Back to Home

Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Digital Content Manager

💰 $60,000 - $110,000

MarketingContentDigitalCommunications

🎯 Role Definition

The Digital Content Manager is responsible for developing and executing a high-performing content strategy that drives brand awareness, organic search growth, lead generation, and audience engagement across web, mobile, email, and social channels. This role combines content strategy, editorial leadership, SEO and analytics mastery, and cross-functional collaboration to deliver measurable business outcomes. The ideal candidate balances creative editorial judgment with data-driven optimization and operational excellence to scale content programs.


📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Content Coordinator / Content Specialist
  • Digital Marketing Specialist / SEO Specialist
  • Copywriter / Editorial Assistant

Advancement To:

  • Head of Content / Content Director
  • Senior Content Strategist / Content Marketing Lead
  • VP Marketing or Chief Content Officer (larger organizations)

Lateral Moves:

  • Social Media Manager / Community Lead
  • SEO Manager / Organic Growth Manager
  • Product Content Manager / UX Content Lead

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Own and execute the end-to-end content strategy for owned channels (website, blog, landing pages, email, and knowledge base), aligning content initiatives with business objectives, product launches, and seasonal campaigns.
  • Develop, maintain and operationalize a rolling editorial calendar that maps content themes to audience segments, buyer journeys, promotional windows, and SEO opportunities.
  • Lead keyword research, topic discovery, and content gap analysis to prioritize editorial efforts that improve organic search visibility and capture high-value traffic.
  • Produce and/or commission high-quality long-form and short-form content (articles, guides, case studies, white papers, video scripts, infographics) that meet brand voice, conversion goals, and SEO best practices.
  • Implement on-page SEO optimizations (title tags, meta descriptions, structured data, internal linking, content hierarchy) in partnership with SEO specialists to improve rankings and click-through rates.
  • Create clear content briefs with audience, purpose, SEO targets, workflow, and acceptance criteria for internal writers, agencies, and freelancers.
  • Manage a distributed content team and freelance network: recruit, onboard, set priorities, review submissions, provide editorial feedback, and ensure timely delivery.
  • Establish editorial standards, style guides, and quality control processes to ensure consistent voice, accuracy, legal/compliance alignment, and brand alignment across all content.
  • Run A/B tests and content experiments for headlines, CTAs, page layouts, and content formats; measure impact and iterate using statistically sound methods.
  • Analyze content performance using analytics tools (Google Analytics / GA4, Search Console, Looker, or similar) to report on traffic, engagement, conversion, and SEO KPIs; translate insights into actions.
  • Optimize existing content through pruning, consolidation, and refresh programs to increase organic traffic and improve conversion rates.
  • Partner with product, design, CRO, and engineering teams to execute content changes on landing pages, product pages, and help center content that improve discoverability and user experience.
  • Lead content localization and internationalization efforts in collaboration with regional teams and translation partners to ensure culturally relevant and SEO-optimized content for target markets.
  • Coordinate content governance, version control, approval flows, and content lifecycle management in the CMS to maintain accuracy and compliance.
  • Manage content promotion and distribution strategies, including email campaigns, social amplification, syndication partnerships, and outreach to drive readership and backlinks.
  • Build and maintain dashboards and regular executive reports to communicate content ROI, pipeline influence, and strategic recommendations to senior stakeholders.
  • Drive thought leadership initiatives (bylines, industry reports, webinars) and manage relationships with external publishers, influencers, and PR teams to amplify content reach.
  • Oversee multimedia content production (podcasts, video, animation) from concept through scripting, production, post-production, and distribution to ensure cross-format cohesion and repurposing.
  • Implement and govern content tagging, taxonomy, and metadata standards to improve personalization, internal search, and content discovery across channels.
  • Monitor industry trends, competitor content strategies, and algorithm updates to proactively adjust content tactics and seize new traffic or audience opportunities.
  • Manage content budgets, vendor relationships, and contracts with freelancers, content agencies, and production partners to optimize cost and quality trade-offs.
  • Ensure content accessibility best practices (WCAG basics) and inclusive language are applied across all public-facing materials.

Secondary Functions

  • Support cross-functional marketing programs by providing content guidance and assets for demand generation, product marketing, and customer success initiatives.
  • Assist in crisis communication content and rapid-response editorial updates when product, policy, or reputation issues arise.
  • Work with HR and internal comms to support internal knowledge base content and employee-facing resources that reduce reliance on support.
  • Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies when working with product and engineering to scope content work for feature launches.
  • Contribute to content technology evaluations and pilot new tools (CMS plugins, content intelligence, SEO platforms, headless CMS) to improve team productivity.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Content strategy development and execution across multiple digital channels (web, email, social, help center).
  • Advanced SEO knowledge: keyword research, on-page SEO, technical SEO basics, schema/structured data, and Google Search Console usage.
  • Content Management Systems (CMS) experience — WordPress, Drupal, Contentful, or comparable enterprise CMS platforms.
  • Web analytics and reporting proficiency: Google Analytics (GA4), Google Search Console, data visualization and dashboarding (Looker, Tableau, Data Studio).
  • Strong experience writing and editing for web: headlines, metadata, scannable formatting, and conversion-focused copy.
  • A/B testing and experimentation familiarity (Optimizely, VWO, Google Optimize or equivalent) to validate content changes.
  • Basic HTML/CSS familiarity and comfort collaborating with developers to implement content changes.
  • Experience with editorial workflow tools and project management platforms (Asana, Trello, Jira, Monday.com).
  • Multimedia content production experience (briefing video/podcast projects, working with editors, basic audio/video understanding).
  • Email marketing and CMS-linked campaign execution (Mailchimp, HubSpot, Marketo, or similar).
  • Familiarity with content governance, taxonomy, metadata, and tagging for improved search and personalization.
  • Experience managing external vendors, freelance writers, and agencies, including contract and scope management.
  • Knowledge of accessibility (WCAG) and legal/compliance requirements for public-facing content.

Soft Skills

  • Strong editorial judgment and exceptional written communication skills.
  • Data-driven decision-making and the ability to translate analytics into clear content actions.
  • Stakeholder management: ability to influence product, sales, and executive partners without direct authority.
  • Project management and organizational skills: prioritization, deadline management, and resource planning.
  • Collaborative mindset and experience working in cross-functional, matrixed teams.
  • Strategic thinking with the ability to connect content work to business objectives and KPIs.
  • Attention to detail and commitment to quality, accuracy and brand consistency.
  • Adaptability and resilience in a fast-changing digital environment.
  • Leadership and team development: mentoring, feedback, and hiring experience.
  • Creative problem-solving and experimentation mindset.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Communications, Journalism, English, Digital Media, or a related field.

Preferred Education:

  • Master's degree in Marketing, Communications, or an MBA is a plus.
  • Certifications in SEO, content marketing, analytics, or related platforms (Google Analytics, HubSpot, SEMrush, Content Marketing Institute).

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Marketing
  • Journalism / Communication
  • English / Creative Writing
  • Digital Media / UX
  • Information Science

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 3–7 years of progressive experience in digital content, content marketing, or editorial roles; 5+ years preferred for senior positions.

Preferred:

  • Proven track record scaling organic traffic and improving key content KPIs.
  • Experience managing content teams and external agencies.
  • Demonstrated success delivering cross-channel content campaigns tied to measurable business outcomes.