Carlow Today & Tomorrow | Blog

If you want to pursue a career in digital media or as a communications professional, content marketing is a term you should know. 

Marketing has traditionally been exclusively about selling goods and services. In recent years, however, a new approach, content marketing, has emerged—and it offers numerous career options for aspiring communications professionals. 

What is Content Marketing?  
The Content Marketing Institute describes content marketing as follows:

Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience—and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.

The marketing platform HubSpot also points out that the goal of content marketing “is to reach your target audience and increase brand awareness, sales, engagement and loyalty.” 

How Companies Use Content Marketing
Notably, how content marketing differs from traditional marketing is in its focus on providing brand-aligned content that a prospect finds valuable. For example, Wistia, a video hosting platform, created a series of videos highlighting content from companies that, instead of “going viral,” attracted relatively few views but still had a sizable impact. Meanwhile, MassMutual, a financial services company, launched a content marketing campaign on social media to raise awareness about the “uncomfortable truths” of financial planning. The social posts linked to pages on the company’s website that featured helpful videos, articles and savings calculators. 

Tactics used in content marketing run the gamut from any combination of videos to articles, buyer’s guides, newsletters, research studies, whitepapers, infographics, useful tools and more. 

Content marketing can also incorporate a full range of publishing and distribution platforms, including websites, social media, blogs, email, podcasts and even print publications. Most brands that are successful at content marketing, however, stick to a subset of platforms, being careful not to spread their finite resources—budget dollars, focus, time—too thin. 

Career Options in Content Marketing With a Communication Degree
There is good news if you aspire to work in content marketing. The employment website Indeed has identified 15 job options in content marketing, including production assistant, graphic designer, copywriter, brand manager and marketing research analyst. 

The bottom line is that the knowledge and skills you will gain while studying digital media or communications will position you well for a career in content marketing.

Your future begins with a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication from Carlow University in Pittsburgh. Choose from multiple program-specific tracks, each of which will provide access to hands-on learning opportunities, such as developing your news writing and research skills or polishing your broadcasting skills. Classroom and real-world practice help you hone problem-solving, team-building and critical thinking skills, all highly sought after by employers.

Tags: understanding content marketing for communication professionals