7 traits of successful content marketers

Developing great content isn’t easy.

Beyond certain skills and knowledge, good content marketers exhibit particular qualities.

Whether you’re a one-person operation or a chief marketing officer managing a large department, work to cultivate these seven qualities in yourself and the people around you:

1. Patience

Content marketing isn’t a sprint; it’s a marathon-and the finish line keeps moving. It’s frustrating to experiment and fail or to see now-sputtering tactics that once worked beautifully. In this industry, patience is more than a virtue; it’s a requirement.

Cultivating this mindset will prevent you from burning out when things don’t go your way. If you want to master content marketing (or anything, for that matter), you must be willing to spend time sharpening your skills.

Malcolm Gladwell says it takes 10,000 hours to master something, but I’ve been working in marketing for much more than 10,000 hours, and I still feel there’s so much more to learn. This is largely because the industry is always changing.

2. Listening skills