After adopting the concept of content marketing, one of the next revelations is typically this: “How am I going to get all of this done?” One surefire way is to get help (using a service such as Junta42), but how exactly do you do that?
In this upcoming series of posts, our CMI contributors, who span the gamut from consultants to agencies to clients, will help you figure out how to get the content marketing help you need.
Up first, they answer this important question: “Which parts of the content marketing process are best to outsource (e.g. strategy, process, content production, distribution, and measurement, etc?)”
I believe that the writing part of content production is easier to outsource than people think. I think it is a fallacy that content production has to be 100% by the internal expert to be genuine. Good content writers can interview experts, for example, and then write up a white paper/blog/presentation, thus saving enormous amounts of time. Internal experts are often too busy and often, frankly, daunted by the job of writing. It goes without saying that they need to handle any reaction to their work – comments, etc. – themselves. – John Bottom (@basebot)
The best part of the content marketing process to outsource is the writing of the content. One benefit of an outside writer is fresher and more targeted content because the writer has an external perspective on your company and can more easily get into the mind of the targeted audience. In addition, an outside writer enables you to take advantage of current trends in content marketing, as he or she has an up-to-date understanding of best practices in writing, formatting and distribution in many industries and businesses.- Manya Chylinski
While starting content marketing can be overwhelming, it’s most important to keep elements that are most critical to your business in-house. Therefore, content marketing strategy, social media and related metrics should be integrated with your business and marketing strategy.Next, before you outsource content creation, ask your employees if they’d like to contribute to your content creation process. The benefit is that they have deep knowledge of your business, and they may be the best candidates to convey your stories. Don’t overlook the variety of social media content formats. To this end, it’s critical to have editorial support to organize the content and provide copy editing to take away the fear of poor writing skills.- Heidi Cohen (@heidicohen)
First take an assessment of your internal staff skills, and perhaps more importantly, the time you haveavailable. I see a lot of clients with skills but no time to do them. One quick example: A large Sports Expo client with two trained journalists on staff bought a video cam for each. They have fun visual events at their shows (such as splash dog competition to see how far dogs can jump into a pool of water), but they cannot find the time to shoot videos and quickly post them to their site that could go viral! Using that as an example, anything you don’t have time to do should go on a list. Next, prioritize them by those most likely to bring you new business — the best ROI for your outsourcing costs. Then get going. – Scott Frangos (@webfadds)
I don’t think you can completely outsource any of it. But you can get tactical help in any of the places you mention as long as you still keep an active role. The content production is the most out-sourceable of the processes but only if you’re right on top of it. If you try to outsource the whole process or big chunks of it, the work will end up losing its authenticity. And authenticity is the magic ingredient of content marketing.- Doug Kessler (@dougkessler)
Two areas of the content marketing process are extremely suitable for outsourcing.
An experienced content marketing consultant adds enormous value in developing an overall strategy. In addition to knowing exactly how to promote your business with a variety of content types, you’ll also receive help understanding the complexities of how best to implement your strategy.
Outsourcing content production usually produces a higher quality product and quicker delivery times, offsetting the investment required. It also allows you to work with experts for each type of content – writing, video, graphic design, social media, etc.
Ideally, we’d all like to have in-house resources to devote to this vital process. But since that isn’t always the case, I’d suggest working with a trusted resource to help mold and define your strategy first, especially if you’ve not had experience with this in the past. A professional content marketer will have the experience to know what kinds of questions need to be asked and to organize a comprehensive plan that addresses all of the obstacles that your organization faces. They’ll also help you decide what other areas may be best to outsource, depending on your unique skills and resources.- Elise Redlin-Cook (@redlincook)
In my opinion, strategy can go either way as long as individuals from the organization are fully invested in the development process. It’s OK to work with consultants if your organization is just getting familiar with how to approach a content marketing strategy, but in the end, the meat of the content has to come from the folks inside your business. New content ideas will surface over time and the strategy will evolve. The organization needs to actively participate in order to ensure that the evolution is driven from within the culture of the business. Content production, distribution and measurement can be outsourced with the right level of guidance from internal managers and directors. But some of the conversations that the content creates online need to be delivered and responded to by internal authorities and personas. Outsourcing is possible here too as long as the processes for response are designed with the nature of real-time taken into consideration. Your customers don’t like to wait long for you to respond when they talk.- Nate Riggs (@nateriggs)
When it comes to content marketing, you can outsource quite a bit. Deciding what to outsource comes down to assessing your in-house skill gaps, time constraints, organizational goals and even what you just plain hate to do. But one area of content marketing that can’t be outsourced is your thought leadership. The innovative ideas your company uses to set itself apart need to bloom from within. While a consultant can help you uncover the secret sauce that gives you a competitive edge — and can even help prioritize ideas — your employees need to paint and spread the vision.- Stephanie Tilton (@StephanieTilton)
Summary
There are a number of commonalities among our contributors’ responses:
No matter what you outsource, you still need to commit the time and energy to making the project a success.
It can make sense to outsource strategy, but you can’t outsource thought leadership and authenticity.
One of the most common aspects of content marketing to outsource is creation.
Stay tuned next week when our contributors help you decide if you need a consultant or agency to help with your content marketing needs.
I’d love your thoughts. What parts of the content marketing process have you had success outsourcing?
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