[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]If you have not been living under the rock, you definitely know that content is one of the key things you need to drive your marketing process. Be it SEO, be it social, be it content marketing, you need content. Information-rich, engaging and well-written content is your best bet to grab Google’s attention and rank high on the search results page. After all, 90% organizations market themselves with content today, 80% people tend to learn about a company through customized content and 70% consumers connect with a company through content marketing. But wait. How do get all that content written and drive your content marketing process? Exactly, that is where most businesses start looking for a content marketing partner. Picking the right content marketing partner from a million (ok yes that is almost reality) is the real task. You will see business/brands changing their content marketing agencies every year, citing reasons like mismatch in goals, lapse in delivery deadlines, quality issues etc. And then there are brands who happily continue with their digital partners for years (well we are talking of 3-4 years at a stretch). For real magic to happen, you need to find the right partner who know exactly how to deliver what your brand needs and what your customers want. We decided to make things easier and create a list of things you can measure them up against, basically questions you can ask and assess whether they are the right agency for you. Here are 8 ways to ensure that you are hiring the right content partner. Read on. 1. Are they really content guys for real? These days, there are many web development agencies, SEO company and digital marketing agency that claim to be content players. However, in reality, they often offer content services on the side and don’t have a dedicated team to understand your needs and deliver accordingly. Like, in the past 10 years, we were often approached by clients who wanted their website content to be improved. And the reason usually is that their content was developed by an agency that is chiefly into website designing. Naturally, the quality won’t work, especially in the long run. So, avoid content services that are offered as a part of a different package. So, to find out if an agency actually has content-related experience, knowledge and skills, you can give them a small assignment or sample to work on. This way, you will know if their work can measure up to your expectations and if you can trust them. Even if you give them an old content piece to work on, they should be able to analyze it thoroughly and come up with ideas for improvement. Also remember that not all content agencies are adept at all forms of content. So, take a look at their past projects or portfolio or ask them what kind of content they have developed in the past. For instance, if you want to create whitepapers or product descriptions, hiring an agency that excels at SEO articles might not be ideal. 2. Are they capable of offering 360-degree content? Content doesn’t just refer to website content or articles. The various content formats used today include infographics, videos, case studies, e-books, whitepapers, presentations, blog posts, memes, checklists, podcasts, emails, and so on. And brands often use a mix of different content formats to get their message conveyed more effectively. So, before you pick a content creation partner, find out if they can handle 360-degree content, which will cover multiple content formats. In the long run, sticking with an agency that only creates SEO articles will not be enough to beat competition. Also, the agency should be able to advise you on which formats will work best for your business and on which channels they should be distributed. 3. Do they understand how content marketing exactly works? Always go for a content marketing partner that proactively asks you about your goals, before suggesting a plan. No marketing campaign can work well unless they are aligned with what you want, be it boosting brand awareness, building your domain authority or thought leadership, getting more traffic or generating more leads. So, if an agency simply offers to churn out say 20 SEO articles per month based on the topics you provide, be wary. The right content agency will also satisfy these criteria: They will know how SEO and high-quality content can work together to drive traffic and sales. While information-rich, engaging and well-written content is necessary to appeal to human readers, optimizing the same for search engine crawlers can get you the high rank you desire. Also find out if their SEO team can do the right backlinking to promote your blog posts. Pick an agency that can help you choose the topics that will perform the best. They should be aware of the trending topics and what your competitors are working on, so that you can gain an edge. The agency should also research and come up with the top keywords you can use to make your content more valuable and aligned with search engine ranking criteria. Find out if they use the latest tools like SEMrush, Google Keyword Planner, BuzzSumo, Uberflip, Ubersuggestand Quora to get fresh and original content ideas and strategies. Ask what will be the agency’s content strategy to help you achieve your goals. Are they capable of identifying your target audience or creating the buyer personas?How do they pick writers, what content formats do they think will be right for you, and how do they intend to distribute your content and on which channels. Will they distribute on your owned media, paid media or both? The right content agency will also have an editorial calendar in place, so that they can easily track what to create and when to publish. This is especially essential if you want weekly articles, blog posts or daily social media posts etc. And remember to ask how they plan to
