Top Content Marketing Agencies in 2022

What is content marketing? Why your brand needs content marketing?

Content marketing is the strategy of consistently creating and sharing relevant and interesting content in order to attract and retain an audience group. The aim is to convert this audience into potential customers for the company or the brand. The key difference between content marketing and other forms of advertising is that the content created and shared should be of tangible value to the audience with whom it is shared. This element of value that the content brings to the audience is what makes content marketing unique and is what makes the audience want to consume the content. Content marketing is often considered to be the present and future of marketing and is an integral form of all other forms of marketing as well. Strong content is often the basis for a successful SEO strategy, social media strategy, PPC strategy, PR strategy and any other form of inbound marketing strategy. So why is content marketing growing in popularity worldwide and what are the advantages it can bring to your brand?

Content marketing when done right can benefit a brand in a multitude of ways such as,

• Helps build a strong brand image: In today’s competitive market where thousands of brands are vying for the attention of consumers; establishing a strong brand identity is of paramount importance.
• Helps retain an audience base: One of the biggest challenges nowadays is in building a loyal audience base for your brand who keep coming back to your brand. In an age where consumers switch loyalties in a drop of a hat, content marketing can help bring a loyal audience base for the brand.
• Helps capitalise on organic search: Any marketing strategy that capitalises on organic search and advertising is beneficial over a strategy that is dependent on paid search. Content marketing when done right can be the biggest source of organic search and advertising for a brand.
• Cost effective strategy: Apart from being one of the most cost-effective strategies because it capitalises on organic and earned media over paid media, it also has high ROI. Research has shown that not only is content marketing 62 percent cheaper than traditional marketing methods it is also 3x times more effective in generating leads.

Types of content marketing

To better understand content marketing and how it can be best implemented, let’s take a look at the types of content marketing strategies.

• Blogs: Blogs are one of the most popular forms of content marketing as they serve as a direct and informal means of communication with the audience. Not only do they create awareness about the brand and help establish a strong brand image, they also help increase engagement with the audience creating a loyal audience base.
• Infographics: The USP of infographics is that it can convey even the most complex and technical of ideas easily to its target audience with the help of illustrations and pictures.
• Videos: Videos are one of the most popular and consumed forms of content online. According to statistics, adults in the US spent 3.5 hours per day watching videos online in 2020. An aptly timed and captivating video can gain a lot of traction and interest online generating buzz for the brand.
• Webinars: Webinars are an incredibly powerful content marketing tool because if the webinar is well structured and relevant, it can keep the audience engaged for a long period of time. Achieving this can be a challenging feat in today’s fast paced social media world where the attention span of the audience is rapidly decreasing.
• Case Studies: Case studies can help demonstrate your company’s expertise in your domain of service and also help showcase successful prior projects and client testimonials.

Thus, content marketing can take many forms and the key to a successful strategy is in determining which form of content works best with your target audience.

What does a content marketing company do?

An experienced content marketing agency will help create and implement a well rounded and streamlined content marketing strategy for your business. The agency will have a team of experienced content writers, editors, illustrators, graphic designers, videographers and consultants who will help craft a strategy that best suits your business or brand. The services of a content marketing agency can be categorised into three phases,

• Creating a strategy: They will help craft a strategy that meets your needs and requirements and can help attain your goals.
• Implementation of the strategy: The agencies will take care of the content creation aspect and will ensure content is shared on your social media platforms consistently.
• Monitoring: As the final step, the agency will also constantly monitor the strategy, make necessary modifications and report back to you with pre-determined metrics so that you can assess the performance of the campaign.

Successful Content Marketing: how does a content marketing expert do it the right way?

To maximise the benefits and get the best out of content marketing, there needs to be a well-defined plan of action and a strategy. Let’s take a look at how an experienced content marketing agency crafts and executes an effective content marketing strategy.

• Establishing the goals: The content marketing agency will work with the client closely to understand the needs and requirements of the clients and establish well defined goals and metrics for the strategy. The goals of the strategy could be to establish the image of the brand, generate leads, increase sales etc.
• Identify the target audience: Before executing the strategy, it is important for the marketer to identify the target audience for the campaign. This can be done by segmenting the population and identifying the most profitable and attractive segments.
• Topic & Keyword research: Keyword research will help us better understand the target audience and how they are searching online for the products and services. Keyword research is essential to lay the foundation of a successful content marketing strategy.
• Analyse the existing strategy: By reviewing and analysing the strategy that is already in place you can gain valuable insights and data points about the target audience and their preferences. Insights regarding the types of content that has generated the most engagement and the keywords that have been used the most can be gained.
• Create a strategy: The next step is to devise a well-rounded and coherent strategy based on all the analysis and research undertaken up until now. Factors such as which social media platform to use, what type of content to be shared and the methods of promotion should be determined.
• Establish the schedule: One of the key elements behind the success of any content marketing strategy is the consistency with which the content is shared online. Therefore, it is important to establish a schedule to determine how often the content will be shared.
• Implement the strategy: The next step is to implement the planned strategy keeping in mind all the objectives that have been determined. The strategy should reflect the keyword research, the analysis of the previous strategy and most importantly the goals of the campaign. Once the content is created and shared online it is also important to promote the content to increase its reach.
• Monitor the strategy: The final and the most important step is to constantly monitor the strategy once it has been implemented. This can help the content marketing team fine tune the strategy and make any necessary modifications or changes to make the strategy more effective.

10 best content marketing tools used by expert digital content marketers

There are ample resources online that can help with content creation and make your overall strategy more efficient and streamlined. Let’s take a look at a few of the best content marketing tools online that are used by content marketing experts.

• Google Trends: Google Trends which is one of Google’s free offerings is a powerful tool that analyzes search queries in its search engine across regions and languages and shows how popular certain keywords are over time.
• Google Analytics: Another one of Google’s free offerings, Google Analytics is a web analytics service that offers key insights about a site’s visitors and their behaviour.
• BuzzSumo: BuzzSumo is a cloud-based platform that provides valuable insights regarding what content is trending in every industry, and is an ideal platform for content creators and marketers to help them keep a pulse on the industry.
• Keywords Everywhere: A tool that can help with keyword research and SEO, Keywords Everywhere is a browser add-on that shows monthly search volume, cost-per-click etc.
• Statista: Statista collects and compiles data from government databases, scientific journals and other research publications making it a one stop destination for all statistical and data needs.
• Clearscope: Clearscope is a content optimization tool that grades written content on parameters such as keyword density, wordcount, header etc., and gives it a readability score.
• Ahrefs: Ahrefs is a powerful content measurement tool used by SEO and content creators for link building, keyword research, competitor analysis, rank tracking and site audits.
• StoryChief: This app is often considered an all-in-one app that allows users to publish articles, promote it on social media and measure the success of the marketing campaign all from one platform.
• Canva: No content marketing list will be complete without it featuring Canva, one of the best content design and video tools available online. It’s easy to use interface makes it ideal even for beginners and amateurs.
• Help a B2B Writer: A one of a kind platform that allows content writers and strategists to reach out and collaborate with subject matter experts to help with writing quality and accurate content.

How much does a content marketing agency cost for its services?

The services offered by a professional content creation agency can vary anywhere from between $ 8000 to $ 40,000 per month depending on the size of your business and the complexity of the campaign to be executed. For a small business, the services of a content marketing firm will cost around $ 8000 - $ 10,000, whereas for a medium sized business it will cost $ 15,000 - $ 40,000 and for an enterprise company it will cost $ 40,000 +. The overall cost of hiring a content marketing agency for your business will be determined by a number of factors such as the duration of the campaign, complexity of the campaign, the tools and technology used etc.