Content Manager — Job Description
What is Content Management Lifecycle?
The entire process of crafting and creating, managing, organizing, publishing and retiring or repurposing the content throughout the content’s lifetime within an organization is known as content management lifecycle.
A content management lifecycle is a system that enables the content tacticians to efficiently look over, manage and tackle content programs of all sizes.
Role of a Content Manager in Content Management Lifecycle
A content manager’s role in the content management lifecycle is to construct a constant brand identity for a business or an organization while building its digital presence.
A content manager looks over the marketing strategies designed to enhance consumer engagement all the while building a positive image of the business and the products or services offered by the business.
In order to create content that is interactive on all forms of media to raise awareness about a brand or a business, a content manager uses various sources and types, such as statistics and metrics, of prospect consumer’s information based on demographics and preferences.
Content Manager Responsibilities
In this article, we’ll be discussing the main role or responsibilities of a content manager in the content management lifecycle.
However, this article does not provide a definitive checklist to refer to for evaluation while hiring a content manager. Rather, this article is created to make you aware of the vast scope of a content manager’s responsibilities and how the responsibilities can change and grow over a period of time.
It is also important to note that just as any other job title’s roles and responsibilities depend upon the objectives, organization and superiority of business, similarly, a content manager’s responsibilities and sense of duty are dependent upon a business’s vision, mission and values.
A few of the responsibilities of a content manager are discussed below:
1- Developing & Documenting Content Marketing Strategies
In order to develop an out of the box content marketing strategy, a content manager needs to join the forces with the business development team to learn and gain firsthand information on:
· The prospect and targeted consumers for whom the content is designed for
· The purpose of the content i.e. how the content will offer value and benefit to the consumers
· Ensures that the business’s content marketing strategy is streamlined with the objectives and key results of the business.
2- Define a Channel Plan
It is a content manager’s responsibility to highlight all the mediums, for example, social media platforms, forums and communities, etc. that an organization would be utilizing to connect with the consumers and audience. As well as to design and implement the art of storytelling to narrate the same story as per a channel’s tone and voice.
3- Establish Tools and Technology, Best Practices and Workflow Standards for Managing Content Management Lifecycle
The content manager looks after the production of the content. A content manager defines what the topic is about and what exactly is to be written on the topic and also the tools and devices that are to be used in the content-generating process.
A good content manager optimizes the content for search engine optimization using buzzwords and primary and secondary keywords.
A content manager describes a content format and sets standards for the content to yield more high-quality content. Also determines the content production team and the workflow system the team would be following to keep track of the content and deliver it step by step.
Distribution of the content on various platforms using multiple different tools also comes under the umbrella of the responsibilities of a content manager.
A content manager also highlights and explains the metrics that would be used to determine the content quality, proficiency and effectiveness of the content and the strategy designed to distribute the content on various mediums. Apart from this, a content manager also pinpoints the tools that would be used to track the metrics.
4- Manage & Maintain Content Inventories
Content that every team member has easy access to is the most useful content. Therefore, to keep all the content organized and centralized, a content manager maintains an editorial calendar as well as a content repository to keep all the content assets in a secure place.
5- Collaborate with IT & Technical Teams
To execute and implement the content marketing strategy effectively, it’s essential for a content manager to collaborate with the technical and IT departments so that the content distribution process involves content management system such as WordPress, Woo Commerce and content management platforms is done smoothly and evenly.
6- Collaborate & Coordinate with Other Departments
By collaborating and coordinating with other departments of an organization, a content manager would be able to pinpoint fresh and innovative content opportunities and can convert technical information into valuable pieces of content.
The key benefit of a content manager’s collaboration and coordination with other departments is that the content manager can guide and assist the other employees in improving and enhancing their writing skills to build an efficient in-house team of content writers.
7- Manage In-house & Outsourced Content Creators
All the editors, NLEs, graphic designers, videographers, photographers and writers whether they are hired in-house or are outsourced, are managed and overseen by the content manager.
Qualifications required for a Content Manager
1- Planning & Time Management
A content manager must be a good time manager, communicator and organizer.
A web content manager is also responsible for not just creating good quality content but also for revising and optimizing the old or underperforming content assets.
In an organizational setup, a content manager is the one who maintains the editorial calendars as well as keeps a check on the deadlines of the fellow employees.
2- Understanding of UI/UX Design
A web content manager must have a clear sense of UI / UX designs so that on the basis of their ore existing knowledge, web content managers are able to give valuable suggestions to the IT team regarding the probable website usability problems and website use.
To have a fine understanding and know-how about the user-friendly website elements is a valuable source of information.
3- Analytical Interpretation
A content manager produces content that offers value to a website by giving away the information the people all around the world are interested in.
Hence, it’s important that a content manager is able to interpret the data analytics of the website to gain insight from the data in order to target, reach out and serve the consumers.
The content manager’s value immensely increases when he/she determines when, where and why the visitors stop on a website.
4- Understanding of Marketing Personas
To create content that resonates with the consumers and audience and pushes them down the marketing funnel, it’s important that the content manager is fully aware of the consumer’s needs, desires and wants.
In order to be able to effectively pull this off, a content manager must know where to look for the appropriate information to fashion a marketing persona.
5- Writing Aptitude
The sole purpose of the internet is to share useful information with ease. A content manager’s key skill is the writing skill which determines his / her prowess at content creation, management and distribution.
A content manager’s key skill, as well as responsibility, is to generate highly interactive content with enticing headlines and captivating sub-headlines to convert the leads into consumers and visitors to probable leads.
6- New Media Proficiency
Every day the internet is evolving with new platforms emerging and old ones becoming more efficient. Due to which content distribution now is not just only limited to words and pictures. New and innovative tools such as YouTube, Vimeo and Sound Cloud are where the brands and businesses effectively convey their messages to the consumers.
Hence, a web content manager must be up to date with the latest trends and media tools to be able to achieve their goals efficiently and successfully by making the most of such communication tools and mediums.
7- Technical Know-how
Web content is written in HTML and designed in CSS. Therefore, for a web content manager, mastering the technical know-how is a must. As this technological know-how will make the content manager independent that would help him/her in crafting and exploring new ideas without having to become a burden on somebody else.
Sample Job Description Template for Content Manager
Job Overview
We, ABC Pvt. Ltd., are a leading digital marketing firm in the Capital city. We are seeking a seasoned content manager for our team to help us grow further. If you are a dedicated and ambitious professional then ABC Pvt. Ltd is the best place to further progress in your career.
Responsibilities of a Content Manager
· Developing and documenting content marketing strategies streamlined with the business’s vision, mission and values.
· Managing and maintaining content inventories.
· Establishing tools and technology, best practices and workflow standards for managing content management lifecycle.
· Oversee in-house and outsourced content creators.
Qualifications of a Content Manager
· Familiarity with HTML and CSS.
· Excellent writing skills.
· SEO expertise to produce highly optimized content.
· Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Average Salary of a Content Manager
The average salary of a content manager is $58,887 per year.
