Scribly Media is a content and copywriting agency founded in 2018 — and we often get asked what it is that we actually do. The beauty of an agency like ours is that we can help in so many different areas, whether that be SEO strategy, website copy, blog content, social media captions, or tone of voice and persona development. So, to help you decide if an agency like ours is right for your needs, we explain below what a content marketing agency is and what services it offers.
Ready? Here’s everything you need to know.
What is a content marketing agency?
A content marketing agency is a company that specializes in creating and executing content marketing strategies for businesses. An agency will typically have a team of account managers to perform SEO research, build your content strategy, and be your main point of contact, as well as expert writers who can craft eye-catching copy for a variety of industries and write a range of content types.
A content marketing agency specializes in creating and executing content marketing strategies that are tailored to a client’s brand and achieve their marketing goals.
Content marketing agencies craft and roll out comprehensive content plans tailored to a client’s brand, focusing on various formats such as articles, web copy, infographics, and more, to engage and inform target audiences.
They often act as an extension of a company’s marketing team, helping businesses leverage content effectively to achieve their marketing goals. Using content creation, SEO, analytics, and digital marketing expertise, these agencies increase brand awareness, drive traffic, and ultimately convert leads into customers.
What does a content marketing agency do?
A content marketing agency usually uses a number of strategies to help market a brand, helping to make its voice and identity shine. From creating engaging articles to crafting captivating imagery and everything in between, content marketing is the art of communicating with your audience without directly selling.
Let’s take a closer look behind the curtain.
Shape brand messaging and voice
Knowing your audience is key, and content marketing agencies can help you understand potential customers and what makes them tick. They’ll help you develop your brand tone of voice and understand your target audience through personas.
A content marketing agency aims to truly understand your brand, and bring it to life in a way that resonates with existing and potential customers.
Perform competitor and marketing research
Just like football coaches study videos of opposing teams, brands should know everything about what their competitors are doing when it comes to marketing.
Content agencies dive into the realms of competitive analysis, dissecting what’s out there and strategizing how your brand can make a splash to stand out in an oversaturated market. Understanding where your competitor’s strengths and weaknesses are allows you to capitalize on their success while taking advantage of their weaknesses.
How are your competitors ranking on Google? How readable is their website content? Do they have a library of blog posts drawing in new customers? How do their backlinks compare to yours? These are all questions that can be researched and answered by your content marketing agency to inform your strategy going forward.
More on that strategy in a minute!
Audit your existing content
To improve your content strategy, you need to understand what’s working and—more importantly—what’s not.
That means you can replicate the success while fixing the mistakes. All of this starts with an audit of your content. Think of this as a spring-cleaning session for your existing online content. These agencies will meticulously sift through your existing content, figuring out what’s gold and what needs some polishing up.
Keyword analysis and mapping
Keywords are king when it comes to creating content online. Researching the right keywords to use to boost your SEO, using them in the right places, and then tracking how effective they are, are important parts of any content marketing strategy.
Agencies can access analytics and keyword software to map out the perfect keywords that’ll give your brand the best chance at success. They sprinkle SEO magic onto every piece of content they create to ensure it not only speaks to your audience but also gets found in the crowded online space.
Develop a content strategy
If you fail to plan, you’re planning to fail. Content production should never start before a solid strategy is in place, which is where a content marketing agency comes in.
A good content marketing strategy will be complete with content recommendations and a roadmap to guide your brand’s journey to success. The strategy should include everything from identifying target audiences and selecting the right platforms, to building content pillars to guide your messaging and having a dedicated calendar for each of your marketing channels.
It’s pretty common for brands to get excited about their content strategy, post a handful of blogs, and then get stuck in a rut. Maybe you’ve run out of ideas, maybe there’s no time to brainstorm more. That’s why having a long-term plan for ideating, creating, and evaluating your content production is essential for success.
Manage content production
You may have the best business ideas in the world but struggle to put them in the right words. That’s what copywriters are for. Agencies have copywriters on the books who can bring your brand to life, from websites to blogs, social media, emails, ebooks, case studies, and beyond.
When you work with an agency, there are a lot of moving parts behind the scenes. Your brand will be paired with content managers who brief out articles, expert writers who craft outstanding copy for every channel, and meticulous editors who ensure the copy is high-quality and in line with your brand’s tone of voice and guidelines.
The copy they deliver to you should be ready for publishing, no extra editing or nit-picking needed.
Optimize existing content
Remember that audit your content marketing agency conducted earlier in this article? Let’s bring it back.
If the audit identifies any areas of your site or blog that need improvement, an agency will help rework the copy to get it up to scratch. There’s no need to send old articles to the trash. Often, a little sprucing-up and some additional keywords are all it needs.
This doesn’t just go for blog posts — your entire website may need an overhaul. Perhaps when the site launched, the metadata wasn’t filled in, and has never been updated. An agency will help make sure your metadata is filled in correctly (or filled in at all!) by optimizing those titles, URLs, alt-image tags, and descriptions.
Handle content management
To save you precious time and effort, these agencies don’t just create content; they’re the gatekeepers too. They handle content uploads, scheduling on social channels, and even sending out newsletters.
Agencies ensure a consistent flow of content across various platforms, outlining when and where each piece of content will be published, ensuring a steady stream that aligns with the overall strategy.
They understand the nuances of each platform and optimize content for maximum reach and engagement.
Track KPIs
A great content agency won’t just create your strategy and vanish into thin air. They stick around, meticulously tracking key performance indicators to ensure your brand’s success.
The difference between a good content agency and a great one is ownership. An agency should be reviewing the impact of its content plan and creations every quarter to ensure it’s working to achieve your business goals.
Content marketing agencies don’t just create content; they measure its success. Analytics are their crystal ball, revealing what works, what doesn’t, and where to pivot for even better results.
The benefits of working with a content marketing agency
Now you know exactly what a content marketing agency does, and how they do it, let’s see how it could benefit your business. A content marketing agency:
- manages the customer lifecycle by creating content that targets your customers at every stage of their buyer’s journey.
- streamlines content workflows, making things easier to follow for everyone involved.
- are experts in their field. A content agency will have SEO, editorial, social media, email, and off-page content experts.
- consistently delivers high-quality content that can’t be matched.
- uses analytics to track and measure the success of campaigns, providing valuable insights and data-driven strategies for continuous improvement.
- they give you time back in your day by taking the whole process of content planning, creation, and management off your hands.
- brings an outsider’s view, injecting fresh ideas and creativity into your brand’s content strategy.
- often has access to premium tools and technologies that might be costly for individual businesses, enhancing the quality of work and insights.
- can scale their efforts to accommodate your changing needs without the hassle of hiring and training in-house staff.
- is on top of industry trends and can quickly adapt strategies to align with the latest shifts in the digital landscape.
When should you work with a content marketing agency?
If you want to start creating high-quality content that drives and converts leads, you need to be working with an agency. Scribly can support your content strategy, execution, and management. Book a call today.
