3 Options To Produce Content
“Content marketing is a commitment, not a campaign.”
-Jon Buscall, CEO, Moondog Marketing & Media
As many of you continue your journey with a more content-centric marketing plan, you are probably experiencing the common growing pains that go along with that transition.
In my last column I talked about the “Big 5.” There are typically five challenges I see companies facing when going through the process of evolving from a traditional display marketing model to today’s brand publishing model. Last week I wrote about the first challenge about knowing what type of content to create. Today I’d like to touch on the second challenge which is the problem of getting content produced.
When you look at it pragmatically, there are three resources or levers you can pull to create meaningful content.
- Time- Before we even get to the event of actually creating the piece of content there are several activities that are required in order to make an impactful piece. Research will typically take up the most time pre-draft so finding a way to expedite that process is key. Automating your research by leaning into certain twitter feeds is a good way to quickly find the reference points you need to research specific topics.
- Money- If you don’t have time, you better have money. There are a couple ways to allocate funds towards your content and brand publishing efforts that make the most sense in a B2B setting. First, outsource. There are plenty of options out there, B2BrandWater chief among them, that know the water and wastewater market, have the knowledge, time and talent to create any piece of content you need. The best options for outsourcing will be able to show you how the entire effort will positively affect your company’s top line. Armed with that information, you are ready to go to your executives for approval on the spend.
Here are some statistics to discuss when asking for funds for your brand publishing initiative:
- Content marketing costs 62 percent less (Demand Metric) than traditional marketing and generates about three times as many leads.
- Blogs give websites 434 percent more indexed pages and 97 percent more indexed links (Content+).
- Companies that blog more than 15 times per month get five times more traffic than companies that don’t blog (Hubspot).
The second option would be hiring the right people or person which brings me to the third resource…
- Personnel- According to Salary.com, the average salary range for a content marketing manager is $72,000 to $113,000 per year. Add another $20,000 for benefits and you’re looking at needing almost $100,000 or more to hire the right person for the job. Most water and wastewater manufacturers see these statistics and find it more cost effective for them to outsource. In fact, I’m not aware of one person in this market with the title of Content Marketing Manager. If you do choose to onboard a professional to fill this need, there are 5 important characteristics to look for…. Creator, Leader, Project Manager, Strategist, Organizer. In a later post I’ll get deeper into these characteristics.