The numbers are in: over 70 percent of B2C organizations are using content marketing, according to the Content Marketing Institute’s (CMI) “2015 B2C Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends” report. Likewise, 69 percent are creating more content now than they did one year ago. Big name companies like Coke, American Express and Marriott have all embraced the tactic as a vital part of their overall marketing strategies. But just because these legendary brands have large budgets and seemingly infinite resources, it doesn’t mean they don’t face challenges.
According to the aforementioned report, 32 percent of B2C marketers are challenged with finding trained content marketing professionals. This challenge has increased by an overwhelming 320 percent over the past year, as only 10 percent of marketers claimed that finding trained professionals was a hurdle in 2013. Unlike other notable challenges—such as tracking and measuring ROI, which can be alleviated with a documented content marketing strategy— finding talented content marketing professionals is much more difficult to overcome.
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While one would think that it would be easy to find help (after all, content marketing has become one of the most widely used marketing strategies), the reality is that putting together a team of skilled employees is anything but simple. Marketers must be able to wear several different hats and master a wide range of skills from content creation to social media management to data analysis. In fact, CMI’ s report indicates that B2C marketers are working on an average of 13 initiatives, and plan to begin working on an average of nine more over the next 12 months. That’s a lot of skills to learn and perfect.
So, how do you find the right talent and build a successful team? Well, there are a few options. You could take the costly and time-consuming route of finding and recruiting candidates. Or you can take the cheaper, less painful approach and join the 47 percent of companies that are outsourcing their content needs to a third-party content strategy vendor.
These agencies boast a team of experts—including content writers, operations managers, designers, copy editors, video producers and social media specialists— who are schooled in every aspect of content marketing. They also stay abreast of new tactics, techniques and technologies. Not only do they take the burden of content creation, management and distribution off your shoulders leaving you free to concentrate on other inbound marketing efforts, but they will help craft and conceptualize your content strategy from the ground up so it aligns with your overall business goals.
What’s more, hiring a content strategy vendor can save your business money. Just consider this: the cost of hiring a full-time content writer can run you up to almost $120,000 when you consider their salary, taxes, training, health care and IT costs. Hiring a content strategy vendor, however, is a much more cost effective measure.
So what are you waiting for? Stop wasting your time and money searching for the perfect candidate. Let a content marketing vendor help manage your content marketing strategy and drive profitable consumer action.
We want to hear from you! To learn more about how we can help fulfill your content marketing needs, check out our website or connect with us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Edited by
Brooke Neuman
