Add another point to the scoreboard for content marketing: A newly released study from Curata reveals that 75 percent of marketers plan to increase their investment in content marketing in 2015. As those who’ve already invested in the strategy can attest, content marketing offers a variety of benefits from increased brand awareness to better search engine rankings.
The strategy, however, doesn’t come without its own set of unique challenges—for example, developing efficient internal processes and procedures for creating and promoting engaging content. To overcome this hurdle, many companies are bringing on new employees to manage their strategy. According to the aforementioned report, 49 percent of companies have hired an executive who is directly responsible for overall content marketing strategy.
Not every business has the time, resources and money to hire a full-time executive to oversee their strategy. Once you factor in all of the costs of onboarding an executive—including salary, recruiting fees, health care and yearly bonuses—you’re looking at close to $117,000 per hire, according to our research.
Do you have that kind of money lying around? Probably not.
Whether you’re working with a small budget or you’re lacking internal resources, a content strategy vendor can help you overcome content marketing challenges by providing you with a dedicated team of experts. Not only can a vendor fill in skill gaps and manage workloads, but they can advise you on ways to best utilize content for things like sales prospecting and event promotion.
If a content strategy vendor sounds like it would fit your businesses’ needs, here are a few tips to consider when starting your search:
1.Determine your goals: Before you begin your journey to find the right vendor, jot down your specific goals. Perhaps you’re looking for a partner that can develop your strategy from the ground up or a vendor that specializes in a SEO or social media. Establishing what you want to get out of your content marketing investment will help better guide your search.
2.Do your research: The best way to determine if a vendor is legitimate is to look at their content marketing strategy. Are they practicing what they preach? Look for an agency that uses engaging content to build and differentiate their brand. If they’re not using the latest content marketing tactics to successfully drive demand for their brand, chances are they won’t be able to do that for you.
3.Ask for references: It can be difficult to determine whether a vendor is “all talk.” Ask the agency if you can speak with an existing client to get the real scoop. Not only does this give you an unbiased opinion of the vendor, but it’s also a way for you to freely ask questions that you might not want to ask the agency directly.
Want to learn more about how to choose the right content strategy vendor to fit your businesses’ needs? Download our whitepaper “The Virtues of Choosing a Content Strategy Vendor.”
