It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that it's hard work to build great content that:
a) people want to read
b) people remember and will be motivated to share
c) helps you further increase the reach of your brand
This becomes especially true when you're building content for a company that's not your own.
This post isn't about Lesson #12,753 we've so valiantly learned here at Mack Web as we grow our small (but mighty) integrated web marketing team.
It's about you and the exceptional content you need to be building on behalf of the clients you work for.
That said, if you're like us, you find solace in, and learn a great deal from, the trials and tribulations other companies face. I've broken this post into three parts, each of which tackles a big question you might be wondering about:
1. How do you build great content when you're not the expert?
2. How do you make content generation more efficient and scalable?
3. How do you build great content with contract writers?
Sit tight. I've got some ideas.
How do you build great content when you're not the expert?
We've got a content generation process that has been working pretty well for us now, but it took a ton of failing to develop it.
For a while, we were treating content generation like a factory. We had clients. They needed a strategy. That strategy called for content. We gave the specs and details for the content to our writer. She generated the content. We optimized it. It went live. We did outreach. Rinse. Repeat.
It's not that the content we were producing in our "factory" was bad. It wasn't thin. It just didn't serve a purpose beyond meeting preconceived frequency expectations for their blog. Although it was intended to add value to the conversation, it wasn't going to rise above the ever-growing noise and help them build their business and further their brand.
Our factory approach was fine for a short while, but as we started to grow, level-up, and recognize that the lack of effectively executed, fully integrated content marketing strategies would make it increasingly difficult for us to earn audience engagement, we realized our content had to be better. It had to serve a higher purpose for the brand and it needed to integrate all the appropriate channels.
Which meant, of course, that we couldn't create it in a silo anymore.
General brand stuff vs. expert content
We've found that, for the most part, our clients have needed our help with two distinct types of content in order to build their audience: general brand stuff and expert content.
General brand stuff is the content that—if you've really done your diligence to fully understand the company, their industry, their persona, and the story they're trying to tell—you can essentially create content without putting too much extra work on their plate.
You still work together throughout the process (which I'll get into more in just a bit), but really you're taking the lead, doing the majority of the work, and ensuring you have approval as you move through the different stages in the content generation process.
Expert content is content that requires the knowledge of a subject matter expert (which hopefully you will find inside the company) to produce. The expert stuff places a great deal of the content generation responsibility on the client. Your job is to act as a guide, facilitator, and editor so that you're ensuring strategic alignment, brand integrity, and that the content actually gets created and connected to its intended audience.
When you're working with a subject matter expert to develop content, it's really important that you're taking as much weight off the expert as possible, and you're also earning their trust. You can do this in a few ways:
Allow the expert to drive
You may suggest trending topics and direction based on strategy and goals but, depending on your expert's writing prowess, you don't want to get in the way by controlling the process too much. Their time is extremely limited so you want to make the process as enjoyable and efficient as possible.
If the expert is driving, your goal is to cater to their needs and aid them in any way possible. Take the time to listen, observe, understand their writing process, and how you can fit into that. As facilitator and editor you'll be providing feedback on basic grammar, transitions, focus, and depth, but you're also working to keep them on task and accountable for deadlines.
Provide the expert with the structure
Maybe the expert doesn't necessarily want the freedom to drive, but they could use your help getting the structure together. It really depends on the expert, what they're comfortable with, and what their schedule will allow.
If they need your help getting the ball rolling, you can interview them for the key takeaways, write the outline for them, and provide them with anything else they need to get that first draft going.
We've also had great success writing the first draft for the expert so that they have something to take apart, integrate their expertise, personal anecdotes and voice, and then we help them put it back together.
In general, expert content will take longer to come together. You're usually talking about people with extremely busy schedules, and unless they find value in what content marketing is doing for their brand and company, it could take months to get content out of them.
What we've found is if you're properly balancing the creation of both expert and general brand stuff, you can fill any production gaps with minimal involvement on the client's part. That way you're still getting content out and you won't have lengthy time lapses in the execution of deliverables from your content strategy.
How do you make content generation more efficient and scalable?
As we've been growing our team and our content department, we've been working to get more out of less. We have found that investing in processes that document the stages of our everyday operations (like our client on-boarding process and the base ongoing monthly stuff we do for nearly every client) has really helped us to be more efficient, but that hasn't always been the case.
Don't get me wrong; I am a very systems- and process-oriented person. I like things to be neat, organized, and, well, systematic. As much as I believe in investing in them, I've come to learn that you can waste a lot of time and precious resources on processes that don't work, don't get used, and don't help you become more efficient.
With processes, it's not about developing something that stands the test of time (because they never do). It's more about providing guidance and suggestions for a more efficient workflow. That tends to come in the form of checklists that you're continually iterating as living, breathing, dynamic entities inside your organization.
As such, this is what we've discovered to be incredibly helpful when developing our processes:
1) Determine the problem the process is going to solve
Clearly you're taking the time to develop a process so that you can make something you do every day (or something you repeat quite often) a whole lot easier. For us, we knew we needed to create better content and work more collaboratively with our clients in order to do that. We thought a process for managing content generation might help us make those improvements.
2) Identify the people who are going to use the process
This is key. If you yourself will not actually be facilitating a process you develop, it will almost certainly die. You need the specific, relevant individuals on your team to not only believe in it, but own it, or it will go unused.
I no longer develop processes for the company and simply present them to the team to be used. I now work with the team to develop processes and the team figures out what checklists and supporting documents they need to make the process work.
3) Find the tools that will allow you to run the process
These tools don't have to be expensive. We use a lot of free software like Google Docs, Spreadsheets, and Trello. Your tools don't have to be fancy; they just need to be accessible so that the people on the team who are using them can get to them easily.
4) Use the process
We've realized that every time we use a process it's going to change. That's just how it goes. There will be specific parts of your processes that won't get altered for long periods of time, but in general, as you use them, be attentive to contrast, taking note of the stuff you'll want to take some time to analyze and eventually change.
5) Modify the process
At some point, you'll need to dedicate the time to analyze your processes, make the adjustments, and then test those modifications. This is a continuous cycle if you want your processes to really work for you and provide a return on spending the time and resources to create them in the first place. Make sure it's your team who's taking ownership of this, not management.
Some pieces to facilitate the process
As we've developed a content generation process to produce better content, we've discovered that engaging the client and using these pieces have really made a big difference:
1) Use Strategy & 2) Pitch Content
We're trying to remove as much content responsibility and workload from the client as possible. We definitely need them invested and involved, but they've hired us as an extension of their team with the hopes that we'll free up their internal resources.To that end, we use the "unless we hear differently" model as often as we can throughout the content generation process.
Whether we're developing general brand or expert content stuff, we always take the initiative and pitch the intended direction of the content to the client. We use the goals we've set and the strategy we're working from, as well as trending topics, in order to determine the content we'll be writing.
3) Collect Data
When we're ready to collect data for the content, the client is familiar with the strategy that has been developed and what we're working toward. We've already done a great deal of listening so that we can come to the client and say (with confidence), "Hey, here's how we'd like this to go. Can we have your feedback?"
Once we've worked through some of these initial conversations, we send over a data collection (a template, if you will) that looks like this:
This data collection doc communicates our intent and requests the information we need. The "unless I hear differently" part comes into play in the suggested key takeaways and then asking the client to help us come up with additional details, photos, and anecdotes to support them.
This requires less work from the client, but involves them in the process. We've found that this also puts more meaning into the content because the client is participating by contributing the stories and first-hand experiences that we don't necessarily know (and that they sometimes forget to tell us during interviews and conversations about content).
4) Develop an outline with key takeaways
Once we get all of the information we need from data collection, we create a more thorough outline of the post to get another level of approval from the client before we proceed to first draft state. This saves a ton of time. From data collection to outline, things shift from the initial, proposed direction, so providing an official outline gives us the opportunity to once again communicate exactly what the client can expect and earn their feedback and approval.
In the official outline, if we have them available at that time, we will integrate all resources and media so that we're clearly communicating what we'll be writing about and what we'll be referencing. This provides the client with an opportunity to investigate the proposed resources and provide any direction change before we fully draft the content.
5) Provide a first draft with diagramming
Once we're ready to present the first draft of the content, there's a couple really important things we do before sending it across:
Indicate key takeaways (and feedback)
This part takes me back to my English teaching days. When we turn in the first draft, we actually diagram the post to illustrate the pieces of the original outline and where the key takeaways ended up. And, if the client provided some very specific direction or feedback to us, we make sure to indicate that they were heard by pointing those out in the diagramming.
This has really helped to reduce revisions because it's a subtle way to remind the client that what we are presenting in this content is what we've all agreed to throughout the process. And, as we're drafting the content, if we feel the need to go in a different direction, we use the diagramming as an opportunity to justify the change.
Provide the entire experience
When we provide the first draft of the content to the client, we sell it. We provide it in ready-to-publish form complete with links, videos, and photos embedded so that the client gets the full experience of what it would look like live.
Writing is a very personal thing and it's very easy to get emotionally invested in the content. Using data collection, outlines, and diagramming first drafts removes the emotion and keeps everyone accountable and focused on the content. If we're reminding the client why things are the way they are throughout our interactions, they're less likely to be distracted by new ideas or different approaches. We can rely on the process to keep the client (and, honestly, sometimes the writer) focused on the intent of this piece of content. And ultimately, this helps us create better content.
These deliverables have also streamlined the way we produce content and they really show the client that we get them and are trying to make life easier for them. Even though they are more involved in the process, we're displaying more initiative and skill which further reduces the burden on their end.
Working with the client in this way has earned more trust and flexibility. We're able to demonstrate better leadership, confidence, and how much we know (and care) about their business.
The more trust we earn and the more efficient the process becomes, the more we accomplish for our clients. But even with improved efficiency, there's only so much a small team can do in-house. In order to scale, we've got to recruit outside help.
How do you build great content with contract writers?
Like I mentioned, a team like ours is too small to effectively write all of the content for our clients in-house. Using contract writers has allowed us to conveniently scale our content department and provide better content for our clients.
There are three really important things we've discovered as we've been building our base of trusted writers:
1) Find writers who are a value match
You've got to be willing to do your due diligence and hold out for writers who are a match for your values and expectations as a company.
2) Set them up for success
You need to spend time getting the writers invested in the client they are going to write for. Set them up for success by providing them with as much information about the client that you would expect your in-house, full-time team members to know.
3) Invest in their growth
Just like an employee, you need to be willing to help your writers grow. Writing is hard and even the best writers struggle. If you want to develop lasting relationships and continue to get great content from your contract writers, you've got to be willing to invest time in their growth and development.
As we're looking for great writers, we use a Google spreadsheet to keep track of the writers that we're interested in working with.
We review writing samples, check their references, and interview them in person or via video so that we can get a feel for whether they're a value match for us and that their writing style and voice will match up with one of our clients.
Once we've selected a writer, as they write for our clients, we assess their work. After they complete a few pieces of content for us, we can get a feel for their strengths. We can also identify trends. Do they honor their commitments with us? Do they communicate well? Are they responsive? Are they willing to learn? Maybe they're not a match for the client we have them paired with but they'd be great with another. We use the same Google spreadsheet to keep track of this stuff and also include any patterns we're noticing or feedback we're getting from clients about the content.
Helping your writers grow
No matter how well you qualify your writers, there will be a trial-and-error period with every single one. If you want long-term relationships with them, you've really got to invest the time (beyond this trial period) and continue to help them grow.
When we receive a piece of content from a writer, our in-house content strategist reviews it before it's handed off to the client for feedback. She reviews for quality, alignment of purpose, and also basic editing stuff. She diagrams the key takeaways to ensure that the content is on track with what the client approved in the outline/key takeaway part of the process.
If the post needs a little bit of work, our content strategist determines whether the edits are minor enough just to make them as she's diagramming, or if she needs to schedule time with the writer to have them adjust the post.
We are diligent about communicating with our writers. If they're learning and improving along the way, we're spending less time on revisions and providing our clients with the content they need to build their brand.
An ongoing challenge
Content plays such a huge role when building a brand and a business. Trying some of these things in our content generation process has really helped us to create better partnerships with our clients, and certainly, better content.
This stuff may be working for us now, but we realize that building great content is always going to be hard (especially as the saturation problem gets worse). It's our job to continue pushing beyond what could just get us by and discover what's really going to make a difference in our clients' businesses.
Of course, this addresses just one small part of that challenge. I certainly have not covered everything that would help you build great contracted content for your clients. Share your secrets with me below.
This is really great. These questions are extremely relevant and have always presented themselves as problems at agencies I've worked for. As an outside marketer, we can only speak to a business or topic so well. Our research limits us to sounding like we know what we are talking about, but not talking from experience (like the client would be).
Love your point about letting the client drive the content! That's a strategy that will produce better and content and help the client feel better about what they're producing through your agency. Quick question: how do you engage Mr./Mrs. Silent? Even though clients are paying for inbound marketing services, it doesn't always mean they're willing/available to cooperate consistently with content (at least in my experiences).
I know it's somewhat of a hit-or-miss game, but any strategies work for you and Mack Web more often than not? Great post!
thats a good quick question, I am looking forward for the answer to.
I usually get one answer: I pay you for that stuff......
And it's really anoying, we can do so much better when we work together. We allways speak to our clients, explain them that we can do a much better job (for their money) when they start helping us. Special when we say (better job for your money) a few clients think over, test it - and suprise are happier than, but many dont want to be engaged. They see it as outsourced and never again think over it...
Hi Brady. Yes, it is incredibly important to involve the client, but note that we are taking the initiative with strategy and pitching the content that comes out of that strategy. So we're not asking the client to come up with the ideas. Rather, we're inviting them to be part of the process so that we can create better content, together.
In order to make this collaboration work, you've got to start from the very beginning of your relationship with the client. Before we even sign an agreement, we've educated about our process and how collaborative it is. We both need to be invested in their success or we're not going to get very far.
For us, that has taken a ton of diligence in terms of the clients we choose to work with. If they're not a match for this approach or for our values, we'd rather not have the revenue than fight that ongoing battle.
But again, the key is the unless I hear differently principle so that you're taking the initiative (as that's what they're paying you for). You also need to ensure what you're pitching is aligned with strategy and goals. And if and when they do have ideas, you need to filter against the strategy and goals you've set so that you're accomplishing what you set out to do.
Awesome. Love the unless I hear differently principle. I've used that before in client relationships that were longer tenured or more established, but to set that precedent right from the start of the engagement is a really, really good idea. May have to "steal" that for some upcoming work.
Thanks again, Mackenzie.
Do it! And let me know how it goes.
As per current scenario the person who is working as online marketing doesn't matter if he is working as SEO, SMO, online marketer or SEM all have the need to write something unique as per their ideas.
Very good thoughts here, Mackenzie!
One thing we usually do to break out of our "content silos" is to conduct interviews with other industry experts. It not only saves us from falling into a rut but it helps our audience see the varying degrees in difference among the experts. It actually helps when the advice becomes contradictory after a while. It helps create discussion on the blog and even creates a grounds for professional dispute. Plus, such disagreements become the centerpiece for future blog post ideas.
Anyway, that's my thoughts on this. Thanks for sharing!
Wow, thanks for going so in-depth this topic. Some great tips on using contract writers too.
thank you for the great work you do, very nice :-^
Hey Mackenzie Fogelson,
If you are not expert in content writing then there are so many ways which you adopt as a content writing just like visual content - info-graphics and images. Yesterday I read post 5 Ways to Turn Existing Content into High Touch Visuals. That post author described the techniques about how to turn old content into visual which was so fruitful for us.
Thanks Rameez. I'll check it out!
Hi Mackenzie,
Not sure what size clients you're dealing with, but for smaller customers who spend $2,500/month or less, they are too busy operating their business to participate in content creation. Typical brick and mortar small businesses with 20 or less employees also don't have marketing directors and getting time to talk with them about web marketing is precious.
I've used the following techniques to help these smaller clients develop expert content that's authentic and which requires as little time as possible from the client:
1) Batch Videos - the client keeps a list of FAQs throughout the month. Staff is trained to make note of every question customers ask them. Jot them on post-it notes or write them on a whiteboard in the conference room.
Then, I go to the client's office and film him/her answering the questions one-by-one. In a 30-60 minute session, we can get several short videos made. Each FAQ video gets produced for Youtube and transcribed to their blog. It requires minimal time from the client, provides multiple pieces of content, and doesn't require them to touch it again, which they love.
2) Batch Audios - Same concept as above and works well for clients who either don't want to be filmed or are overseas. I use Skype and Pamela software to record our audio and produce each clip into a video (with appropriate screenshots) and transcribed to a blog post.
Of course, both techniques can be used as podcasts, giving you further reach.
3) Expert Writers - I use 2 of your points above, "Give the expert structure" and "Finding a value match," to hire and get the most from quality writers. Simply put, give your contracted writer an outline so they can fill in the words.
Once we have someone who we feel can do the job, we always ask for a test article the client can review. Our basic rule of thumb is - "The less time it takes the client to edit the article, the better fit we have with a contract writer."
Our goal is to keep the client/business owner's involvement to 2 hours/month or less: one-hour on strategy/discussion and 1 hour on content. That's enough to keep us busy and keep fresh content flowing through the client's website.
Mike
Thanks so much for these additional suggestions Mike. We have asked clients to contribute on ideas and topics in a Gdoc, but haven't directly asked for an FAQ. We've done the Skype audio recording and that's been great to deliver the info from the interview first-hand to more of our team.
Those are great suggestions Mike. Thanks for sharing!
Nice Tips with Ideal points...I will forward this one two my content writer team...
Great Post! But Should be simplified as icsun sais.
Great post, I liked the undertones of almost growing with the client on their journey as you get the content developed. I assume this would make a great bond for the future too!
Thanks again look forward to trying some of the techniques out.
Exactly Chris. After a while, the client starts coming to you with ideas. Especially for expert content which is half the battle. Thanks for reading.
Awesome write up, that is one of the best I have read on scaling content. I have noticed personally that a lot of companies source all of their content writing and that leads to a lack of "expert" content as you mentioned.
I really appreciate this post Mackenzie, as per current scenario the person who is working as online marketing doesn't matter if he is working as SEO, SMO, online marketer or SEM all have the need to write something unique as per their ideas. And you have shared the post is very useful for me as well others to write content.
Woah this is awesome. Adding to Pocket for a more indepth read. Amazing Mack!
Thanks so much Aaron. Let me know how it goes :)
"It just didn't serve a purpose beyond meeting preconceived frequency expectations for their blog."
I think that is a problem a lot of websites are struggling with. Having X posts going live each week is nice, and sometimes a huge battle in and of itself, but more content does not automatically mean more engagement, more authority, and more SEO value.
Exactly Nick. More content doesn't mean more anything. It's really easy to get into a "routine," go on auto-pilot, and push content out. What we've experienced is that this mentality really just adds to the noise; the mess of content that's piling up out there not really saying much of anything.
As you may know, I'm a huge proponent of putting the focus on your business where it belongs (goals, not tools). To that end, you've got to be really focused on what you want to accomplish for your company, your brand, how you want to serve your customers, and what role content plays in all of that. That's what makes content hard. If it's serving a purpose beyond rankings and authority, it's a whole lot harder to get right (and completely worth all of the extra effort).
Hello Ms.Mackenzie,
Congratulations for this valuable post.. I'm damn sure that this is the common problem that people face in agencies and I'm quite certain that this post will be their Messiah.. I have few questions that I'd like you to take into the consideration.
What is the ideal period of time we should reserve for the content creation to our client? For instance, if the agency has 10-15 clients and unfortunately they all are demanding so how to schedule their content creation?
Selecting the titles for their blogs is always a pain but thanks to the recent post of Aleyda. These points are just awesome and I'd love to try them out but should we just use them when we want to create a something special piece may be once a month? or should every post has to pass from this process?
Your feedback will me much awaited!!
Thanks
Hello Umar. Thank you for your kind words.
This is the process we have been using to generate all of the content for our clients. And yes, I would highly recommend using Aleyda's process of determining which topics are ideal (which would fit quite well after Use Strategy and before Pitch Content. Using the data you've collected from other content, trends, and intuition is a surefire way to produce something that's not only relevant but that actually fills a need, increasing the chances your content will be read, shared, and possibly remembered. The trick is always making sure that the content you've generated serves a higher purpose than just filling a space on the client's blog. And that's where strategy (and the human element) comes in.
This process is simply a suggestion based on what has worked for us. Ideally you'd take this, test it out, and add your own inner-workings to it as you go. As far as how long it takes to generate a piece of content, that depends entirely on the client and the piece of content. We have found that this process reduces revisions, keeping content delivery on track. And yes, it is incredibly difficult to schedule content with many clients as content generation schedules always slide, usually piling deadlines right on top of other client deliverables. If you've scaled you're content team well, hopefully they can be agile and handle what needs to be handled.
Hello Ms.Mackenzie again,
Thank you so much for your much awaited and valued input. I really like the tip:
"We have found that this process reduces revisions, keeping content delivery on track."
I'm quite positive that I'll surely use these tips to my content team very soon.
Thank you once again.
Regards,
Mack,
What a joy to see your process. It is one many agencies can learn from. I certainly gleaned a number of takeaways. I do have a question for you, however: Am I correct in assuming MWS does not use one of the many content farms?
I don't have a great deal of experience with content mills, but I do know they are popular, and some, I'd guess, produce solid work. I cannot imagine them consistently capturing a client's voice and tone or having a thorough understanding of their business, however. I much prefer your system of working with individual freelancers.
Also, the path you outline is scalable and replicable, making it easier to identify pitfalls as well as successes.
Too many agencies are throwing content at the wall and calling what sticks a success. Savvy clients are now looking more closely at how their content efforts are performing. With a process such as yours in place, even if an effort is not working, clients can at least feel good that MWS will get things back on track and meet their goals.
The "throw-stuff-at-the-wall" agencies can only hope to buy more time, courting failure in the process.
RS
Hey Ronell. Not sure what would give you the idea that we would have used content mills or farms. We went from one exceptional in-house writer to a group of qualified contractors (emphasis on qualified; no mills or farms ever used). We continually scale that contracted team based on what our clients need, and we do this by seeking excellent writers. Seems to me farms and mills completely contradict what I'm advocating in this post so I want to be extremely clear that we don't and have never used them.
Mack,
I think you misunderstood me: I was saying I didn't think you EVER would, but I was asking you to corroborate. I know you respect quality.
RS
Phew. You had me there :)
How often, within other industries, does someone bare all, share their key processes and raise the bar (that they continually set) in the process?
This post serves up a ton of insights, so thanks Mack!
In particular: "Identify the people who are going to use the process. You need the specific, relevant individuals on your team to not only believe in it, but own it, or it will go unused.." and the real key: "I now work with the team to develop processes and the team figures out what checklists and supporting documents they need to make the process work." - team empowerment at it's finest..
The section on hiring contract writers is full of pearls. Especially like the way you check, re-check and monitor not only their skill level, but also their responsiveness, approach and growth and all kept snug on a spreadsheet - very innovative.
One of the strongest messages from the post: the immense value of "caring". As Wil Reynolds so succinctly puts it: out-care the competition
Thanks Tony. It's funny how simple all of this is. It's definitely hard work, but what we're doing is not rocket science. It just takes diligence and a whole lot of trial and error.
Thanks for sharing this Mackenzie! It's nice to see that we follow many of these steps with our clients, in terms of offering the content strategy and involving them in the process from start to finish. We're still doing the heavy lifting (that's what they pay us for), but simply writing something and expecting it to be welcomed is not the right way to go. Love the suggestion of evaluating the contracted writers as well.
Do you brainstorm any long term (e.g. weekly, monthly) content "themes" for your clients? And how strict do you abide by them?
I sometimes think we veer into the "content frequency" realm with some of our articles and I'd like to think of new strategies that pull us out of it. I'm thinking updating our audience personas would be a good start, but I'd love some other ideas.
Hi Caroline. I think the expectations on content frequency really comes out of both fear (perhaps on the agency's part) and miseducation (that the client is coming to the table with). The fallacy that more = better. With what Mack Web does (specifically on social media) it's difficult to always "prove" directly that we add value so deliverables -- like a piece of content -- are an easy way to show the client that we're actually doing something. But is it the right something?
Certainly there are many studies that show the effect of frequency and how that *may* bring better results, but I'd argue that's not the case for everyone and that this will become a dangerous game moving forward. What really matters is what you/they are trying to accomplish with this content. And it's really important that you're comparing your content to your content. Test what works for you and your customers (or for your clients) and make that your standard for frequency.
In terms of brainstorming themes. We do what we call a 'strategy jam' for clients approximately every 3 months. During this jam we brainstorm bigger themes that serve as an umbrella for an integrated strategy. These ideas will essentially help us work toward client goals and get really creative with the content (and other channels like social, search, email, offline) that would assist us in accomplishing those goals. Once we distill those larger ideas down into actionable pieces, then we can take a look at trends and also what's going on specifically in the client's world that may be more relevant to address during a given week.
But the thing about these ideas and always having something meaningful and purposeful to create is that sometimes you don't. But that's what separates the companies who are using content to build advocates in their audience from those who are just going for the numbers. It's hard to be clever and add value and rise above the way everyone else is doing it. But that's what it's going to take to bring our clients into this next evolution of content marketing.
What I'd stress Caroline is to challenge the type of content you're creating for clients and of course what that means for frequency. Imagine, after a full year of content generation, that you're looking back at what you helped them to create. Did those pieces add value to their company? Did it change the way people view their brand? Did they line the client up for some more grandiose plans you have for their future? Because in the end, it's really not about the content, it's about how you helped grow their business. And it's not just content that's going to do that but it's a great vehicle for it.
Sorry if that turned into a rant Caroline :) Always feel free to reach out on social or email if you'd like to chat further.
Fantastic points and not rant-y at all! I especially agree with "always having something meaningful and purposeful to create is that sometimes you don't" and that's where the fear of frequency produces subpar content. I'm excited to pose some of the questions you listed above to my team and really evaluate what we can improve.
Thanks for taking the time to respond so in-depth.
My pleasure Caroline! Any time!
Very helpful post. Really, what you, and your writers, are doing here is very similar to what a good technical writer can do. Technical writers are constantly tasked with creating helpful, engaging content about subject for which they don't necessarily have any background.
Wonderful blog post. I really appreciate your being so open about your process.
I particularly love the diagramming idea. It's sometimes very challenging to build value when presenting copy. Sure, you can sit down with a client every time you send a piece of content, but that's not very scalable. Diagramming is such a simple idea, but I can see it being really effective. Thank you for sharing!
Great tips here. I also believe Workado will be an asset to manage campaigns as you can categorize tasks/needs based on individual marketing campaigns.
long article, you must simplified this by creating mind map or slides, so we can get the core idea in seconds :)
steady