How to start a career as a content manager       

A content manager is a specialist responsible for creating, editing, planning, and optimizing content for various media platforms and resources, such as websites, social networks, blogs, etc. A content manager's tasks may include selecting topics for content creation, writing and editing texts, coordinating work with designers and other team members, and analyzing the effectiveness of publications using various tools.

This profession usually requires basic knowledge of digital marketing software, tools, and methods with an emphasis on content and SEO. What skills will help a content specialist become a sought-after professional, what salary can be expected, and how a beginner can start in this position from scratch - we will tell you further in the article.

Who is a content manager: features of the profession

A content specialist fills online resources (websites, blogs, social media pages) with content: texts, graphics, videos, audio, and other materials related to the product. All of this works to enhance the company's image, promote the brand online, and attract new customers.

The expert develops a promotion strategy independently or creates it together with a marketer. The content strategy includes all distribution channels and their interaction with each other. Such a specialist is fully responsible for all information published on the company's resources and analyzes the effectiveness of message distribution. This profession can be mastered at any age without experience or transferred to it from a related industry.

Duties and tasks

Job descriptions may give the impression that the profession of a content manager is only related to filling websites: product cards/descriptions, thematic articles, and images. In fact, it is closer to the profession of an editor, partially overlapping with PR and SEO.

Here are the main tasks performed by such a specialist:

• Developing a content strategy and creating a content plan.
• Competitor analysis, study of statistics and key market trends.
• Communication between all specialists and contractors involved in the creation, placement, and analysis of content.
• Writing or ordering texts, photos, designs, and video materials.
• Working with photo and video stocks, the simplest image/video processing in editors.
• Publishing posts on all platforms and platforms.
• Preparation and launch of individual products/landing pages as part of promotions and advertising campaigns.
• Tracking statistics on reach and responses to posts and publications.
• Preparing reports on posted material and received feedback.
• Editing and posting publications on the website according to the recommendations of SEO specialists.

Pros and cons of the profession 

The profession of content manager has its pros and cons, like any other. Among the advantages:

• You can work with different content formats, studying their features.
• Good prospects for career growth and development: marketer, specialist
• promotion, project manager, art director.
• Experience working with various resources, specialists, and contractors - this base will be useful in many areas.
• Suitable for starting a career, remote and project work, and changing activities.
• Market and competitor analytics, and experience in strategy development will come in handy if you decide to open your own business: at the start, you will be able to deal with content yourself and write competent terms of reference for performers.

The disadvantages include:

• The result of the work depends on many factors that are difficult to influence, including performers, search engine algorithms, or social networks.
• You have to carefully monitor for errors in texts and media content, which cannot always be corrected after publication.
• Low salary for entry-level and mid-level positions.
• Sometimes the work can be monotonous and tiring: for example, if you need to constantly fill out product cards using the same template.

Salary level

Content managers work in state, commercial companies, advertising, digital agencies, online stores, and information portals. A specialist's earnings depend on their qualifications, experience, and work style, and can also vary significantly depending on the region and company where the specialist works. You can be an employee of a company and receive a salary, and sometimes a percentage of the sale of goods. A freelance content manager negotiates with the client about the cost of the project as a whole or calculates the payment from his own price list.

In general, the average salary of content managers in different cities of Ukraine can range from 10 to 26 thousand hryvnias. According to data from 1097 vacancies posted on the Work.ua website over the past 3 months, the average salary of content managers is 16 thousand hryvnias.

The average salary for a content manager worldwide is $77,582 per year. The annual salary range varies from $68,116 to $87,096 and varies by country:

• Сполучені Штати Америки – від $45,000 до $96,000;
• Німеччина – €26,000 до €57,000;
• Велика Британія – £35,982 до £47,225.

Professional development 

The professional development of a content manager includes various stages and opportunities for career growth. The main ones are:

1. Junior Content Manager. At this stage, the specialist is engaged in creating, editing, and publishing content under the supervision of more experienced colleagues. It is important to focus on learning and developing the necessary skills.
2. Middle Content Manager. A content manager already has some experience and can work on more complex projects, interact with clients and teams, plan content strategies, and analyze the results of their work.
3. (Senior Content Manager/Content Lead). At this stage, the specialist can lead a team of content managers, develop and implement content strategies at a high level. It is important to have deep knowledge in the field of content marketing, SEO, SMM and other related fields.
4. Management (Content Director/Head of Content). Managing the content department, strategic planning and interaction with other departments of the company. Development and implementation of global content strategies, mentoring and developing the team.

With the acquired experience, a content manager can provide consulting services on content management and content strategy, conduct trainings, workshops, lectures, or write books and articles on this topic.

Sometimes such specialists move to related positions and build a career as expert writers, content marketers and SEO specialists. Career prospects are associated with mastering related areas (programming, web design, SEO optimization), improving skills within the framework of specialization. In general, you can choose different paths for professional growth depending on personal interests and goals.

How to become a content manager

Today, there is no single generally accepted program for the education and training of content managers. There are also no strict selection criteria, and content specialists become both specialists with technical and humanitarian education. And while techies build careers with a bias towards SEO and web analytics, former graduates of journalism schools and philologists rely on high-quality publications.

A content manager must have such qualities (Soft Skills) as accuracy, attentiveness, focus, ability to make independent decisions, responsibility, patience, perseverance, communication and organizational skills, logical thinking, high level of concentration, distribution and switching of attention, developed imagination, analytical mindset, broad erudition, creative abilities, emotional stability.

Professionally important qualities (Hard Skills) include:

• Writing skills. The ability to create high-quality texts that meet grammatical, stylistic, and brand requirements.
• Understanding of SEO principles and the ability to optimize content for search engines.
• CMS. Experience with content management platforms such as WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, etc.
• Graphic Design. Knowledge of graphic design tools such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator.
• Video Editing. Skills in working with video editors, such as Adobe Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro.
• Analytics: The ability to analyze data about content performance using tools such as Google Analytics.
• Experience with social media and social media management platforms such as Hootsuite or Buffer.
• Basic knowledge of HTML and CSS for formatting and styling content.
• Project planning and management skills, ability to meet deadlines and coordinate team work.
• Copywriting and editing. Skills in creating attractive headlines, slogans, and advertising texts.

Training options for a content manager

You can master the profession yourself, using all kinds of YouTube videos, books, forums, self-tutors, etc. Pros - free or very inexpensive. Cons - there is no system, self-study may be ineffective. You can also take courses on one of the educational platforms. Such classes are designed for people without special training, so they will suit most people. Here are some recommended courses:

1. Coursera. “Content Strategy for Professionals” Specialization від Northwestern University.
2. Udemy. “Content Marketing Masterclass” course to learn the basics of content marketing.
3. LinkedIn Learning. The “Content Marketing Foundations” course for learning the basics of content marketing and the “Learning Content Management Systems” course for learning the skills of working with content management systems.
4. EdX. Micromaster's program "Content Strategy" from the University of Washington.
5. Google Digital Garage. Безкоштовний курс “Fundamentals of digital marketing” для загального розуміння цифрового маркетингу, включаючи контент-маркетинг.
6. HubSpot Academy. “Content Marketing Certification” course for acquiring content marketing skills.

These courses cover various aspects of content management and content marketing, from content creation and editing to SEO and analytics. In addition, there are many other platforms and resources for learning that can be found online.

The profession of a content manager is important in the modern world of digital marketing and online communications. To become a successful content manager, study how the content of different companies is organized: from online stores to large brands, thematic portals. Master the programs that can be useful in your work: Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere; html and CSS layout. Follow new formats and platforms (video, AR, VR, videos for TikTok) to be able to work with them.