Content marketing that brings results is a fine science that goes beyond simply writing texts.

It’s the art of doing in-depth topic research, reinforcing it with quick-win SEO, polishing with accurate copy editing, and beautifying with stylish graphic design. This complex approach to top-notch content marketing means that sometimes, it’s better to trust professionals’ content strategy, especially when you don’t have the expert skills, knowledge, or time to do it on your own. 

That’s why 84% of companies outsource their content marketing processes to specialized agencies. Hiring an expert with good experience is a proven way to make the most of your efforts. 

What are the signs that it’s high time to hire a content marketing consultant, and what results can you expect from this cooperation? 

In this post, we’ll discuss the following:

• What do content marketing consultants do, and why do you need to hire one?
• How is the content strategy consultancy organized?
• When is the right time to hire a marketing consultant? 
• Tips on how you can hire the best consultant

So let’s get into it!

What Do Content Marketing Consultants Do And Why Do You Need To Hire One?

You may be wondering: what exactly do content marketing consultants do? What are their duties, and how can you use their expertise to your advantage? 

A content marketing consultant can be considered a teacher. They point out your mistakes and educate you on how to do things better. The primary goal of the content consultants is to use their knowledge and expertise to provide businesses with professional assistance in developing a high-converting content strategy. 

First, they conduct a marketing audit to analyze the company’s current approach and results and form a new strategy that will potentially help the brand succeed. 

Then, they put the strategy into action and determine whether it’s effective or not, adjusting the campaigns accordingly. The ultimate objective of their work is to find the most effective channels and methods to distribute the content, interact with customers and attract new client opportunities.

The users are more likely to become clients after being informed and educated by your website’s content. They’ll also be eager to share well-written articles that bring tremendous value to social media. It’s a natural way to promote your business and get more people to know about it. Thus, content marketing consultants strive to increase your website traffic and visibility, drive user engagement, generate qualified leads, increase sales, and help you achieve the position of a market leader through high-quality content. 

What Does The Content Strategy Consultancy Include?

Content strategy consulting will give you guidance towards running your content strategy smoothly and increasing your content team’s productivity. However, consulting involves more than just offering advice. This process includes multiple levels of responsibilities, ranging from advising to monitoring workflow sustainability and continuous progress.

A good content marketing plan contains the following elements:

• Content marketing objectives that your business targets.
• The relevant buyer personas.
• Market & competitors’ research.
• Content-market fit (content categories and topics of interest for your buyer personas).
• A profitable marketing funnel with the selection of content types for every stage.
• Quick-win keywords.
• Content production workflow.
• Content team composition and allocation of the human resources.
• Materials that are better than competitors’.
• Strong and clear CTAs (call-to-actions).
• Results monitoring and reporting system.

Content strategy implementation process:

1. Goals. Setting smart goals that a business needs to achieve.
2. KPIs & metrics. Determining important indicators to monitor, assess and improve content initiatives.
3. A content funnel. Selecting the types of content and topics relevant to different stages of the marketing funnel.
4. Analysis. Analyzing rivals’ strategies and existing content on the web.
5. Keywords. Determining the keywords with a high search volume and acceptable competition difficulty.
6. Optimization. Optimizing existing content pieces on the website by removing, combining, or upgrading them to meet business goals and common content marketing & SEO standards. 
7. Production. Creating materials according to the content funnel and inserting the chosen keywords.
8. Distribution. Delivering the published content to the target audience via newsletters, social media networks, and other channels.
9. Review. Reviewing and analyzing the results at least quarterly. Making changes to the strategy if needed.

When is the Right Time to Hire a Content Marketing Consultant? 

Many businesses refer to content marketing consulting at different stages of their growth, so it can be a little bit hard to determine the right time to hire one. But obviously, it’s high time to hire a content consultant when you are unsure of what you are doing or don’t know how to get started with content marketing. 

If any of these most common cases refer to your company, you should start thinking of getting in touch with a content marketing consultant:

You don’t know where to get started

Small businesses may not know where to get started with effective content marketing. In addition, they don’t have the time or resources to plan, implement, test, and track a content marketing strategy. There is too much work for a startup to get started with content marketing, so trying to do everything without help might be wrong. You may be stressed out and even running past the deadlines of your strategic tasks. 

Focus on your skills and seek assistance for solving your weaknesses. It’s considerably simpler and more effective to hire a consultant and outsource some tasks to the agency.

In addition, it can be challenging for small businesses to allocate funds to recruit a scalable full-time content team. Working with a marketing consultant will be an excellent decision if you need someone to work on your short-term projects and one-time tasks.

You’re about to launch a corporate blog to attract new leads

Many businesses that are going to try blogging start writing without any clear plan in mind and post random posts. As a result, they don’t see any positive results, conversions and wonder why no one is interested in their content. 

A well-thought-out blogging strategy can help you generate great organic traffic, some of which will turn into clients. So if you don’t know how to create meaningful, and what’s more important, SEO-based and selling posts, consider hiring a content marketing consultant as a #1 priority.

You aren’t happy with the current content marketing results

You put a lot of effort into your current content strategy but don’t get the desired outcomes. Here is an obvious sign you need to seek professional assistance. A consultant will carefully examine your content marketing and SEO results across various channels, rework your strategy according to the brand’s vision and goals to boost its potential value, and craft an actionable plan for you. Getting content marketing consulting allows you to plan activities for 3, 6, and 12 months ahead of time with clearly set KPIs (key performance indicators).

You strive to expand your business and build a positive reputation

Hiring a content consultant is reasonable, not only when you are failing. When a business grows, it also needs the assistance of professionals to succeed in its expansion. Spreading an influential word about your company on a local or global market builds your company’s reputation and increases users’ trust in your brand.

In addition, content marketing is the foundation of a brand’s communication strategy with an audience. The creation and distribution of relevant and useful information form the desired image of your company in the minds of customers. Sharing exclusive materials and valuable insights allows you to become an opinion leader within your niche and take a significant market share. 

What’s more, if you feel like you are behind the trends, hiring a marketing consultant will also resolve the issue. Marketing specialists are skilled at anticipating trends and adapting content to match market tendencies and give you a competitive advantage. 

6 Tips On How You Can Choose The Best Content Consultant

Here are some useful tips on hiring the best content marketing consultant for your business:

1. Start with questions

Before diving deep into the process of seeking a reliable content marketing consultant, answer these three critical questions:

• Why do you need content marketing consultancy? Define your goals.
• What is your budget?
• What exactly do you expect a content consultant to do for you?

2. Find someone who cares about your needs

You want to ensure that your consultant creates a custom solution according to your goals, needs, and requirements. A competent specialist should interview you at your first encounter regarding your company specifics, desired results and expectations, and current marketing approach. 

3. Request and verify their references

So many businesses are boosting their spendings on content marketing today.  Thus, most likely, your candidates have quite a solid portfolio to demonstrate their achievements for previous clients. Make sure that the consultant you want to hire has relevant expertise and valid credentials. Study well their website, blog, portfolio, and use cases. They should be knowledgeable about your target audience, consumer behavior and eager to collaborate to get the best outcomes for your business.

4. Make sure you match each other

Personale fit is essential. Find someone you are likely to build strong relationships with. This means you like, trust, and respect the person and can easily communicate with them. Your collaboration should make you feel comfortable and pleasant. 

5. Determine things you want the consultant to perform

Make it clear what sort of assistance you want to get. Different consultants provide different levels of experience and support. Share your end goal with a specialist. Whether it’s generating more leads, building your company’s web presence, or improving brand reputation, both you and the consultant should clearly understand what you are striving to achieve.

6. Know about their criteria of success

Data is the foundation of an effective marketing strategy. Ask the agency about the tools and metrics they use to evaluate businesses’ marketing performance. You should also know how frequently and in what format they’ll report results to you.

Conclusion

Profitable content marketing is challenging. Developing a winning content strategy becomes a real headache for numerous businesses. That’s why the services of an experienced content marketing consultant are in great demand today. Consider hiring a marketing expert if you want your business to grow and be competitive through content initiatives. A professional content marketing consultancy can help you avoid numerous mistakes that can cost firms a significant amount of time and money. 

ReVerb provides highly experienced content consultants who’ve helped more than 800 companies across the globe in taking their businesses to the next level and generating massive profits from their content marketing endeavors!