How To Choose The Right Content Marketing Agency
With a few strategic elements, content marketing can work very well.
Businesses that blog generate 67% more leads than non-blogging businesses.
You also get 55% more website visitors and 434% more pages indexed by search engines.
The problem is how to add the pieces needed to get the results?
Content marketing strategy is extremely difficult for beginners. It can look like a giant machine with myriad cogs, wheels and vortices connected in various ways.
43% of companies do not have a documented retention strategy, and it lags behind brands that do.
What if you could outsource your content—from planning to creation to publishing—to someone who really knows how it all fits together? Who has a proven track record?
That's what a content marketing agency is for.
If you want your content done right, but you don't have the experience or knowledge to do it yourself, you can hire a content agency. Here's everything you need to know to find the perfect one.
What is a content marketing agency?
A content marketing agency is a team of experts that helps businesses plan, create and implement a content marketing strategy.
This team typically consists of project and account managers, content strategists, content writers, editors, SEO experts, graphic designers, consultants, salespeople, and more.
What does a content marketing agency do?
Most agencies are full-service agencies, meaning they handle all of your content marketing and take care of everything. This includes strategy planning, content creation and distribution across content channels. You will also:
- Create content marketing campaigns.
- Conduct market research and search engine optimization to find the best audience, topics and keywords for your brand.
- Create a branded content calendar.
- Create most types of content, from written blogs and lead magnets to designed infographics and visual social media posts.
- Make sure your website and your brand content are optimized for search engines.
- Business website and blogging.
- Track and measure results.
As you can see, a content marketing agency can do anything. Their teams are strong and cover a wide range of skills. This makes hiring a content agency a versatile solution for developing a content plan or helping a stalled business get off the ground.
What to look for when choosing a content marketing agency
There are many content marketing agencies out there these days.
How to choose the right one? Let's take a look at these criteria.
1. Evidence of experience and reliability
You hire a content marketing agency because it needs to have the expertise that your team lacks. This means you need to make sure it actually exists.
Look for previous examples of agency work. Visit their website for testimonials and case studies. Find a list of previous clients and partners.
In particular, look for examples of previous work that fits your needs. Do they usually serve your area? This will be important for brands in specialized industries, such as healthcare, finance or law, where certain content criteria must be met.
Most agencies list the industries they serve on their websites, but if you look at their work samples, you'll find more detailed evidence that they can handle your country.
If an agency doesn't have samples on its website, it probably doesn't have clients yet. It's not a problem if you're on a tight budget - they may have relevant experience that demonstrates their expertise.
If so, visit the About Me page to find staff resumes and information about what makes them experts.
2. Good reputation
Have you seen/heard of other people getting annoyed with this agency? Have you read many good reviews? Or does the agency seem to exist in a vacuum of silence?
The information you find about an agency online should speak volumes about their reputation. You can usually find proof of reputation in the following places:
- Agency website:
- reviews
- Feedback - Recommendations
- Lists of former clients or partners
- In social networks:
- Customer mentions, tags or comments
- On review sites like Expertise, Agency Match and Clutch.co.
- By searching Google for the brand name or "Reviews of [brand name]".
Weigh the good, neutral and bad reviews carefully and consider them in relation to the services you need.
3. Focus on strategy, goals and ROI
Strategy is everything in content marketing. Your content won't go anywhere without a business plan.
This should include setting goals, tracking and measuring those goals, and the type of ROI you want to get from the content.
According to a Semrush survey, 78% of marketers who say their content marketing has been highly successful report that they have a documented content strategy. Most of them focused on content quality, SEO and visual content in their presentation.
The formal process and documentation that comes with content marketing essentially gives you a map to follow.
If the potential agency you're looking for isn't focused on strategy at the end of their content marketing work plan, they won't have a road map to follow to succeed. Continue.
4. Qualified team of creative people
Most brands want experienced developers behind their content. After all, content quality is a big factor in Google rankings, not to mention a good reason why your audience is following you.
When evaluating a creator's skills, consider both their subject knowledge and storytelling skills.
In many industries, it's impossible to create great content without experience - make sure the agency you're considering has content creators with the right experience.
Also think about the specific skills needed for your content. Let's say you need to create video content. If the agency does not have full-time videographers, this is a reason to look elsewhere.
5. Clear project management process
Content marketing agencies tend to juggle multiple clients, projects at different stages, and all the moving parts that come with it. This means they need good project management in the wheelhouse.
You need to know if the agency you choose can deliver results on time and within budget. So pay attention to these criteria so that everything is in order:
- They have included project management as a service in their other offerings.
- They provide an overview of their process, from the idea phase to the results and what happens in between.
- They give you an idea of which team members will affect your project at what stage.
Remember, if you can't find this information on their website, you can always ask when you get to the consultation point at the agency.
6. Good communication
Good communication is the basis of any business relationship. You know it, and we all know it, but putting it into practice is another story.
When evaluating your final choice of content marketing agency, pay attention to how they communicate with you. A bad relationship can be like the canary in the coal mine or the nail in the coffin.
- How quickly did you respond to your first inquiry?
- Have you been going from person to person since then, or have you always been talking to the same person?
- Were responses to emails and phone calls prompt and courteous?
- Do you think your questions were answered satisfactorily?
Finally, remember that this first contact is the first step in building a relationship with your agency.
This will give you a general idea of what they like to work with - fun and exciting or challenging and boring. If your gut tells you it's not a good fit, you're probably right.
7. Sustainable values of ethical content marketing
Ethics are important in content marketing, and you should expect your agency to uphold them.
Find the agency's values that guide its work on its website. What did you confirm? What is important to you? Are the same things important to your brand?
A good agency should also have a zero-tolerance policy for issues such as plagiarism, low-quality content, manipulative content, search engine-only content, or content that violates Google's spam policy.
The right content marketing agency should be completely transparent about their business practices, past clients, employees or contractors and their fees.
For example, if an agency prepares a month at a ridiculous price, this is a wake-up call. It's also a wake-up call if they're trying to hide something.
Check out their site carefully, ask lots of questions and expect clear answers. The right agency is completely transparent and happy to provide them.
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Tips for working with a content marketing agency
To give your business the best chance of success with content, you should have some basic knowledge before working with an agency.
Learn the basics
Before hiring a content marketing agency, you need to understand the basics of how content works. This helps keep your expectations realistic and gives you a better understanding of what's going on behind the scenes.
- Get an overview of the process of planning and creating a content strategy, including all the necessary elements that go into it.
- Learn what quality content looks like and what it takes to create it (from planning to publishing).
- Realize that content is a long-term game, not for you if you want quick, quick wins.
Know your needs and goals
Before you hire a content marketing agency, you need to know your needs. For example, you don't have a blog on your website yet and you want to build a content marketing platform and blogging strategy.
You should also set clear and reasonable goals with a time limit to achieve the results you want to see. What do you want this blog to do for your brand over the next six months? Next year?
The clearer you are about these two things, the more productive your conversations with the agency will be.
Know your budget
How much are you willing to spend on content marketing? Make a point, but don't set it in stone.
You may need to move it up or down depending on how well you understand the costs associated with the content. (If you have no idea, you can research how much content marketing typically costs for brands your size.)
Also remember that most agencies will be willing to work with your budget and set realistic goals for what you can achieve with the amount invested.
Find the right content marketing agency for real growth
When content marketing is well thought out and has the right producers and strategists behind it, you'll be amazed at the ROI you'll see as a result.
The right content marketing agency can bridge the marketing gap for any business to increase reach, visibility, brand awareness, leads and results.
Look carefully at the agency you hire, as they will be taking on a lot of responsibility. However, they can also help your brand grow in ways you never imagined before.
The views expressed in this article are those of the guest author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the search engine. The authors involved are listed here.
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