If you are looking to expand your business online, a content marketing agency will be your best friend!
Content marketing agencies create and execute content strategies. Most content agencies spend their days creating and promoting content.
Continue reading to learn more about content marketing agencies, such as:
- What is a content marketing agency?
- What does a content marketing agency do?
- How much do content marketing agencies cost?
- What do top content marketing agencies do?
- Should you hire a content marketing agency?
- How to hire the best content marketing agency for your business?
What is a content marketing agency?
A content marketing agency, also known as a content agency, develops content marketing strategies for their clients to plan, produce, distribute, and measure the impact of content. This content, which can include blogs, articles, videos, long-form guides, podcasts, and much more, aims to provide value to a specific audience with the ultimate goal of increasing revenue and building the company’s customer base.
What does a content marketing agency do?
A content marketing agency handles a variety of tasks, including:
- Creating a content strategy
- Content creation, promotion, and distribution
- Content performance measurement
Deliverables differ between content marketing firms, particularly when it comes to content creation. Some content marketing agencies will compile content ideas for your team to produce rather than collecting and creating the ideas themselves.
That is why, before hiring an agency, you should look over their deliverables.
How much do content marketing agencies cost?
Content marketing agency prices vary depending on factors such as the type of content, the amount of content, and the length of the content. Small-to-medium-sized businesses will typically invest $1000 to $7,000 per month in content marketing.
What does a good content marketing agency do?
So, what makes a content marketing firm good?
Here are some things to look for when looking for the best content marketing agency for your business’s needs:
A focus on strategy
Not just producing content, top-tier content marketing agencies focus on developing a smart content marketing strategy that drives results and increases critical metrics for their clients. While creating content is an integral part of content marketing, it is only one component of the overall picture.
You’ll also need a strategy to ensure you get the most out of your content.
You can collaborate with content creation companies that only create content and choose to plan your strategy yourself. However, content creation agencies have more resources, team members, and expertise. So you can often get more value from your investment by working with a content marketing agency on your strategy.
A content audit, keyword analysis, competitor research, and other activities may be included in developing a content marketing strategy.
Customized plans
Custom strategies and unique content are always provided by the best content marketing companies.
They never use a cookie-cutter approach to content marketing planning and will write content that is tailored to your industry and topics of interest. A good content marketing company will learn about your company and its goals.
They will also conduct research on your industry, competitors, and current content. They will then use this information to tailor a plan to your company’s specific requirements.
Key focus on your business’s bottom line
A good content marketing agency will also focus on achieving results that significantly impact your company’s goals and bottom line.
Some businesses emphasize on vanity metrics, which look good but provide little tangible benefit to your company. What is counted as a vanity metric depends on your goals, but page views and social media followers are two examples.
The best content marketing agencies concentrate on improving metrics that directly impact your sales and revenue targets.
Transparency
Transparency is another quality to look for in a potential content marketing partner.
Check to see if the content marketing companies you’re considering are open about:
- Pricing: Do they explain their pricing and deliverables explained clearly?
- Process: Do they have a clear plan for getting you results?
- Results: Do they give regular updates and report on your campaigns and their outcomes?
Multiple high-quality content options
One of the advantages of working with a top content marketing company is that they have the resources to create a wide range of content and do it well. Before working with an agency, find out what types of content they provide.
Then, look at some examples of each type of content you’re interested in to ensure they can produce high-quality work.
Understanding the big picture
Content marketing is an essential component of digital marketing.
Still, it’s only one component of a comprehensive digital marketing strategy. However, content marketing is closely related to many other types of online marketing.
For example, your content can help you rank higher in search engines, and you can share it on social media to grow your following, build your brand, and increase engagement. A good content marketing agency knows these connections and how content marketing fits into the larger picture.
A strong background
You should also look through each agency’s portfolio to see examples of their previous work.
Seeing examples is the most effective way to assess the quality of the company’s content and ensure that they are a good fit for your brand. When looking through an agency’s portfolio, see if they’ve previously worked with companies in your industry or similar industries.
While this isn’t a deal-breaker, and overall work quality is more important, it can be a helpful thing to look for.
Good communication
Speaking with an agency representative is one of the best ways to ensure that a content marketing company is a good fit for your company. You’ll be in communication with your agency regularly, so you want to ensure that their responses are friendly, helpful, and timely.
Their own content marketing strategy
Does the content marketing agency you’re considering use content marketing to promote themselves? If so, it’s a good sign that they know what they’re doing and have faith in their abilities. Examine the content on each company’s website to get a sense of what they can do and the types of content they can produce. The best place to do that would be to see the blog page of the agency.
Should you work with a content marketing agency or do it on your own?
Another consideration in content marketing is hiring a content marketing firm or doing the work yourself. Both options are certainly viable, but each has advantages and disadvantages.
Pros & cons of doing your content marketing yourself
The main advantage of doing it yourself is saving money because you will not have to pay a third party for their services.
However, while you will save money, you will have to devote a significant amount of time to content marketing, especially if you are unfamiliar with content strategies and creation. You must spend time learning about content marketing, developing your strategy, creating content, and completing other tasks.
Pros & cons of working with a content marketing agency
Working with a third party will increase your costs, but you will save a lot of time because the content marketing company will do the majority of the heavy lifting for you. You’ll also benefit from the knowledge and resources of a professional content marketing agency.
A good content marketing company is well-versed in content marketing techniques. It also has the resources to develop advanced strategies, create quality content, and analyze campaign results to produce valuable insights.
Because of their expertise and available resources, a content marketing agency can often produce better results in less time. You will also get a much higher return on investment (ROI) due to these benefits.
Which option should you choose?
Working with a professional content marketing company is usually the best option. But if you want to save money, have a lot of time to devote to content marketing, and are confident in your ability to produce results efficiently, doing your own content marketing can be a wise decision.
How to hire the best content marketing agency for your business?
If you’re all set to hire a content marketing company — and want to hire the best content marketing agency— consider the following:
- Determine what your company hopes to achieve through content marketing.
- Examine the content marketing agencies’ work.
- Examine the content on the websites of these content marketing agencies.
- Request or review the pricing and plans of content marketing firms.
- Meet with content marketing agencies to discuss their strategy, reporting, and other issues.
Using these tips, you can compile a list of top content marketing companies and select the best one for you.
Here’s the perfect content marketing agency for your business
Choosing the right content marketing agency is critical to getting the most value from your content.
Consider The Hyper Fuel if you’re still looking for the right content marketing agency. We have a talented team of digital marketing experts and provide a wide range of content marketing services. We’ll develop a custom content marketing strategy for your business, create various types of high-quality content, and report on our progress on a regular basis.
Ready to implement a profitable content strategy for your business? Drop us a message or schedule a call with our content marketing specialists for a free consultation.
