If you’ve agreed that senior leadership over your organization’s content is needed, then the next step is finding the right person for the job. In this second entry of a 3-part blog series on this topic, we’ll take a look at what skills and competencies make for a valuable and effective Chief Content Officer.
3 Must-Have Skills for an Effective Chief Content Officer
1. Second in a three-part series
3 MUST-HAVE SKILLS FOR AN
EFFECTIVE CHIEF CONTENT OFFICER
MARKET
RHYTHM
.COM
2. 2
If you’ve agreed that senior leadership over your
organization’s content is needed, then the next step
is finding the right person for the job. In this second
entry of a 3-part presentation on this topic, we’ll
take a look at what skills and competencies make for
a valuable and effective Chief Content Officer.
OVERVIEW
3. 3
WHAT
DOES
A
CCO
DO?
Category Leadership, People, Conversations, History
Create
Syndicate
Engage
Lead &
Listen
Knowledge
Tools
News
Resources
White-paper
Slideshow
FAQ
Social Post
Blog Post
Comments
Paid Media
Tweet
Email
News Release
Image
Video
Podcast
Infographic
TV
Radio
Forums
Newspaper
Magazine
Newswire
Web Media
Website
Events
Advocates
Blog
Employees
Subscriber
App
Flickr
Slideshare
Facebook
LinkedIn
Scribd
Twitter
Vimeo
Foursquare
Youtube
Ustream
Periscope
Vimeo
(etc.)
4. 3 MUST-HAVE SKILLS FOR AN
EFFECTIVE CHIEF CONTENT OFFICER
4
• Functional Skills
• Creative Skills
• Leadership Skills
6. 6
WRITING
Good writers know how to build a narrative and
have the ability to connect with their audience
and readership. Editorial skills are important as
well to ensure consistency, accuracy, and
integrity for both compelling Calls To Action and
On-Brand messaging.
7. 7
MARKETING & PR
Experience in marketing & PR is needed to
thoroughly understand how great content can
feed into market sectors. In today’s mobile
world, strong familiarity with social media
channels and how to cut through the clutter
within these domains are mandatory for a
successful Chief Content Officer.
8. 8
SALES
A CCO with Direct Sales experience
understands that compelling content is about
propelling customers to buy. Understanding the
needs of the Sales organization is the difference
between having a Chief Content Officer who is
an effective advocate of Sales and one who is
merely a convenient punching bag.
9. 9
CREATIVE SKILLS
What starts to separate the contenders from the
pretenders are strong creative capabilities.
Creativity means understanding the creative
process and how to summon and spark
creativity within others. Process Orientation are
often key to developing fresh content and
nurturing contributors across the organization.
10. 10
LEADERSHIP
Your new CCO has to be fluid and well-versed in
organizational communication & coordination
and has the leadership skills to step out, take
informed risks, bare the brunt of arrows and set-
backs, and rally executives, peers, and
contributors to the crucial Cause For Content.
11. 11
SUMMARY
• A great CCO must have these three skills:
• Writing
• Marketing & PR
• Leadership
12. 12
NEXT STEPS
• Read complete blog post @
marketrhythm.com/3-must-have-skills-for-
chief-content-officer/
• Evaluate the need for a CCO
• Identify the attributes needed in a CCO
• Recruit and hire a CCO