| Detail | For this role |
|---|---|
| Department | Marketing |
| Level | Manager |
| Reports to | Head of Marketing |
| Direct reports | Content Marketing Specialist, Content Writer, Graphic Designer, Video Editor |
| Experience | 6 to 9 years in content, journalism or marketing, including 2 years managing writers |
Content Marketing Manager job description template
Copy this job description, replace the text in square brackets and post it on your careers page or a job portal.
Job title: Content Marketing Manager
Department: Marketing
Reports to: Head of Marketing
Location: [City], [office, branch or site]
About the role
A Content Marketing Manager plans and produces the content that brings buyers to a company and helps them decide: blogs, guides, case studies, videos, newsletters and social content. They own the editorial calendar, lead writers, designers and video editors, and tie every piece to a search, social or sales purpose. The role is common in SaaS, B2B services, education, healthcare and consumer brands, and is measured on organic traffic, content-led leads and how often sales uses the material.
Key responsibilities
- Build the content strategy around buyer questions, search demand and the sales cycle, and agree it with the head of marketing.
- Run the editorial calendar with topics, formats, owners, deadlines and distribution channels for each month.
- Brief writers, designers and video editors with outlines, sources, keywords and examples, and edit drafts for accuracy and voice.
- Work with the SEO team on topic clusters, internal links and refresh plans for pages that are losing rankings.
- Produce case studies and customer stories with sales and customer success teams, with written customer approval before publishing.
- Create gated assets such as e-books, industry reports and webinars that generate leads for the sales team.
- Distribute content through newsletters, social media, partner sites and sales outreach, not only the company blog.
- Maintain a style guide and a fact-checking routine so that claims, figures and product details are correct.
- Measure traffic, engagement, leads and sales use for each piece, and retire or rewrite content that no longer performs.
- Manage freelance writers and content agencies, including rates, quality reviews and payment approvals.
Requirements
- Graduate or postgraduate degree in English, journalism, mass communication or marketing
- A portfolio of published long-form content
- A content marketing or SEO certification is an advantage
- 6 to 9 years in content, journalism or marketing, including 2 years managing writers
KRAs and KPIs for a Content Marketing Manager
Key result areas for the appraisal form, each with a KPI you can measure every month or quarter.
| Key result area | How to measure it |
|---|---|
| Organic traffic | Organic sessions to content pages growing each quarter at the rate agreed in the plan |
| Content-led leads | Leads from downloads, newsletters and webinars at or above the monthly target |
| Publishing cadence | At least 90 percent of the editorial calendar published on the planned dates |
| Sales use | A current case study for each priority industry, used in live deals every quarter |
| Content accuracy | Zero factual corrections needed after publishing on high-traffic pages |
| Content refresh | Top 50 pages reviewed and updated at least twice a year |
Skills and tools
Tools used day to day: WordPress or a headless CMS, Google Analytics 4, Google Search Console, Ahrefs or Semrush, Grammarly, Canva, HubSpot.
Reporting line and career path
Next roles: Head of Marketing, Head of Brand, Head of Digital Marketing
Interview questions for a Content Marketing Manager
- How do you decide which topics to write about next quarter?
- Show us a piece of content that generated leads. How did you measure it?
- A subject expert keeps missing review deadlines. How do you keep the calendar on track?
- What do you check before publishing an article that contains statistics?
- How would you turn one webinar into ten pieces of content?
- Which of your published pieces would you retire today, and why?
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What does a content marketing manager do?
A content marketing manager plans, produces and distributes content that attracts and convinces buyers. They run the editorial calendar, brief and edit writers and designers, work with SEO on topics, produce case studies with sales and measure the traffic and leads each piece brings.
What is the difference between a content writer and a content marketing manager?
A content writer researches and writes the pieces. A content marketing manager decides what should be written and why, plans the calendar, edits and approves work, manages distribution and answers for the traffic and leads content brings. Many managers start their careers as writers.
What skills does a content marketing manager need?
The role needs excellent writing and editing, working knowledge of SEO, the ability to interview customers and subject experts, basic analytics and the discipline to run a calendar with many contributors. Knowing the industry you write about makes the content far more credible.