As a freelance copywriter and content marketer, the one question I’m repeatedly asked is: “I’m a pretty good writer, why do I need you?”
That question implies the worst and most widely spread marketing myth: “Anyone can create content. Anyone can send emails. Anyone can post to Facebook.”
Sure, creating content can be easy. But simply writing content is not enough.
Many of my clients - especially those in professional service industries like lawyers, accountants, and financial advisers - are talented writers with an unquestioned expertise in their field. Their problem isn’t putting words on a (web) page and they often have a nice collection of thoughtful content. The problem is that, once published, that content drifts aimlessly in cyberspace, disconnected from the business’ other marketing efforts. It’s no surprise this approach to content marketing fails to earn the attention of the intended audience or is ineffective at driving actionable business outcomes.
There’s a simple explanation for this failure: while the process of content creation is relatively easy, managing an effective, long-term content strategy is hard and requires expertise.
MOST OF THE PEOPLE AND BRANDS THAT ARE UNSUCCESSFUL WITH THEIR CONTENT MARKETING HAVE THE WRONG PEOPLE AND PROCESSES IN PLACE.
Content is the most important piece of any marketing strategy. Yet it is often seen as an afterthought to web development, graphic design, or choosing the right social media channel. There are a ton of tools that allow brands to create and manage their own digital content (e.g., WordPress, Squarespace, Wix). So in theory, content marketing for small-to-medium sized businesses can be a self-guided process.
The downside to the do-it-yourself approach is that business owners fall victim to their own biased perceptions instead of using the latest best practices and proven metrics.
Single dads don’t represent themselves in divorce settlements, they hire proven lawyers who provide the legal support they and their children deserve both in and out of the courtroom.
Sure, Sally Taxpayer could use TurboTax to file her taxes on her own. But when Uncle Sam comes to collect on April 15th, you better believe she’d prefer the peace of mind that comes with knowing a trusted accountant reviewed her tax forms and saved her the most money.
UNFINISHEDBusiness owners can opt for Content strategists understand how content marketing ties t
CONTENT MARKETING STRATEGY IS A TIME CONSUMING PROCESS - THAT’S WHY YOU’RE NOT DOING IT.
The most effective content strategists are efficient. A dedicated and well-documented content marketing strategy not only produces great content, it optimizes the entire workflow, ensuring your brand delivers the right content, to the right audience, at the right time.
Investing in a dedicated content strategist is an opportunity for business owners to lighten their workload. Outsourcing content creation to a freelance content marketing strategist takes a huge load of work off their plate. How much is 20 hours of your work month worth to you?
A dedicated content marketer understands the value of a content-production process. Content strategists invest a huge amount of resources and time towards optimizing content production. They take care of all the “behind-the-scenes” processes that result in high-quality content.
In other words, a dedicated content strategist spends time thinking about all the details you don’t have time to worry about or may not have even thought about in the first place.
For example, A business owner may think about what type of content they need to have on the website for the launch. However, a business owner may not think about what happens with the website, and content, after it is launched. A governance and content-production-and-workflow plan would help with this aspect.
A business owner may have a strong idea of the topics they’d like to write about, but not how to schedule or prioritize the development of that content. An editorial calendar would allow all the internal stakeholders to get onboard with the brand’s publishing strategy.
A business owner may think about how to create a website that serves many different purposes. However, a business owner may not think about the contextual emotions, needs and wants of the user. Creating buyer personas and user scenarios could help with this aspect.
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