What does a content marketing agency do? Your questions answered

Content marketing is a great, high-value strategy in B2B. That’s why 45% of the organizations asked in a recent Content Marketing Institute survey said they wanted to increase their content marketing budget.

But, only one in three of those businesses agreed that their approach to content creation was scalable. And a lack of resources to put behind their content marketing machine is a real challenge across the board.

Is working with a B2B content marketing agency the answer? Let’s explore what a content marketing agency actually does to find out.

What is a content marketing agency?

Scribly is a B2B content marketing agency founded in 2018, and we often get asked what our content marketing services include, so here it goes:

A content marketing agency is a company that works with businesses to create and execute content marketing strategies and then plan, produce, and distribute marketing content. 

That content can include blogs, website copy like home pages and landing pages, email newsletters, social media posts, technical search engine optimization (SEO), case studies, and a whole lot more.

A B2B content marketing agency specializes in writing content that appeals to a business audience. A B2C content marketing agency, on the other hand, will focus on consumer-facing comms. 

A B2B content marketing agency works to ensure your content reaches, engages, and persuades a target audience of other companies — the businesses you want to work with. 

A successful content marketing strategy delivers a long list of benefits for your business. We’re talking increased brand awareness, building trust and credibility, driving (the right) traffic to your website, and generating leads. These are just some of the reasons why content marketing is important in B2B.

Some content marketing agencies claim to “do it all,” but few have the results to back up those claims. That’s why you’re more likely to find agencies that specialize in specific areas of content marketing or ones that primarily focus on B2B or B2C.

For example, Scribly’s focus is search-engine-optimized written content based on keyword research for B2B companies. We deliver comprehensive, data-backed content strategies anchored in written blog and website content. We’ve been doing just that for our clients for years and know exactly how to use the power of the written word to grow your business. 

What does a content marketing agency do? Key content marketing services explained

So we’ve answered, “What is a content marketing agency?” Now we need to look at, “What does a content marketing agency do?” And this is where the magic happens.

The best content marketing agencies will deploy different strategies, methods, and channels to convert your target audience without a hard sell. 

Content marketing is most effective when it feels like one human talking to another. And if you’re pushing a marketing message too hard or relying too much on AI to create your content (more on this later), that human connection gets jeopardized.

Ideally, you want your content to gently persuade a potential customer, help them better understand your offer, find affinity with your brand, and then convert to a sale. 

So, how does a content marketing agency make that happen? Let’s look a little closer at the key content marketing services a good agency will offer and why they’re important.

Phase 1: Research 

Audit existing content

It’s a shame when great content goes unseen. A combination of poor on-page SEO, a scattered keyword strategy, and not knowing the right content KPIs to follow can mean your existing content just isn’t getting the attention that it deserves.

A content auditing stage evaluates your current content setup and looks for ways to make it better — so you can rank faster and convert more efficiently.

Perform competitor research

The internet has been a great leveler in B2B. Now, businesses big and small can compete with monolith corporations to get their slice of the pie (and more). That’s why the best content marketing agency will research both your direct competitors and your aspirational ones. 

With a savvy keyword strategy, you might just outrank an organization ten times your size (and with ten times the marketing budget!).

Keyword research and analysis

So, what makes a savvy keyword strategy? 

For one, it’s about aligning your content marketing needs and unique content opportunities. It might be tempting — and appear obvious — to chase after high-volume, low-competition keywords. But if you zag where other companies zig — that is, you take a more commercial approach to your keyword strategy — then there could be scope for much higher conversion potential.

What’s the secret to high-conversion keywords? Learn more here 

You want your content to convert because that’s what delivers ROI. Thorough keyword research and analysis will illuminate where you should invest your time and effort.

Develop a content strategy

A content strategy brings your research together and translates it into an actionable plan. 

A content marketing agency may have developed a systemized best-practice approach to content strategy based on what they’ve found to work best. For example, at Scribly, we use the Content Branching Framework. 

When considering working with a content marketing agency, it’s worth really understanding their approach to content strategy. Ask them why they’ve developed it, why they believe it works, and what it could look like for you.

Learn more about choosing the right content marketing agency. 

Phase 2: Production

Develop brand messaging and voice

You know how we said that content is most effective when it feels like talking to a human? This is as much about what you say in your content (brand messaging) as how you say it (brand voice).

Your messaging should reflect your core brand values. And these values should reflect the values of the people or organizations you’re looking to work with (so that everyone else can self-disqualify). Your voice should speak to this target audience with mutual respect and authenticity. 

B2B buying decisions can involve comprehensive research stages and product/service comparisons. Your messaging, your voice, and how you convey both in your content marketing will come under scrutiny from potential customers, whether consciously or not. 

There’s nuance in brand messaging and voice. That’s why you should work with experts to get it right, trusting a B2B content marketing agency over AI.

Produce content

As you’ll be picking up from this article, the actual writing of your content is just one of the many essential stages in a successful B2B content marketing approach.

That said, there are good and not-so-good practices in the production stage, too.

The best content marketing agencies will have tried and tested writers to trust with your content. We can’t speak for everyone, of course, but at Scribly, we match our clients’ content to the Scribly writer we think has the best knowledge of the subject area and the most interest in it. 

A passion for the problem your target buyer has — and a genuine want to help sell your solution — make all the difference in the end quality and result.

Optimize existing content

Work smarter, not harder. Content optimization looks at your existing (but maybe a little out-of-date or underperforming) content and gives it a refresh. Working with what you’ve got can save time and money versus rewriting from scratch while improving your SEO and the quality of your content engine.

A good content marketing agency knows the value of content optimization and won’t always push to rewrite everything new.

Publish and distribute content

A lot goes on behind the scenes of the content your audience will read.

Whether it’s about choosing the right time to publish, distribution channels, or back-end CMS management and metadata, you’ll want to work with a content marketing agency that partners with you on the whole content production journey. 

Phase 3: Monitoring

Track content performance

An agency’s content marketing services should include performance monitoring. After all, you’ll want your content partner to be accountable and committed to delivering results.

For clients working with Scribly, tracking content performance includes quarterly check-ins to discuss success metrics, gathering data on how each piece of content performs throughout the sales funnel, and regular content optimization to boost your ROI.

Track KPIs

KPIs are fundamental in monitoring performance. 

We’ve built our content marketing approach to focus on converting sales. And so that’s one of the key yardsticks we use to measure our success.

Repeat/rework strategy based on results

Strategy isn’t linear. The best content marketing agency should be humble and know when to regroup and rework, as well as when to repeat what’s already delivering value.

Adjust content strategy

The business world is always in flux. New competitors, market changes, world events — all of this will, and should, influence your content strategy. We won’t just double down on successful content. We’ll help you make sure your content marketing is as relevant as it can be as time goes on.

Benefits of working with a content marketing agency

Imagine delegating everything we’ve covered above to a content marketing partner. Think of the time you’d save in-house and/or what you’d be able to achieve in your content marketing with the support of an expert resource.

The reasons to work with a B2B content marketing agency become a no-brainer if you’ve got ambitious commercial objectives and a lack of time and team members to do it yourself. 

Looking at the long list of answers to the question, “What does a content marketing agency do?” it all boils down to:

• Strengthening your SEO

• Boosting brand awareness and presence

• Increasing your site traffic

• Creating trust and credibility in your brand and product or service

These are the ingredients required to drive conversions and sales — all without hiring anyone new in-house.

Should you work with a B2B content marketing agency?

Working with a content marketing agency is just one option for updating your content strategy. 

There’s also the option of hiring an in-house marketing expert or working with a content marketing freelancer. Each has pros and cons. And you’ll need to make the decision based on what’s right for your business today.

Read more at: In-house marketing vs. agency vs. freelancer: Which to choose

If working with a B2B content marketing agency feels like the right fit, here’s a quick summary of what business leaders are usually thinking and feeling before getting in touch with us:

• You know exactly the types of businesses you want to work with

• …but you’re much less confident with where to start with content marketing

• You appreciate that content is important, but you can’t find the time to create it for yourself 

• You don’t have content marketing experience within your team

• You want to scale up your content marketing efforts (in a savvy, efficient way)

• You want an outside perspective on your content marketing — what’s working and what’s not

• You want to work with a content expert but don’t want to add to your in-house team

• You want to make sure your content reaches the right people and your dream clients.

If any of these sound like you, it may be time to work with a B2B content marketing agency.

Book a call with the Scribly team today to get the process started.