Back to Basics – How Brands Can Showcase Their Expertise Through Strategic Content Marketing

Thought leadership is essential in today’s day and age. It helps you demonstrate your expertise in your field and shows the audience that you are a reliable source and trustworthy partner. With social media and other digital channels, it is even easier today for brands and spokespersons to demonstrate their expertise. Authority and influence are what will help you successfully showcase your expertise and set you up as an industry leader.  

But how can brands create the best content strategy that showcases their expertise? The simplest way to do that is by hiring a marketing agency to help them pave the way forward. The main reason for outsourcing these essential marketing functions is because it is very important to find the right people to help you achieve your goals. A good marketing agency knows how to help you reach your goals and can create the right kind of content that creates delivers the desired impact. 

So, if you’re looking to hire your first marketing agency, here are some tips to keep in mind to help you find the right partner for your business:

Get Recommendations from LinkedIn Members and Other Professionals

The best way to find and shortlist some good agencies is by asking for recommendations from fellow professionals on LinkedIn. You can do so on relevant groups across various social media channels or by asking other professionals, whose opinion you trust, to recommend agencies they have had experience with. This way you will be able to find dependable agencies with a proven track record and a good reputation that you can potentially partner with. 

Ask for A Portfolio

The first step in the hiring process is analysing the agency’s effectiveness. And to do so, you’ll need to see their portfolio. That will help you understand which other brands the agency has worked with and how long the collaboration lasted. It will also show you what other campaigns they have created for previous clients, which gives you a fair idea about their creative abilities. 

Agencies who work with bigger and more well-known brands are usually more expensive compared with those who work with smaller brands, but that proves their expertise and their abilities to handle big accounts. You may also want to look at what kind of training programmes, reporting systems and management skills these agencies have before taking things forward. 

Ask for a Pitch and Negotiate a Contract

Once you’ve shortlisted and picked an agency, go ahead and ask them to send you a pitch with their best ideas. Ask them for their pricing and check their terms in the contract. Some agencies may have a notice period and other standard requirements, so make sure you go through all the terms before signing anything. If you require any additional terms and conditions, you can ask them to be added for smoother functioning in the long-term. 

Start With a Trial Campaign

The best way to test the expertise of the agency is by starting with a trial campaign to test their content strategy and creativity. Start with a small project and a small budget and see how the agency performs. Are they able to maximise the return on investment and give you the desired results? See how they add value on this short project before going into something more long-term. This is a great way to select a partner that compliments your brand. 

Evaluate More than Just the Creatives

While seeing results is important, it is also essential that this partner agency understands your values and complements your internal functioning. You will be able to judge how they respect your opinions and incorporate your feedback. You can also find out if they are able to deliver on the agreed deadlines and how great they are with overall functioning and day to day co-ordination. Take note of all these aspects before you sign any contract with the agency. 

Book a free consultation call with us to understand how we can help your B2B brand achieve your goals with the best content strategy in 2022.