Imagine it’s three months in the future. You’ve hired a content partner who’s now handling your Content To-Do list: that big mountain of somewhat fuzzy tasks you’ve had in your head for years. They’re doing everything you need them to. What exactly IS that, and what is different in your world as a result?
This is my very favourite question to ask during Discovery calls with potential clients.
During a recent call with a client, the response was instantaneous.
“That’s easy,” she said. “My team would know exactly what content to post and why and I wouldn’t be waking up sweating in the middle of the night worrying about our next campaign.”
I totally understood, because we’ve been there.
She—like a surprising number of our clients—wanted to avoid what we now call “the content sweats.”
At our content marketing agency, we’ve heard clients express varying hopes and expectations when it comes to working with a content partner.
- Some leaders envision clear results: more leads, better-qualified leads, more followers, more social media engagement.
- Others anticipate efficiencies: no more wasted time or wasted content.
- Still, others want to elevate the quality of copy, messaging, and visuals.
Nearly everyone, though, wants to eliminate their version of the content sweats—with expertise and guidance on planning, creating, publishing, and promoting the right content for their brand.
That’s Why You Need a Content Partner: A Good Content Agency Will Eliminate the Content Sweats
Marketing has become a complex and specialized practice, and an increasing number of businesses have begun to outsource aspects of their marketing—including their content and creative.
Stats show that 49% of B2C marketers outsource at least one activity, with large companies leading the way. And content creation is the most commonly outsourced service. Many busy marketing teams simply don’t have the time or expertise to devote to creating high-quality, original creative and copy themselves.
Content strategy is also commonly outsourced, relying as it does on a deep knowledge of and experience with the many channels, platforms, tactics, content types, and content tools available for planning, publishing, promoting, and amplifying brand content.
A good content partner will bring both strategy and operational tactics to meet your goals.
Here’s How You Benefit with the Right Content Marketing Agency
As businesses struggle to stand out among competitors and encourage the right audiences to engage with their brand, content marketing is an appealing tactic.
Quality content can, after all, humanize your brand, highlight your organizational values and unique benefits, and emotionally connect with an audience that’s undoubtedly tired of the usual advertising.
A good content marketing partner is an investment in your business’ online presence because you get:
1. Well-versed content experts who can help you develop the right content strategy for you and your business
Content marketing can and will help you achieve results that go well beyond a brief impression or flicker of attention. Good content marketing can help you earn the genuine interest of your audience, as well as their trust and perhaps even admiration and advocacy—when you’re doing it right.
Case in point: A client came to us for help with an app launch, and our team developed an overarching content marketing strategy prior to the launch, as well as an ongoing, heart-centered content strategy that spoke directly to their audience about the brand’s core values. After a single month of strategic content marketing, this health and wellness app, launched in partnership with a renowned musician, had amassed more than 25,000 followers and over a million impressions on social media.
We know all too well that to achieve results like these, you need to invest in a solid content marketing plan that outlines exactly what kinds of content on which channels will achieve the optimal engagement for your brand.
2. High-quality, on-brand content that consistently engages the right audience
An effective content marketing strategy demands high-quality, engaging content on a consistent basis for your blog, website, and social channels. Many of our clients come to us looking for support in one or more areas that their teams just can’t keep up with—whether it’s compelling social media design, conversion-targeted copywriting for emails or web, or regular reporting.
This was the case for our lovely clients, Within People, a global partnership of business strategists who were so busy building a new model of business growth for the 21st century that their content efforts had become inconsistent. While they knew they eventually needed support with a lead generation campaign, they realized they needed to create a consistent social media strategy first. We engaged them in a series of story and messaging workshops to clarify their goals, target audience, and messaging in order to develop rich and resonant audience personas, as well as a social media plan to empower their content efforts, which prioritized the development of a lead magnet.
Within a month’s time, the conversion rate of visitors to the lead magnet landing page stood at 9% (well above the industry average of 2.35%). The open rate on emails stood at 53.5% (compared to an industry average of 20.3%), and the clickthrough rate stood at 8.1% (compared to the industry average of 2.49%).
Expert content marketing support earns results for your business, while saving you time, worry, and unnecessary stress (and sweat). A good agency can provide support where you need it so that ‘feeding the content beast’ is more a pleasure than a chore.
3. Promotion and distribution: essentials to reaching a larger audience
The digital marketing landscape is tough. The constant emergence of new tools and tactics can be overwhelming for many business and marketing leaders who already have too many priorities, and who may not have the expertise to make use of current best practices as efficiently or effectively as they’d like.
This is true perhaps nowhere more than in the realm of digital marketing, where boosts, posts, and ads can prove baffling to anyone sitting down to learn. A content pro will be able to tell you where to invest–and where to save–to ensure that the content you’ve spent your time planning, developing, and publishing finds its ideal audience—maximizing your investment and getting optimal results.
There’s No Replacement for Experience
Our team has learned more than its share of lessons through trial and error and countless years working with incredible clients. And we’re here to help more good people and brands benefit from the hard-won strategies we’ve crafted.
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Reach out any time to chat about how we can support you in creating content marketing success for your business.
