Five years ago, would knowing ChatGPT or other generative AI tools have been on your content marketer’s things-to-know list?

Probably not.

A year ago, CMI asked content marketers which skills they’d like to develop and sharpen as part of the 2023 Content Marketing Career and Salary Outlook. AI wasn’t even on the radar, while these skills were:

  • SEO (53%)
  • Data analytics (48%)
  • Integration of new technologies (46%)
  • Writing and editing (40%)
  • Audio/video creation (34%).

We asked this year’s Content Marketing World presenters which skills will help content marketers meet the challenges we all face today – and the unexpected developments of the next several years.

AI takes center stage in the advice from the experts who offered their advice. But the full range of answers includes unique takes, unexpected advice, and helpful reminders about content marketing skills to carry you today and through 2028.

Data privacy, strategy, and innovation

We all need to continue to focus on data privacy compliance to ensure that we’re not collecting, storing, or using data in a way that creates risk for the customer or our business. Understanding the potential to leverage blockchain and Web3 solutions to manage data collection and storage will be key to creating hyper-personalized content over the next five years.

Marketers must develop the ability to look at the big picture and identify opportunities. Strategy, creativity, and innovation will be essential skills as more routine work gets turned over to AI. – Brian Piper, director of content strategy and assessment, University of Rochester

It’s critical to have a basic knowledge of what artificial intelligence is, what it means for marketing and business, and how to identify and pilot programs based on existing business problems or use cases. Marketers need to overcome the fear of AI to understand how it can help us do our jobs and love our work even more. – Cathy McPhillips, chief growth officer, Marketing Artificial Intelligence Institute

You don’t need to become a systems engineer or obtain a Ph.D. in linear algebra. However, having a solid grasp of the fundamental architectures at play and understanding how they relate to various aspects of marketing – such as content creation, distribution, and audience consumption – is highly beneficial.

Companies are increasingly leveraging artificial intelligence to streamline operations, save time and money, and boost marketing productivity. Here’s the bottom line: AI won’t take your job. A marketer skilled at AI will take the job of a marketer who is not. Therefore, acquiring a working knowledge of AI principles is key to staying ahead in marketing. – Christopher Penn, chief data scientist, TrustInsights.ai

Two words: Prompt engineering (i.e., how to do it effectively). – Dennis Shiao, founder, Attention RetentionRead More