Although we own a content marketing agency, we understand we may only be suitable partners for some potential clients.
When this becomes apparent, we do our best to avoid working together. Theres an agency explicitly tailored for every business - small, mid or enterprise-scale, B2B, eCommerce or lead generation.
But lets begin at the very top: What exactly is a content agency, and how can one recognize a "good" one?
What Is A Content Marketing Agency? How Do You Select One?
Content encompasses social media marketing (including blogging), SEO (search engine optimization), video products/marketing, and paid advertisement.
Unfortunately, the definition is subjective to its beholder. Content Marketing Agencies provide consulting firms that assist businesses in expanding by using content. Primarily this involves producing written material for owned platforms, like your website.
Social media channels like Facebook or paid advertisements on YouTube can help spread your workaround.
Valuable Content writers or agencies specializing in writing content optimization software must have an overall plan when creating posts; we dont consider these professionals "content marketers" since their speciality doesnt involve marketing aspects.
Focus on Industry
Before signing on with any agency, most clients want to know if their team has experience working with people like themselves.
Does What Matter Most to you? It is undoubtedly relevant; however, its answer should not be considered paramount.
Working with experts in your field offers two benefits: economies of scale and knowledge accumulation. Content agencies who specialize reap numerous advantages by taking advantage of economies of scale.
Companies looking to cut costs may hire long-term contract writers or in-house freelancers as long-term contracts or hire more freelancers in-house if numerous writers work within one area of expertise.
Agencies with more varied services should hire specialists for each field or subject matter. Link building from their network may also help. At B2B SaaS Agency, we know every publisher in our space; therefore, it would likely prove challenging but possible for an online flower seller to find connections through us.
Knowledge retention becomes ever more significant for agencies working across multiple strategies in an arena; dilettantes cannot.
Dilemmas gain less insight than professionals; for instance, in B2B SaaS marketing, the most profitable keywords dont appear in standard tools (Ahrefs or Semrush are particularly vulnerable here).
Due to this fact, you can generate income with targeted keywords for products with relatively little competition.
Find an expert who specializes in eCommerce; for early-stage startups and large enterprises alike, SaaS for B2B customers and B2C ones can all be covered here, depending on what scale and niche your venture occupies.
Experience And Reputation
Experience and reputation are two essential ingredients of success for agencies. Without producing quality work, establishing one may prove challenging; with many years worth of experience comes less room for error, more frameworks, strategies, and tools that might otherwise go underutilized and an overall increase in awareness from staff about these resources that might otherwise remain hidden to them.
Topic clusters may seem straightforward initially, yet many individuals still need to understand how and why they work - it is almost comical how often clients misinterpret this concept! Experience is invaluable and teaches agencies how to focus their energy where it counts - on matters which indeed count and move the needle.
But this is only sometimes true: We see many examples of agencies spending months creating buyer personas they never use or spending countless hours compiling keyword lists without ever actually using any.
Reputation can also be invaluable; take any advice from colleagues very seriously. As with all reviews, take those with negative experiences with a grain of salt.
Agencies might only sometimes meet every clients goals perfectly and do great work, even when their goals dont correspond perfectly with yours - call and ask specific questions of them directly before making your final decision.
Scope
How well-rounded are they in covering all aspects of content marketing, from production and strategy development through promotion, analytics and optimization? Do they specialize exclusively in one of these or just part? At Content Strategy + Analytics + More, we specialize in content strategy + analytics + all that follows - to name a few of these components of our secret sauce! We specialize in these and more at your service! We offer content strategy + analytics + all else as part of our package of offerings!
Content agencies shouldnt be hired. You end up spending extra with no apparent return as they treat your account like an afterthought and pass it off to junior staff members.
One company could manage all channels; in most instances, hiring specialists for each field is wiser.
The Cost Of The Product
Theres no one-size-fits-all answer here; everything depends on your financial means and priorities. Some agencies charge only several thousand dollars monthly; agency charges far more.
Our monthly deal average is $15k, while the minimum contract cost is $7k. Cost often correlates with quality; however, that may only sometimes be the case. That is why you must also consider other aspects (like reputation, range and experience).
Cost should never limit your options; instead, it should determine them. Your budget limits the options that are open to you; if an agency you desire is too costly for it to fit within it, then hiring them could prove impossible; also, there wont be significant discounts as most agencies employ senior writers, editors and strategists who do not accept drastic cuts for lower budget agencies.
Establishing the costs can be straightforward: most agencies here tend toward expensive. But no free lunch exists: to reduce expenses, and you must put in effort yourself in managing, editing and strategizing content quality yourself or hire freelancers for content editor mills instead.
Results could differ.
Expertise And Credibility
Hiring a marketing content agency is often beneficial since their experience may surpass that of an individual or team of yours.
Just ensure it exists first! Review past agencies work. Visit their websites and view testimonials or examples; observe any past partnerships and clients theyve secured.
Search intent past examples that match what you require of them and look specifically in your field; note that brands operating niche markets such as healthcare, law or finance must comply with specific content standards.
Find out which industries an agency covers by visiting its website, then review examples of work to assess whether they can cater for your niche market.
Focus On Goals And Strategy
Content marketing requires strategy. Your content will only succeed with one! Your plan must clearly state your objectives, how you assess them, and what return on investment (ROI) you anticipate from producing content.
According to a study, 78% of marketers who claimed their content marketing strategy was effective had written strategies.
Most content planners focus on quality content creation for SEO purposes and visual presentations when planning.
Content marketing is a well-documented practice with established procedures for implementation. Your content marketing agency of interest needs to prioritize strategy in its plan - they need an established route towards success! Continue searching.
The Team Is Composed Of A Talented Group Of Designers
Most brands understand the significance of employing experienced content creators, as quality material can significantly boost Google rankings.
Consider their subject knowledge and storytelling ability when judging an artists ability.
Expertise in content production across many niches can take a lot of work; when selecting an agency, ensure they employ creators with relevant experience or backgrounds.
Think through what skills will be necessary to produce content, for instance, video creation. If the agency in which you are looking doesnt employ videographers, then consider looking elsewhere.
A Straightforward Project Management Process
Content marketing agencies must effectively handle various clients and projects at various stages, necessitating in-depth project administration knowledge.
To ensure that your agency can fulfill the task at hand, consider these criteria: To assess their suitability for this challenge, assess these elements:
Project Management services are included as an offering alongside other services. An outline is drawn of this entire process from inception to result.
Your project team and stages should be listed on an agency website; if additional details cannot be found there, speak with them when consulting an agent about this aspect.
Communication Is Key
Communication is at the core of every successful business relationship, yet its implementation remains challenging.
Be wary when selecting your content marketing agency; pay special attention to their communication strategy with you. A bad one could prove both costly and hazardous.
What was your response time to your initial inquiry?
You may have spoken with different individuals since then, but all spoke directly with one person at some point during that process.
Are phone calls and emails returned promptly, with adequate answers provided to any concerns that arose during this experience?
Consider this initial communication the beginning step in building an ongoing partnership between your agency and you.
Once there, youll gain an excellent idea of their way of working - whether the experience will be exhilarating and enjoyable or monotonous and time-consuming.
Your gut may tell you something needs to be corrected if that experience doesnt seem suitable for your interests or skillset.
In 2023, The 12 Best Content Marketing Agencies Will Be Revealed
Omniscient Digital and Siege Media have combined forces to offer Omniscients growing and converting foundation without code requirements to convert visitors-Brafton Seer Interactive Seven Atoms Animalz Market Insider Group of Quill.
Omniscient Digital
Omniscient Digital, agency, is what we will discuss here in this article. Omniscient Digital provides comprehensive content marketing services, from strategy through production, promotion, distribution and optimization.
Our content models also enable clients to track the success of their content marketing initiatives.
Allie works for the Growth team as an editor/writer and thought leader and forms the Growth team. Through content writing, performance-focused growth marketing, product management and thought leadership, we have helped clients drive results while elevating quality content production.
Every engagement begins with an intensive dialogue and strategy development meeting to devise a solid approach to producing a quality content team
Promotion strategies also play a pivotal role, and we work with our clients to repurpose thought leadership content through email marketing campaigns, LinkedIn/Twitter feeds or sales support posts and internal links build powerful backlinks for them.
At Content Matters Group, we specialize in B2B SaaS solutions such as Wunderkind, HotJar Madison Logic and AppSumo to support their growth through content.
Siege Media
Siege Media specializes in business-to-consumer (B2C), including e-commerce. They hold several consumer brands like Zillow and Airbnb, among many others.
This agency employs over 100 people who possess extensive SEO content writing knowledge.
SEO agency Blue Spear takes an exciting approach to SEO; their team consists of designers, and they leverage design as a competitive advantage for themselves and the clients they create content for.
They primarily rely on design for this aspect of their strategy as it builds trust for clients who work with them and themselves as individuals.
Growing And Converting
Grow and Convert is go-to content agency because of its thought leadership. Their frameworks, such as Pain Point SEO, have helped me think differently about developing topic ideas.
Additionally, their guides on content Marketing Attribution were eye-opening and elevated the industry.
Content marketers also focus on business results, performance marketing and deliverables, unlike some content marketers who only sell words.
Grow and Convert is a business-to-business (B2B) and consumer-to-consumer (C2C) organization featuring logos like Leadfeeder and Patreon on their website.
Read More: Content Marketing: How It Will Help Your Business Grow?
Foundation
Foundation an innovative content marketing efforts firm, is well known for its content distribution and promotion services.
Their experts take your content and make it visible so that it may reach its intended target audience and perform optimally.
Ross Simmonds, Foundations head, is one of the industrys most inspiring and exciting thought leaders - follow him on social media such as Twitter or LinkedIn for updates! Focusing on content promotion, this firm also offers content audits and writing, editing/writing, and audience research services to B2B businesses.
No Code Required
Codeless offers large-scale production and strategy agencies for content marketing. Usersp.io is their sister agency specializing in digital PR to complement Codeless services.
Codeless has impressed me for various reasons, particularly their size and scale. They published an impressive case study detailing how they increased content production at Monday.com by over 300 pieces within 9 months! This incredible feat speaks volumes.
Brad Smith was very gracious in offering insight into their process for developing processes and hiring writers.
Optimist
The Optimist may be considered an "anti-agency." Tyler Hakes joined our podcast and discussed their groundbreaking business model.
By the way,miss your mustache. After speaking to Tyler, quickly noticed that Optimist was keenly focused on building an effective content strategy - an encouraging sign.
With proper direction behind their efforts to create a quality content calendar , many will succeed correctly.
This company provides standard services such as writing, blogging, SEO optimization, promotion and strategy implementation to software-oriented product companies.
Brafton
Brafton has quickly grown into one of the premier content marketing agencies. Evident from their services is that their primary mission lies in creating content of various sorts.
Video and graphic design services are two services we find particularly intriguing; unfortunately, theyre often outsourced rather than provided in-house by agencies.
However, they offer other services, from email marketing and social media management to paid ones: At first glance, Content Creation Services is a digital marketing company offering various services centered around content production.
Seer Interactive
Seer Interactive does more than content marketing; Wil Reynolds is an authority in thought leadership content marketing.
Data analytics form the cornerstone of their offerings and services, ranging from conversion rate optimization and SEO through SMO, creative production, audience intelligence and much more.
Wil and Seer are one of the premier names in SEO services. Wil and Seers offerings stand out among competitors regarding pricing and clientele list.
Learn much SEO at their conference or through their blog - even if they do not employ you!
Seven Atoms
Seven Atoms is an agency dedicated to creating content marketing for online stores and managing Pay Per Click campaigns.
Finding an agency offering content-only ecommerce solutions is challenging since most agencies Ive heard about or investigated tend to provide full-service options due to growth priorities for ecommerce businesses and may provide paid ads in addition to SEO or content services. These SEO companies employ more technical approaches when approaching SEO campaigns, primarily optimizing website structure and attaining top rankings on product pages.
Seven Atoms is an experienced Partner that excels in all things marketing technology: foundational SEO, content and blogging marketing, lead generation/demand generation/nurturing leads, and setting up marketing technologies.
Get full-service assistance with PPC and paid social advertising campaigns.
Animals
Animals are one of the leading content agencies, serving large enterprises, startups, and venture capital firms.
Industry participants have recently become more informed of concepts like "Is Your Blog a Book or Publication?" and "Movement First Content," explicitly designed to aid companies that wish to develop new product categories.
Their website includes SEO services, brand awareness campaigns, lead generation efforts and content promotion services. Animalz is an industry staple brand name.
Market Insider Group
Marketing Insider Group works with over 30 company blogs to increase traffic, sales and rankings. Michael Brenner founded this consulting company dedicated to content marketing.
He instructs his clients on reaching their goals with content marketing while measuring ROI.
Michael Brenner has published The Content Formula book about content marketing ROI. to get an idea of their diversity: nonprofits and SaaS services are featured, along with enterprise business owners and even bloggers from ecommerce shops.
Quill
Notably, this update on top content marketing agencies was made very recently. Quill stands out among its competition on this list due to their emphasis on podcasting.
Podcasts have quickly become an indispensable form of content marketing (i.e. "we run successful podcasts for our agency") Quills podcasting platform assists brands of all sizes in creating, marketing and distributing award-winning audio content to expand reach, awareness and growth.
Do you want to leverage B2B podcasting for sales efforts or use branded content at the top of the funnel to raise awareness? No worries; that option exists as well.
This company also developed Co Host software and offered podcasters more detailed analytics than any other podcast platform.
Working With A Content Marketing Agency: Tips
Before hiring an agency, ensure your company demonstrates a good knowledge of:
Learn The Basics
Before hiring an agency to create your content, its crucial that you fully grasp its core principles. Doing this will enable you to set realistic expectations and gain clarity into the process involved.
Learn to plan and create a content marketing strategy from start to finish - everything required from the various pieces required, quality content creation techniques and delivery, etc.
Content creation should never be approached like gambling: content production should take the same effort that goes into building anything else and requires time, energy, skill, commitment and perseverance just like anything else does!
Understand Your Goals And Needs
Before hiring a content agency, it is essential that you first identify your requirements. Even if your blog doesnt yet exist, you want to create an overall blogging strategy and marketing system, identifying any needs associated with that blogging venture and its eventual launch.
Set clear and achievable goals and an expected timeline for what you hope to accomplish with your blog in the next six months.
What would you like it to accomplish for your business in that period? Your conversation with an agency will be much more successful if you can precisely articulate artificial intelligence on both points.
Budgeting Is Important
How much are you prepared to invest in content marketing? Feel free to set a budget; remember to make it flexible!
Adjust your content budget based on what you know of its costs; otherwise, research what other brands your size typically invest in content marketing.
Remember that most agencies will help set realistic and attainable goals within your budget.
Content Marketing Agencies That Deliver Accurate Results
Content marketing performed correctly will yield impressive returns when undertaken by experienced strategists and creators.
Content marketing agencies can fill the void in marketing for any organization by expanding reach, increasing brand recognition, driving leads and optimizing results. Care should be taken when choosing an agency as they will assume many responsibilities on your behalf, which could help expand your brand in ways you never imagined possible.
conclusion
Though no single agency stands out as "best," there are certain businesses you should avoid have compiled this list of the best content marketing companiesknow and the criteria you can use to evaluate each.
This should make narrowing down your choices easier so you can decide who will work with you more quickly.
