Content marketing is effective, but it’s also a time-consuming, long-term marketing strategy and not every brand is equipped for the challenge. Content marketing as a service provides on-demand support that’s customized to your needs. Whether you need help with a particular piece of content marketing, like content creation, or would prefer a team aid in the entire process, content marketing as a service could help your brand leverage content to attract and retain customers.
3 signs you need content marketing as a service
While many marketing teams would welcome a helping hand, content marketing as a service isn’t for everyone. Some brands have their content marketing strategy on lock and don’t need support, while others may face other internal challenges that make effective content creation difficult.
To help brands decide if content marketing as a service is right for them, here are signs you’d benefit from such a relationship:
- Your team has a knowledge gap
Sixty-two percent of marketers think their team lacks the skills to accomplish goals. With the growing number of tasks marketers are asked to do, finding gaps in your team’s talent is unsurprising. While some brands are willing to let their team experiment and learn as they go, it’s not always an effective use of time.
If your team doesn’t have the talent bandwidth to take on purposeful, effective content marketing, then it’s best to let a team of experienced marketers bridge the gaps.
- Your team has limited time
Content marketing requires a time investment. The steps involved in content marketing take hours, from generating ideas and writing content to distributing and promoting it. If your team, like many others, can barely keep up with everyday marketing tasks, it makes sense to outsource a time-intensive task like content marketing.
- Your team can’t prove ROI
In a digital world, metrics give marketers the ability to gauge their success. Stakeholders want to know they’re making sound investments, so you must show ROI on each marketing effort. You’re not alone if you can’t show your ROI on content. Research shows that just 36% of marketing teams believe they’re good at demonstrating content ROI.
If you have trouble quantifying your success, content marketing as a service can help you set goals, identify KPIs, and quantify big-picture stats like ROI.
What to look for in content marketing as a service
If you need help with content, you have dozens of companies that provide content services. How do you choose the right one? Look for a company that has:
A variety of services
You want a solution that offers a variety of content marketing services. Look for “content mills” that produce generic, repurposed content for discounted prices. You’re not looking for a company that spams your inbox with a glut of content, you’re looking for a company that will review your needs and offer customized support services, like:
- Site analysis
- Audience analysis
- Content ideation
- Creative content creation
- Optimization of content
- Content measurement
Remember, you might only need some of their services now, but it makes sense to pick a company you can grow with.
Experience
Look for a company with a proven track record in the industry. Ask to see case studies from similar companies and inquire about references. Ideally, you can talk with another client to learn more about the company’s experience.
While it’s not uncommon for content marketing providers to work in several different industries, make sure they can provide industry-specific examples for you to review.
A clearly defined workflow
An experienced company will explain its workflow and how it is incorporated into your daily routine. You want to hear specifics, as opposed to the rep saying, “Yeah, we can help with that.” Make sure they explain how they’ll help.
The company should assign a point person, outline their initial assessment, and the workflow they’ll stick to if hired. More specifically, here are a few workflow-based questions to go over:
- How are your employees involved?
- Is there new technology you’ll use during the process?
- Who’s creating the content?
- What’s the vetting process for creators?
- What happens if the content isn’t delivered on time?
- How is content delivered?
- Who reviews it?
- Who handles SEO research?
- Is your company responsible for posting it to your site?
- How often are metrics evaluated?
Communication
The team you partner with should be just that, a partner. You’re not looking to sign a contract and be ghosted. You want someone checking in regularly, answering questions, providing updates, and keeping you in the know.
Ask about their communication procedures. Aside from identifying a point person, what do you do if there are problems? What if your contact is out of the office? Make sure you’re comfortable with their communication strategy.
Consider ContentMarketing.com
Contentmarketing.com offers fully managed content marketing services to help your company scale its content. An experienced, dedicated team will serve as a branch of your marketing team committed to your success. Armed with years of experience, you’ll receive a customized solution that taps into various services and a network of talented creators. Learn more at Contentmarketing.com.
