I am not a professional. Yet, I mean. Don’t they always say 10,000 hours to become an expert? It’s a long journey, one with many tangents and side roads. Along the way there are milestones and moments to commemorate how far you’ve come.

So what is one of the best ways to make sure that you are tracking your hard work and progress down the path of becoming a marketing expert? Certification programs! With so many free options on the web, it’s all about finding the right programs that will showcase to other professionals that you have put in the work along the way!

I decided to take on a certification program through Hubspot that helped to define and showcase my personal experiences as an editor with student media. With a Content Marketing Certification, I was able to refine my knowledge about how strong marketing can be driven through internally generated content.

The certification program took approximately 6 hours to complete, including the exam, just a few more steps down the path of 10,000 hours. With videos about a range of topics and resources for developing personal strategies in content creation and management, the program is best structured for those that have no experience with content generation.

The part I most enjoyed about the program was the structure around measuring and analyzing content. It’s often easy to think about the ways that we can generate and brainstorm new ideas. The program helps define metrics for organic and paid methods of content marketing and creation, which can often be a tough spot to help define. Another helpful reminder was the importance of reaching out to other team members to try and help generate ideas--content creation does not have to happen in a void or by yourself!

However, most of the content ended up being reviewed due to my position as a content editor in student media. For example, I work on content generation with our contributors, have my own format of content tracking, and my own content editorial calendar. The process of organizing and generating content as a journalistic editor are parallel to the processes of content generation in marketing.

The goal of both journalism and content marketing is to engage the reader early and with content that is beneficial to the intended audience. By focusing on the personas and audiences in both scenarios, the content will continue to drive connections and increase engagement.

Because of my previous experience, my biggest frustration was how much was review compared to my experiences as an editor. As a professional in journalism during my last two years as a student at Oregon State, I have consistently been implementing these strategies in ways that are best for me. However, I felt that it was still beneficial to complete the certification as a qualifier of my experience in the field of content marketing, editing, and generation.

Above all, I was reminded of the importance of planning. While I didn’t learn much new content from the program, it cannot be forgotten how helpful and strategic it is to plan ahead. An editorial calendar and using brainstorming sessions well ahead of time may seem so simple in theory but are crucial in practice.

Despite my own experiences making the content fairly familiar, I would highly recommend this program to any marketer. Some marketers may unfortunately assume that content marketing is easy, and while it can be, the skills that make it a smooth process cannot be underestimated.

Even if someone is not planning on working directly with content marketing, the strategies can be applied with any organizing or long term strategic planning. Think about that journey. Figuring out how to get from hour 1 to hour 1,000 to hour 10,000 takes strategy, planning, support, a team of professionals to rely on for advice and training.

By starting with content strategy, marketers will be able to look inward and determine what the company offers consumers. Content marketing focuses on how to develop a plan for connecting with customers and finding ways to serve their needs and interests with the company’s value proposition and business model. The alignment of values will create long-term partnership between the company and consumers. Understanding content creation is the foundation for all other marketing, meaning the strategies used will translate into other strategic models.

I would recommend this to a friend, a marketer, an accountant, an engineer, every person in management--content is the core of how a business will operate in marketing. Every individual in a company should learn to at least see the importance of content marketing. Maybe they’ll be able to help brainstorm ideas. Maybe they’ll guest write a blog post on content directly related to their department and its strengths. It’s all one more step, one more hour down the journey of becoming a professional, an expert.

So carry on. Take the step. Start your journey and find the strategies you have within you to generate new ways to engage with customers. You just might surprise yourself along the way.