7 Things To Look For In A Content Marketing Agency

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We’ve all heard the famous quote that content is king. The importance and crucial role of content in any business can never be overstated. Therefore hiring a content marketing agency if you don’t have a content specialist or team is key for your content marketing strategy to work for your business.

Top content marketing agencies
Content marketing illustration

Top Content Marketing Agencies

Content that is shared on social media pages, websites, blogs, guest posts, and many other places plays an essential role in keeping followers engaged. At the same time, consistent content brings new followers to the website.

Content Marketing Statistics 

Content marketing statistics

Research from the US-based Content Marketing Institute (CMI) shows that content is big business and it is rapidly gaining good traction unlike in the past when it was looked down on. Here are some interesting statistics and findings that CMI came up with when they researched content marketing.

  • The B2B content marketing statistics show that 91% of B2B marketers use content marketing to reach customers.
  • 86% of B2C marketers think that content marketing is a key strategy.
  • 72% of marketers say that content marketing increases engagement.
  • 72% say that content marketing has increased the number of leads.
  • The Return on Investment (ROI) of content marketing is equally impressive because Tiger Fitness content marketing ROI case studies uncovered that 60% of marketers reported a returning customer rate with video content marketing.

Analyze your competition’s content strategy

Content marketing is especially important for small businesses who are looking to get a share of the market cake in a field that has fierce competition. It is also important to analyze your competitors’ content strategy so that you can come up with something unique.

Experts advise that before you come up with a content strategy you should analyze your target market. Your target market will determine the kind of content that you will churn out. Every audience has very unique characteristics and they are not amorphous.  That is why companies develop buyer personas. 

Your target audience may be millennials, millennial parents, baby boomers, young women, young working men, small businesses in the fashion industry, working women, sportsmen and women, families, and so forth.

Target audience determines content marketing strategy
Communicating with your target audience illustration

Your audience determines your marketing strategy

The audience that you are targeting has different dynamics such as where they can be found, how they like being communicated to. Therefore, the channels you use and the messages that you pass across will change with the audience. That is why not all channels will work for your business.

For example, if you plan on reaching businesses or professionals, content on Facebook will not give you the results that you desire. But if you optimize for LinkedIn and significant investment in Twitter you will build the right following and even get good business.

When you have all that well figured out, it will help you come up with content marketing goals and plans. Your goals will help you find out if you can internally achieve them. If not, you should employ the services of a content marketing agency.

Your goals and strategies will save you time and get you a more focused approach. If your goals are to reach C-Suite professionals, you will look for agencies that develop professional, quality, and data-driven content. However, if you intend to reach the urban youth, you will look for companies that have playful, creative content that uses informal language.

Pointers to great content marketing agencies

These are vital aspects that you should look out for when you are sourcing for a content marketing agency:

target audience for a digital marketing agency

Target audience

  1. Their major audience– There are companies that have specialized in reaching all kinds of audiences but there are those that pick a certain group set e.g. millennials then segment them. You should find the agency whose audience rhymes with yours. When it comes to targeting professionals or business clients, Digicurated has significant experience.
  2. Aligns with your business needs– Even before you scour the market for an agency, you should first assess the specific needs of your business and its particular requirements. This will help you get the right content marketing agency instead of the best one. Business needs such as reaching a new market, pushing a new product, SEO, blogging, accelerated growth, etc. These needs will help you get a fitting agency.
The location of your agency

The location of your content marketing agency

  1. Location– You need an agency that understands the audience that you are targeting, where they can be found, and also where your services/offices have been located.
Vet the agency's marketing experience

Vet the company’s experience in content marketing

  1. Experience– As you vet content marketing agencies you should look into their past projects, samples of their content, campaigns for various firms, and all. 
Vet the agency's niche and specialization

Determining your niche is a light bulb moment

  1. Niche and specialization– Every single content marketing agency has an area that they specialize and do well in. For example, there are marketing firms that specialize in the food industry more than other industries. If you are a restaurant business you will need their services.
Measure the agency's SEO competencies

Measure their SEO Competencies

  1. SEO Performance– Content marketing is one of the most important foundations of any SEO strategy. If an agency’s SEO performance is wanting, you will not get value and good returns for your business. All you need to do is to Google relevant keywords and see how they rank on the Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs). The best content marketing agencies rank well on search engines.
Consider how much the agency charges

Vet their prices and payment plans

  1. How much they charge and their payment plans– Different companies charge different prices and you need a company that will charge you a price that you can afford. Secondly, the content marketing agencies have different payment plans. 

There are content marketing agencies that do one-year projects and others semi-annual or quarterly payments.

The best payment plan is the one that suits your needs.

Conclusion

There are very many B2B Content marketing agencies and great ones for that matter. However, not all are right for your business. With the above tips, you will be able to choose an appropriate agency that will help you reach your business goals. Look out for additional insights in our top 10 marketing trends in 2021.

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