Joe Pulizzi was first introduced to the field of content marketing in 2000 when he worked as an account manager for Penton Media. At the time, his position focused on non-advertising solutions for the company’s advertising clients. This included creating custom magazines, newsletters, webinars and blogs. In 2001, Pulizzi left to found the Content Marketing Institute.
Pulizzi’s background includes teaching public speaking at Penn State University and three years at Medical Mutual of Ohio as an internal communications manager. In that role, Pulizzi focused on helping departments like legal and marketing deliver more professional materials to their customers.
While he enjoyed the opportunity to work in a managerial position at the media company, Pulizzi recognized content marketing as one of the fastest growing areas of online marketing. It is the center of search engine optimization, online lead generation and social media. Today he might be working on launching a new event, a print magazine or posting to social media channels.
Pulizzi holds a Bachelor of Arts in communication from Bowling Green State University and a master’s degree in communications from Penn State. While there are no special certifications or training necessary to become a content marketing manager, Pulizzi’s background in communications and publications is clearly an asset.
“As I began to learn more about the industry, it was evident that one of the top skills necessary for the field is storytelling. I found that a company could not survive only through traditional marketing. It had to create valuable, compelling and consistent information on a consistent basis similar to what media companies have been doing for years,” he explained.
What it takes to succeed
To be successful in content marketing, you need to be a great storyteller, Pulizzi reiterated. A content marketer can work in any company, but in reality he or she needs to understand the informational pain points of the customer and then tell engaging stories around those pain points.
Writing skills are definitely needed, he added, but it could be other producer-oriented skills, like developing podcasts or video series, for example. A great content marketer has many of the same traits as you would find in a journalist or television producer, Pulizzi said.
“Also, you need to be inquisitive. The industry is changing fast, with new technology platforms, like Instagram and Vine, literally launched daily. Experimentation is critical to success. Most of the social media directors in this industry are self-trained,” he advised.
Pulizzi suggested that a content marketer must be able to work in a constant state of flux. The majority of content distribution channels used today didn’t exist 10 years ago, he pointed out. One the greatest challenges to the career is staying up on the latest technology and trends, which often can feel like a full-time job in itself.
Be sure to spend some downtime away from electronics or the day could consume you with email and social media, Pulizzi advised. He has even instituted electronics-free Saturdays for his family. What Pulizzi likes most about his career is that every day is different. Also, as a virtual company, he and his staff work from home meaning more time spent with his family than most people.
Pulizzi’s advice to inspiring content marketing managers is to hone your writing skills and experiment with technology and social media. Get your social media accounts in order, especially LinkedIn. Choose a niche that you have expertise and passion around, and develop a blog that focuses on answering key questions or problems in that niche. That is probably the best thing any individual can do to succeed in this career, he stated.
Pulizzi also suggested getting involved in an association that promotes content marketing such as the Custom Content Council or the Business Marketing Association. Become a member, and begin to network with other content marketing managers. That can also serve to keep you abreast of changing trends.