*Post updated July 2021*

Content creation and marketing is time-consuming, as we know, which is why a content manager could help.

Content marketing isn’t a top priority for many business owners. As you get busier and your small company starts to grow you might want to pass some responsibility to a someone else.

There’s plenty of evidence that content marketing as an activity has been around for a lot longer than there’s been a name for it. However, the role of content manager seems to be hard to define, and something that not everyone is aware of.

As the work I do for my clients has evolved, I’ve become more interested in taking on the day to day management of a company’s output.

What Does the Content Manager Do?

The first result that comes up in an internet search comes from a career test website, Sokanu¹, which says that a content manager is responsible for the content on a website.

“Their ‘content strategy’ is to create, write and manage content so as to achieve business goals and be a voice for the company.”

Similarly, in her 2015 book Global Content Marketing, marketing consultant Pam Didner² says that the content creator is also known as a copywriter or digital marketing manager.

She also says that the role is linked to that of the webmaster, who is responsible for making sure site pages are refreshed with new content as soon as it’s available.

On the Sokanu page, it explains that the manager works with a content management system (CMS). This makes the job more technical than that of a traditional copywriter.

A quick search on Amazon reveals that four of the top five books on content management are focused primarily on systems.

If you’re interested, number two is Marcus Sheridan’s They Ask You Answer. So this is either something to do with keywords or an acknowledgement that there’s more to it.

Based on this brief research, it would seem that the term has been coined in response to a need for someone to manage all the content. But there’s an overlap with the computer application aspect.

What Does the Role Actually Involve?

So what does that mean in practise? There is a real opportunity for talented writers to expand their offering in the digital era.

Didner says that many companies outsource their ‘content marketing related responsibilities to agencies and freelancers’.

And there is an emphasis on the need for good writing skills, even if the content manager is in charge of a team of writers.

In a blog post from Marketo³, a marketing automation company, their Content Program Manager outlines a typical day. She talks about creation and publishing content, as well as dissemination.

Likewise, an article in Promodo⁴ from a content manager explains that she writes two 800-word blogs a week and a 1,500 word article once a month. That sounds like a copywriter job!

The need is clearly there for content managers who can also take on the content creation. And perhaps using a CMS isn’t quite as terrifying as it sounds.

WordPress has made website building and maintenance much more straightforward for non-experts. So anything is possible if you’re willing to try!

¹https://www.sokanu.com/careers/content-manager/
²www.pamdidner.com
³https://blog.marketo.com/2012/09/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-content-marketing-manager.html
⁴https://www.promodo.com/blog/day-in-the-life-being-a-content-manager-in-a-digital-marketing-company/

(all links correct and live as of 13.03.18)