Content marketing is a crucial element of any organisation’s promotional efforts.
However, this industry is constantly evolving, making it somewhat difficult to stay on top of the current trends. Because of this, many companies are turning to online marketing firms to assist them with their efforts.
These marketing companies specialise in this area and are equipped to help your business take your marketing efforts to the next level.
Read on for six major considerations to help you choose the right marketing firm for your organisation’s needs.
Communication
Make sure that the agency you choose can communicate with you effectively. It is your business that is at stake, so it is important that you understand exactly what the marketing company is doing.
Ask a lot of questions and pay attention to how they answer. If you find that they are throwing around a lot of technical jargon but don’t have the ability to explain it to you, then this could be a sign that they are not very experienced and have minimal knowledge themselves.
The agency should be able to tell you what the technical terms mean, why each recommended action is important, and how it can help your business. Make sure that you fully understand what is being done and why.
Following Your Vision
Although the agency you contract with will have experience in content marketing, you are the one who best understands your business and its customers.
Before you meet with the agency, come up with your own plan for how you want your content marketing efforts to progress. Set measurable goals so that you can convey them to the agency.
The clearer the picture you have of what you want, the better they will be able to give it to you. Make sure that they will be able to conduct their content marketing efforts in a way that goes along with your organisation’s philosophy.
Content Is King
The essence of content marketing is, of course, the content itself.
In choosing your online marketing agency, ask to see samples of other work that they have done. This will give you a better sense of the style and quality of content that you can expect down the track.
If your business culture is casual and fun, a marketing agency whose style is more formal and technical will likely not be a good fit.
There are a wide variety of agencies out there, so take the time to find one that can produce content that is best suited to your business.
Evaluate Your Budget
It is important to recognise that your budget will have a major impact on your results.
As with just about anything, the more money you can spend, the better quality you will receive.
When you are evaluating content marketing agencies, do not be afraid to discuss costs right from the start. It won’t do your business much good if your content marketing efforts cost more than your annual revenues.
However, skimping in this area can end up delivering mediocre results and minimise the number of new customers your business attracts.
Aim to find a balance between cost and quality that is affordable for your business while still delivering the highest quality possible.
Full Reporting Capabilities
All the content in the world has little value to your business if you have no way of tracking it.
Make sure that the agency you work with can provide detailed reports outlining what is working and what is not. This way, you’ll be able to adjust your efforts accordingly.
You’ll want to know which content is attracting the most readers, and how many.
Conversion rates are also key figures and will show you what portion of your readers go on to become paying customers.
You’ll also want to be able to determine where your readers are coming from so that you can continue to target the most successful areas. Don’t simply assume that the content marketing agency is doing its job.
Evaluate the reports on a regular basis to ensure that its efforts are on track with your organisation’s goals.
Think Long-Term
Content marketing is not something that produces results overnight, so be prepared to be in it for the long haul. Because of this, it is crucial that you find a content marketing company that you trust.
You’ll be working with them for a long time, so focus on building the relationship right from the start. The longer you work together, the better the agency will be able to understand your business and its customers, enabling it to produce better, more targeted content over time.
While results may take a while to be readily apparent, it is perfectly acceptable to ask an agency for an expected time frame. This way, you’ll be able to evaluate their progress to determine if you wish to continue the relationship.
Make sure that you are fully comfortable so that you can build a long and prosperous working relationship.
Learn More
Even if your content marketing agency will be handling the bulk of the work, it is still important to educate yourself on the topic.