks for content production, publishing workflows, and cross-functional handoffs to improve speed-to-market and content quality consistency.
Manage content-related budgets, vendor relationships (agencies, freelancers, platforms), and procurement to scale content operations efficiently while meeting performance targets.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc content requests from sales, customer success, and product teams and turn requests into prioritized backlog items.
Perform lightweight data analysis to identify content opportunities (CTR, bounce rate, scroll depth) and recommend actionable improvements.
Contribute to the overall marketing strategy by providing content-led insights and participating in cross-team planning sessions.
Maintain and optimize the CMS (WordPress, HubSpot CMS) content architecture and taxonomies to improve discoverability and site performance.
Assist in setting up and tracking events, goals, and funnels in GA4 and other analytics tools to measure content contribution to business outcomes.
Help source and manage external partnerships (guest posts, syndication, co-marketing) to expand distribution and referral traffic.
Participate in quarterly OKR planning and report progress against content goals to stakeholders and senior leadership.
Support employer branding and recruiting efforts by producing recruiting content, employee stories, and candidate-facing materials.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

SEO strategy and execution (on-page SEO, technical SEO basics, schema/structured data)
Keyword research and content gap analysis using Ahrefs, SEMrush, Moz, or similar
Content management systems (WordPress, HubSpot CMS, Contentful, or similar)
Web analytics and reporting (Google Analytics 4, Google Search Console, Looker Studio)
Marketing automation and email platforms (HubSpot, Marketo, Mailchimp, Klaviyo)
Conversion rate optimization and A/B testing frameworks (Optimizely, Google Optimize, VWO)
Strong copywriting and editorial skills for long-form articles, landing pages, email, and ad copy
Content planning and project management tools (Asana, Trello, Monday, Notion)
Familiarity with HTML/CSS basics and SEO-friendly content publishing practices
Content brief development and documentation for writers, designers, and video producers
Experience with content collaboration and version control (Google Drive, shared CMS workflows)
Multimedia content production basics (script writing, podcasting, video storyboards) and ability to coordinate external production teams
CRM and lead scoring concepts to align content with demand generation and sales pipelines

Soft Skills

Exceptional written and verbal communication with strong storytelling ability
Data-driven decision making and analytical curiosity; able to translate analytics into tactical content improvements
Project and stakeholder management: ability to coordinate multiple cross-functional partners and deadlines
Strategic thinking with strong prioritization instincts for high-impact work
Creative problem solving and ideation to generate fresh content concepts and formats
Attention to detail and editorial rigor in proofreading, fact-checking, and brand consistency
Collaboration and influence: skilled at partnering with product, sales, design, and engineering teams
Adaptability to changing priorities, search algorithm updates, and market dynamics
Coaching and leadership: ability to mentor junior writers and manage external content vendors
Time management and efficiency in running recurring content programs and campaigns

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Communications, Journalism, English, Business, or related field.

Preferred Education:

Master’s degree in Marketing, Communications, Business, or an advanced certificate in digital marketing/content strategy.
Certifications such as HubSpot Content Marketing, Google Analytics Individual Qualification (GA IQ), or SEO certifications from SEMrush/Ahrefs are a plus.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Marketing
Journalism / Communications
English / Creative Writing
Business Administration / Management
Digital Media / Multimedia Production

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 3–7 years in content marketing, content strategy, or similar roles with demonstrated success in SEO content and lead generation.

Preferred:

5+ years of progressive experience owning content strategy or managing content teams at B2B SaaS, tech, agency, or enterprise marketing organizations.
Proven track record shipping high-impact editorial programs that drove organic traffic, pipeline, and revenue.
Experience working with marketing automation systems and cross-functional GTM teams.