How Long Does it Take to Learn Content Marketing?

Like many aspiringDigital Marketers, you might want to learn content marketing but worry that it will take too much time. Learning how to create a content marketing campaign takes only about three weeks to a month. Of course, this depends on several factors, including experience with content creation, social media, technology, data collection and analysis, and marketing principles. Keep reading to learn about how you can learn content marketing and some resources to help speed the process along.

What is Content Marketing?

Content marketing relies on content created with a specific audience in mind and designed to appeal to the interests or problems of that audience. This could be blog posts, articles, reports, ebooks, videos, podcasts, or other media. The content builds and supports a relationship with the audience through social media, email, or websites.

Content doesn’t push a product, service, or brand. It focuses on what the audience is interested in, and Content Marketers learn that through data analytics. The content is relevant and valuable to the audience and rarely mentions the brand or product. Relevant content tells consumers a relatable story and gives them a sense of belonging to a group.

Read more about what content marketing is and why you should learn it.

What Can You Do with Content Marketing?

Content marketing helps you connect with your audience, improve brand loyalty, generate leads, and increase sales. Unlike traditional marketing, which makes a direct pitch for products, content marketing is based on storytelling and rarely mentions a brand or sales. The content appeals to readers by helping them with a problem or issue. 

The first step in content marketing is to determine your audience and what they care about using Google Analytics and social media analytics tools. Once you know your audience’s interests, you can begin to draft content that addresses those needs. This helps build a relationship with your readers, which is crucial to improving brand loyalty. 

Although content rarely mentions the brand or product, relevant content tells a story that consumers relate to best. It gives them a sense of belonging to a group. Content marketing creates more customers than traditional marketing, and these customers are also more loyal. They feel connected to the company or brand and are more likely to buy again. This connection develops through storytelling that resonates with followers.

Content marketing also generates more leads than traditional marketing. Consumers prefer to learn about companies and products through articles and blog posts rather than advertising. Finally, content marketing costs less than traditional marketing and leads to higher conversion rates.

Average Time it Takes to Learn Content Marketing.

Some people learn new information more quickly than others, but experts agree that the average time it takes to learn content marketing is three weeks to a month. The actual amount of time depends on what skills you bring to the table and how much time you are able to spend studying. 

If you have good communication skills and are a quick writer, that will shorten the time it will take you to learn content marketing. Data collection and interpretation can be more of a challenge, but taking a class can speed up the process. Learning tools for keyword research, creating publishing schedules, and automating your posts can take a while to pick up on. Classes are the most efficient and economical way to acquire the skills you need to switch to a career as a Content Marketer, and spending a few hours in a bootcamp course can go a long way to speed up the amount of time it takes to learn content marketing.

Other Factors

Other factors that influence the time it will take you to learn content marketing are your ability to create content, your understanding of social media, your comfort level with technology, your understanding of how data works, and your knowledge of marketing.

Content Creation

If you have some content creation skills, it won’t take as long for you to learn content marketing as for some other people. If you enjoy writing, have experience taking pictures, or know how to shoot and edit videos, you will have an easier time learning content marketing. The ability to create engaging content is the bedrock of content marketing because it helps you connect with your audience. Content is defined as written, visual, or audio media posted online, downloaded, or shared with others. Content Marketers use content links and social media posts to share information, educate the audience, build relationships and increase sales.

Social Media Experience

In addition to adding content to webpages, Content Marketers make posts on social media to nurture a relationship with a target audience, build brand loyalty, and increase sales. If you have been navigating the world of social media for a while–posting, sharing, and liking–you will have a head start on learning content marketing.

Familiarity with Technology

Content Marketers do their job online, so familiarity with technology will put you in a good position to learn content marketing more quickly. If you are used to using some software, it will be easier to learn how to use the tools that help with content marketing, like keyword research, publishing, or automation.

Data Analysis

Data is crucial to digital marketing, and content marketing is no exception. If you are comfortable working with data and numbers, you will learn content marketing more quickly. Content Marketers use data to define their target audience, gauge the performance of the content on websites and social media platforms, and track what customers do on the company website. Knowing something about how data works will put you ahead of the class.

Principles of Marketing

Finally, another factor that can help you learn content marketing faster is familiarity with the four principles of marketing. Understanding the product, price, place, and promotion can help you plan your content campaigns and master content marketing more quickly.

Level of Difficulty, Prerequisites, & Cost 

The level of difficulty of any subject depends on your experience and abilities. This is true of content marketing also. Whether you will have difficulty learning content marketing depends on your level of interest, the time you have to devote to study, and your motivation. Then it probably wouldn’t be hard for you to learn content marketing and change careers, especially if you sign up for a certificate course.

There are no formal prerequisites for learning content marketing, but a few skills can make the experience easier. Do you love to write? Are you a good storyteller? If you are comfortable with technology and like working with numbers, learning to use content marketing tools will be easier. Beyond that, creativity, persistence, and the ability to multitask will make learning content marketing smoother.

You can learn content marketing for free, but most people find classes more efficient. The costs of classes vary, with on-demand video courses costing less than in-person or live online sessions. As far as tools go, some of the most widely used tools, like Google Analytics, are free, and others, like Moz, have a free version to get you started. SEMRush is another useful content marketing tool, and while it can be expensive, you get a seven-day free trial to try it out first. 

Read about how difficult it is to learn content marketing.

Watch a Free Content Marketing Online Course

Maybe you aren’t sure what content marketing is all about or if it is for you. You can take some free courses and tutorials to find out. Check out Noble Desktop’s free seminar, The Pillars of Digital Marketing Success, to learn about content marketing and other digital marketing topics.

There are many free video courses to give you an idea of how content marketing works. Udemy offers Content Marketing 101: A Free Guide for Beginners and Pros. Hubspot has the Ultimate Guide to Content Marketing in 2022, and many free tutorials are available on YouTube to get you started.

Read about more free content marketing videos and online tutorials.

Learn Content Marketing with Hands-on Training at Noble Desktop

You can learn content marketing with hands-on classes at Noble Desktop. Taught by expert instructors, class sizes are small and give you ample opportunity to interact with the instructor and the other students. If you want to learn more about content marketing, sign up for Noble's Content Marketing Bootcamp. This course covers an introduction to content marketing and techniques for content creation and promotion, including how to measure the success of your content marketing.

If you want to go a step further, try Noble's Digital Marketing Certificate course. It covers email marketing, SEO, Google Analytics and Google Ads, and all major social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and LinkedIn Marketing. You also get a Streaming for Social Media course and a portfolio class. If you want, you can retake any class for free for up to a year. To find out more about content marketing and change careers, visit Noble Desktop's digital marketing page.

Key Insights

• Content marketing helps you connect with your audience, improve brand loyalty, generate leads, and increase conversions.

• You can choose between in-person, live online, or on-demand classes.
• There are free resources to help you learn content marketing, too.
• Experts agree that learning content marketing takes a few weeks to a month.
• Some skills can help you learn content marketing more quickly, for example,
• Content creation
• Social media experience
• Familiarity with technology
• Data analysis
• Principles of marketing
• You can receive comprehensive content marketing training through an in-person or live online course with Noble Desktop.