Some agencies say they create content for their clients, but why do digital marketing agencies create content? Should they create content in the first place? To answer these questions, let’s look at some fundamentals of marketing agencies, what constitutes content, and more. However, to put the record straight: yes, digital marketing agencies create content. After all, content is king, but who should wear the crown?
Why Do Digital Marketing Agencies Create Content?
For starters, let’s define content before putting it into context for companies and digital marketing. Content is defined as the subject or ideas contained in something written, said, created, or represented. To narrow that down even further for marketing, content is the information, words, ideas, or messages that you have in blogs, on your landing pages, the paragraphs in the emails you send, what you post on social media, ad creatives, product descriptions, and so on.
To ensure that your content is what your clients or customers want to hear, there is a long list of checks to go through. Some things to consider are what is being said in the content, how it’s said, and how the information is received is closely aligned. So, content is more than just words on a page. Rather, modern content is part of a system that reflects you, your brand, and your business.
As part of the system to show your brand and represent the information you’re trying to convey, a crucial element is not to create content just for the sake of creating content. Social media influencers who say they’re content creators will make video after video, throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks. With cell phones in everyone’s hands, it doesn’t take much for them to be created. Content creation and writing need to have a purpose and a plan. Anyone can create content, but quality content elicits a desired response. We’ll touch on that a bit later.
What Types Of Content Do Digital Marketing Agencies Create
Not every agency is the same, nor do they offer all the same services. However, here are some of the more common types of content that can be created:
Website Content
Perhaps not the most surprising revelation in this list is website content. As websites are the main hub for all information related to businesses, there needs to be enough written information for visitors to your site to know who you are, what you do, the purpose of your website, and what you want the visitors to do while visiting your website.
Just some of the content on a website can include a home page, service or product pages, an “about us” page, a contact us page, terms and conditions, and landing pages. All this content should be cohesive, complete, and understandable. Additionally, the information on these pages should be evergreen and long-lasting.
Blog Articles
Another part of the website that needs information is the blog section. Unlike the main content on the website, blog articles provide more information about temporary information. Blogs also allow the company to get into other areas related to the products or services that aren’t directly associated with the company.
For blog topics, one universal topic is the company itself. If the founder had a birthday, if an employee received a promotion, or if the company sponsors a booth at the community event. Other blogs can introduce the company, industry updates on the products or services being offered, or news that could affect the cost of goods being sold or the way to purchase your services.
Social Media Content
It may be hard to believe, but social media was born in 1997, but didn’t start to gain popularity until the early 2000s. As the platforms have evolved, so have the rules and guidelines for posting. Each platform has recommended image sizes, content length, topics that are not permitted, video capabilities, hashtags, and so forth. Most people who have an internet connection have some sort of social media.
Except for a select few companies and business types, not being on social media is no longer an option. As the number of touchpoints potential clients need before making a purchasing decision, companies need to ensure where people spend their discretionary time.
Content and information on social media need to be planned and monitored. Going viral as a company can either be wonderful or bad. Professional careers have and will continue to be affected by what is posted online. Therefore, information about you needs to be planned, accurate, and able to respond to comments from those who interact.
Paid Ads Content
Content for paid ads varies in length, purpose, and space. Ads included in feeds and reels have to be formatted differently from a Facebook ad. For business owners, it can be tiring to have to curtail all their ads to fit so many different ad networks and platforms.
Remember, content for ads also includes images. Since a picture is worth 1,000 words, make sure those are the right words. Also, paid ads can appear on YouTube in many different formats, so video ads need targeted descriptions, titles, and information presented in the video itself.
eCommerce Listing & Product Pages
For selling goods online, nothing can make or break a sale more than information available about the product. Since online consumers can’t hold the physical goods in their hands like at a brick-and-mortar store, your listing needs to be able to answer all possible relevant questions that consumers have.
Just some items on the list that need content can include:
- Quantity
- Weight
- Size
- Price
- Testimonials
- Pictures or videos
Email Marketing
Popular for business, emails are a great way to stay in contact with customers, find new customers, and inform those on a mailing list of updates. Unlike social media, emails can be lengthy in content and include visual content like infographics, videos, images, and documents.
Another nice aspect of email marketing is that parts of it can be automated, newsletters can be sent to thousands of people with ease, and can be used with eCommerce marketing to promote products. So, it’s a process that can reach quite a few people easily, but needs to ensure that there is quality content contained therein.
Spanish Content
As Latinos make up more of the world’s economy and now that Spanish is the fourth most spoken language worldwide, reaching them is important for businesses that want to grow. However, just doing a direct translation isn’t the answer.
Localization for translated content is key. It’s easy to group people who speak the same language into one category. However, if you put English speakers from Canada, the United States, Australia, and Great Britain in the same room, it would be easy to hear the differences.
So, businesses need to create content that resonates with the readers in the language and dialect they understand and prefer.
Why Agency Content Is Better Than Hiring A Writer Directly
First and foremost, a lot of respect needs to be attributed to writers. The ability to translate thoughts and desires into the written word is nothing short of wonderful. As an agency, we understand that there are a lot of factors to being a good writer, and what constitutes good is subjective.
Writers
Commonly, writers are hired by marketing agencies to produce content for their clients. As alluded to before, writing is a talent that not everyone has. Writers are able to look at the words that are being written, their order, and if the written content elicits the right emotional response.
One inherent disadvantage of businesses hiring writers directly is that writers are not marketers. The content they produce is only as good as the prompts or directions that they receive. The other main drawback is that writers are often concerned with that one piece, not how it fits into the overall marketing scheme.
Agencies
Transversely to writers, agencies don’t always have the talent to write. More often, marketing agencies focus on the big picture and the long-term effects of the content written.
The strategy helps take the content and focus it to reach those who are targeted to receive it. For example, search engine optimization will help the content be seen on search engines like Google to answer the question that the searcher is asking.
Agencies can also take the content written by a writer and apply it to the platform, format, or scenario that is best for the business. If the business wants 1,000 words about a specific topic, the agency can optimize those words to bring in more conversions, add images to enhance engagement, and track the effects the content has on its readers.
To sum it up, writers can and do help write the best-written blog posts, but if it’s not optimized for SEO or as part of a content strategy funnel, a blog may never see the light of day. This is where marketing agencies shine.
What Makes Content from a Digital Marketing Agency So Effective?
As stated before, digital marketing agencies see the big picture. They don’t look at a single piece of content, but how that piece fits with the others, just like a puzzle. Each type of content and piece serves its specific purpose, which reinforces other strategic points of information, which in turn supports even more. Why are agencies better for content? It’s because they:
- Complete detailed audience research before writing
- Thorough competitor analysis and S.W.O.T. analysis
- Strategic integration into marketing funnels
- Unity and collaboration between SEO, PPC, and marketing teams
- A/B testing of content and performance reviews to increase effectiveness
- Content repurposing (e.g., blog ➝ email ➝ reel ➝ ad)
Questions to Ask Before Hiring an Agency for Content Creation
With all the benefits, be sure to do your due diligence and understand what marketing agencies offer other than content creation. If the agency only provides one or two services, and if they have a lot of experience, other questions will help. Use the following checklist to be sure to understand the agency better:
Content Agency Checklist
- Is the content written in-house or is the work outsourced?
- Will they provide a roadmap or framework to show how the content fits into your overall marketing strategy?
- How will they measure the performance of the content?
- When will they optimize the content: before or after publishing?
- Can the content be written in multiple languages?
- At what rate can you expect new pieces of content to be written?
- Do they give you content calendars or content funnels?
- Are there industry types or topics they refuse to write for?
- Will I be charged extra for a rewrite if I don’t like the first draft?
Ready For Smarter Content? We’ll Create A Strategy For You
Now that we’ve answered some of the questions, “Do digital marketing agencies create content?”, the next question is “Where can I find the right agency for my business”? Thankfully, you don’t have to look far. Burning Ox Marketing offers professional content marketing services to help you put together a strategy and put your existing content to work.
We’ve helped hundreds of businesses thus far in all aspects of digital marketing, especially creating content for DUI lawyers, military medal vendors, another digital marketing agency, and more. As your bilingual digital marketing agency, we can take care of all your content needs in English and Spanish.
Contact us today to get your STRONG, BRIGHT content MARKETING up and running.