3 Telltale Signs That Your Content Provider Is Worth The Money
Posted by Joi Martinez on Fri, Apr 22, 2011
Content management is a necessary aspect of Internet marketing. As your business grows, the amount of content on your websites and blogs or used in article marketing efforts begins to increase, interconnect and establish your brand and authority.
Whether you do it yourself, or use a content provider, giving your readers and customers quality content is imperative. If you're leaning toward using an outside service, you want to make sure that the provider is worth the money you spend on them.
How do you choose a content provider when the choice is so important to your overall business success?
In three simple steps, you should:
- Start with the copy
- Consider content optimization
- Look at the provider's customer service
1. Does your content compel a look and an action?
Effective copy is the first rule in content management. Content marketing is more than understanding where to place keywords or with what keyword density. There is more to building a content marketing strategy than spinning articles for distribution over a network. Content marketing is still copywriting.
According to Copyblogger Senior Editor Sonia Simone, one of the three essential elements of content marketing is writing copy that provides your readers with a solution to a problem while simultaneously entertaining them.
I advocate identifying the call to action in your content and evaluating how often readers answer it. The purpose of content marketing is to draw the reader to a website, ask for a sale or subscription, generate discussion or provoke another click. It is written to encourage an action. If no action occurs, the copy is not effective.
When evaluating your content provider, look for copy that begins with an engaging title, with information that encourages deeper thought or research or provides clear instruction for application and uses a definite call to action.
2. Does your content translate?
It may be nice to have your content in five languages, but this type of translation has to do with the ability to move from one condition or place to another. Content providers keep marketing strategy in mind. David Meerman Scott, the marketing mind behind webinknow.com, writes often about using social media metrics as a method of gauging content effectiveness. If your company is using social media marketing, your content provider should generate sociable copy.
Your content should translate across your marketing strategy.
Writing quality content requires providing a message and theme that potentially moves between blogs and articles. You want to be sure there are sections other bloggers or writers can quote. Look for quick summaries and major points that make tweeting, backlinking and “liking” on Facebook easy.
This means you have to establish a relationship with your content provider. They must understand the purpose of the content or they cannot provide copy that attracts, engages and translates.
3. Does your content provider make it easy?
It seems this would be obvious. However, many marketing professionals and business owner choose providers based solely on cost. You must consider the full impact of the content. If your provider yields content that is effective and translatable, each piece is more valuable.
When choosing your content provider, look for one who:
- Understands that content marketing and copywriting are not only connected, they are essentially twins.
- Provides messaging that fills the need of your content marketing strategy as a whole.
- Communicates with you and is willing to build a long-term relationship with you and your plan.
You will receive consistent, high quality copywriting that builds a following and provokes action, so your business is increasingly profitable.