5 steps to hiring an ‘editor in chief’ for your content

As traditional journalism jobs dry up, analogous positions in content marketing seem to be growing on trees.

That doesn’t mean it’s easy to find a talented and capable editor in chief who can power your product with compelling, best-in-class copy. Remember, not every veteran journalist is suited to the marketing world.

Here are four things every marketing exec should think about when hiring someone to run a content marketing program:

1. Prioritize skills over industry knowledge. You’ll be better off finding someone who has creative talent, even if there’s a learning curve on the nuances of your product. An understanding of how content marketing works certainly helps, but don’t disqualify people if they’re unfamiliar with industry lingo or even the marketing business overall.

You should be publishing unique and varied content that readers can’t get anywhere else, and only seasoned editorial talent can provide that. Find an editor with experience covering a multitude of platforms and content formats, because the workflow and concept development are different.