Last week, I talked about the three main differences between content marketing writing and traditional journalism. Today, I wanted to talk about the similarities between the two types of writing to further illustrate that successful freelance writers can easily use the skills they already have to provide content marketing writing services to brands.

Here are four similarities that I have found between traditional journalism and content marketing writing:

1. Solid Writing is the Cornerstone – With both types of writing, you need to write solid pieces that are grammatically correct, clear, concise, accurate, and free from typos. No matter the deliverable, client or audience, you must provide your clients with well-written content.

2. Sourcing and Interviewing is Key – What often is the difference between an OK piece of writing and a great one is finding the right source. This is true in both content marketing and traditional journalism. Finding the right source brings authority and credibility to your writing. And if you are able to get great quotes, your readers will be more engaged in what you are saying.

3. Yes, there is an editing process – It’s very rare that you send a story to a consumer or trade publication and the editor does not make changes. The same is true with content marketing deliverables. As with traditional journalism, a great editor will work with a writer to create an even stronger piece that is still in the writer’s voice.

4. Great story ideas will help you stand out from the crowd – Editors love writers who make their jobs easier, especially ones that come up with interesting story ideas that are a fit for their publication or brand. I have found that I often get repeat assignments simply because I shoot off a quick pitch to an editor that I have previously worked with. In many ways, this is even more important in content marketing because it illustrates to your client that you understand their audience. I’m working on a post about finding great pitch ideas for content marketing.

Hopefully at this point, you are nodding and realizing how many of the skills you already have will be used in content marketing writing. I honestly think that in many ways the shift between traditional journalism (both online and print) and content marketing is very similar to shift the most writers made in the past decade from solely writing print articles to offering online articles and blogs.

Have you seen the same similarities? Any others that you have noticed?