Dedicated content creation effort is a must for any corporate wanting to scale and succeed. Are you one?
But I hear you and understand the writer’s woes you are facing. Most often somebody within the sales team doubles up as a writer. His/her skills are limited when it comes to writing and they already have a heavy workload.
So, all your content efforts are stalled. Your Google discoverability takes a beating, and you have a static website that does not cut it with your target segments. Let alone the website, you may need pitch decks, brochures, technical documentation, blogs, articles, and social media posts for which content creation is key.
So how do you go about creating content for your organization? It pays to have a dedicated member who is a content specialist. So, there are a few ways to do this, and each organization has a preference.
- Either you hire one for the organization and allocate all content work to him/her
- Else outsource the content piece alone
- Or you could even mix and match with hiring and outsourcing
However, there is a growing trend towards the gig model of working which is all about engaging writers for a period and getting your content in place. But that said selecting the right writer suitable to your industry is equally important.
In fact, 50% of organizations choose to outsource their content marketing efforts according to the B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends: Insights for 2022 by the Content Marketing Institute.
- What are your content creation requirements?
Is it purely technical, marketing, only website, or blogs or all the above? Which means there are a breed of writers only penning technical content which are user guides, manuals, technical documents and project documentation and release notes. This crop of writers may not be adept at marketing literature. So, the first step is to identify your own content needs and then set out to select.
- What is the budget you have for the content creation?
This is an aspect you need to sort out internally, before looking outside. Also, if its short term don’t waste time hiring. There are sufficient gig forums, job boards, social media to source them. Also are you looking for niche industry specific writers? Or a writer with impeccable English knowledge, as pricing may vary here accordingly.
- Ask for a prototype before you hand over the content creation
This comes after you have spoken to them, reviewed their profile, portfolio as well. Give them a clear brief. And ask them for a prototype deliverable aligned to the work they will be delivering for your organization. Only after you are satisfied with the prototype can you initiate the next steps.
- Agree upon the commercials for the content creation project
Transparent communication helps, with how many rounds of editing will be required for each deliverable. Mutually agree upon a schedule, timelines and fees either project wise or duration wise. Make sure the content writer is comfortable with the arrangement. Starting on the right foot always helps.
- Set Aside Team for quality Orientation to the company
Get to know them and help them come up to speed by way of providing a customized orientation program. Introduce them to the leadership team. Have them attend key company events and importantly give them a detailed domain/industry walkthrough. Just so they realize where their content deliverables fit in in the big picture.
- Communicate the content creation expectations clearly
Spend time clearly articulating what you want from the writer. The more specific you are the better the output will be. With no or less iterations. What type of collateral, how many words, what are the themes and keywords, and by when you want it will be a great help to any writer. Often enough managers provide vague instructions. And only after the first draft, do they start thinking of the expected output. Don’t do this.
- Provide constructive feedback that improves the content creation
Yes, you can reject the content deliverables if they don’t match the expectations. But do that sensibly. Provide constructive and specific feedback. Tell them why it’s not working and what addition or deletion will make it meet your company’s content creation requirements. Don’t just say it’s good, that’s vague and confusing to the writers.
If the above is done systematically, I am sure the content creation for your organization will grow sizable reaping rich dividends.
When taking a content-first approach, our job as marketers is not to create more content … it’s to create the minimum amount of content with the maximum amount of results. — Robert Rose
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And yes, you can read more of my blogs on Branding and Content Marketing right here. And would love to talk to you to discuss your content marketing goals for your organization – bhuvanarajaram9@gmail.com or + 91 98415 96366 (Whatsapp also).
