Adtech Has a Content Talent Problem

I was, at best, a mediocre computer science student. I took an introductory comp sci course during grad school while writing my doctoral comparative literature dissertation. I wasn’t completely hopeless, but I knew while taking six hours to complete elementary assignments that the class’ best students were completing them in an hour. I knew that my sloppy programs, while functional, were far from elegant.

I knew that though writing in human verbal languages comes to me naturally and quickly, writing code would likely never be the same — or that for it to be the same, I would have to dedicate to programming the same 10,000+ hours I’ve put into the craft of writing. As a PhD student and working journalist, I was never going to have the time or inclination to sharpen the craft of programming with the same intensity I’ve put into writing since I was prepubescent. So, I accepted that coding, while certainly something at which I could’ve tried my hand, was not my second calling.

Now, I want you to imagine something. I’m the head of a content marketing agency. I want you to imagine me taking aside one of my staff writers, ex-journalists or humanities scholars with the same skill set as mine, and saying, “Hey, you took a few comp sci classes. Can you code a crucial piece of software we need to run our business?” Or maybe I outsource that project to a freelancer for a few hundred bucks. And then, after my now-part-time programmer or inexperienced freelancer has coded the software, I take a stab at editing it because, hey, I’ve seen code before.

This is how many adtech companies produce the content that they hope to use to build relationships with their customers, win over prospects, and drive revenue. They ask product managers, salespeople, or paid marketing specialists to moonlight as professional writers. Or they outsource it to freelancers off Fiverr with little to no quality assurance. Or they let their executives take a red pen to a blog post, press release, or byline draft and rewrite half of it despite being untrained in the craft.

This is the state of much content marketing in adtech. I know this not just because I’m a content marketer and PR professional myself. I know this because I’ve been editing thought leadership byline drafts and reading press releases for nearly five years as the editor of a martech trade publication. 

Most of the bylines I reject get rejected because I either can’t divine the piece’s unclear thesis, or I can’t figure out how to recommend the author amend its disorganized argumentation. Many of the stories I reject get rejected because the press release is promotional pablum, or because it fails to establish that there’s anything new to the supposedly newsworthy announcement.

In short, adtech has a content talent problem. This does not mean there’s not enough writing talent to go around. It means the industry suffers from a structural inability to recognize the difficulty and value of writing at a professional level — and to take the steps required to secure the talent to supply that writing.

Adtech executives, heads of marketing, and PR agency leaders need to contend with three often ignored truths about content marketing (which includes PR, social, and owned content). Otherwise, they risk undercutting their own marketing programs and leaving returns on the table.

1. Writing is a hard skill. It’s not a side project for a product manager or salesperson.

I work with some companies that have fewer than ten or even five employees. In the early days of a startup, people wear multiple hats. That’s perfectly fine.

But as you progress, if you want to use content to attract organic attention, drive social engagement, or connect with readers of industry trades, you can’t rely on cheap freelancers or staff making occasional contributions as content marketers.

As someone who’s edited and written thousands of articles as a journalist, taught college composition, and run a content marketing agency, I ask you to trust me when I say that your readers — your prospects, customers, and investors — can tell the difference between top-notch professional content and casual attempts at multitasking. Unclear theses, unoriginal ideas, and incoherent argumentation do not transform readers into customers, investors, or advocates.

Writing is, as they say, a hard skill. If you want it done right, seek talent with the resume and samples to prove it.

2. Your CMO or CEO probably shouldn’t be line-editing your content.

Executives have a crucial role to play in content marketing. They set the tone for an organization; provide insights that make content original, specific, and helpful; and add value to writing by signing off on it to ensure it reflects the organization’s goals, products, and culture.

But I’ve seen too many marketing teams let higher-ups bludgeon bylines and press releases, transforming them into promotional sermons or sloppy copy. Editors groan when they read these byline drafts and releases; customers click away because they know they’re reading a sales pitch.

I’ve also seen inspiring examples of agency leads and heads of marketing pushing back on C-suite executives with an overactive pen. These marketers know they’ve brought in an expert writer to craft the content, and they can incorporate the exec’s ideas without letting C-suite officers misallocate their own time by trying to be the world’s most powerful first-time copy editor.

Be the marketing team with the courage to suggest that if a non-developer CEO would not rewrite software, a non-writer CEO should not rewrite press releases, either. Trust your talent, and incorporate the exec as a helpful, knowledgeable voice in the room, not your new content marketing manager.

3. To get excellent writing talent, you need to put money behind it (like anything else).

So, you’re down with this argument — you value writing, and you recognize that if you want to use content to grow your business, you’ll need a professional with a robust resume and undeniable chops. What next?

You need to be prepared to put money behind content marketing — just as you’d put money behind top-notch programmers, sales or growth professionals, or management consultants. For the sake of a frame of reference, I charge between $1,000 and $1,500 for a standard article of 600-1,000 words. I started charging these rates after learning that senior colleagues were charging the same. I’d like to flatter myself by thinking that Sharp Pen’s clients pay this fee because we do high-quality, vertically expert, efficient work — though that’s for our clients to judge.

In the era of social selling, content marketing can be a powerful engine of business development. It creates conversation around the work you do, and conversations turn into customers. I’ve seen this in Sharp Pen’s case and in the cases of my clients. But you wouldn’t expect to edge out your competitors with mediocre software. And you can’t expect to stand out in cluttered online environments with B-grade prose. So, if you want to invest in content marketing, make the investment. You don’t half-ass any other part of your business. Why would content be any different?