Ultimate Guide to Content Marketing for Agencies

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/>Content Marketing is not Rocket Science –
Here is the Ultimate Guide to Content
Marketing for Agencies!!!
In the era of Panda and Peng uin, content marketing has become one of the most
promising roads forward. A successful internet marketing strateg y rests on th e quality
of your content. We have arrived at the point where content marketing is the best way of
reaching your consumers.
Of course, content marketing was important even before Panda and Peng uin made th eir
appearance on the scene. Astute agencies were already h arnessing the power of th is
strategy to expand their client’s reach. Still, most agencies saw content marketing as a
top-tier marketing technique. It wasn’t someth in g th at they con sidered a prerequisite,
and many of th em just ig nored it completely.
Why adopt a content driven promotional strateg y, after all, when there were easier, cut
and dried, and replicable meth odologies already in place? The problem with this sort of
thinking was that wh en ‘content marketing ’ actually took its rig htful place in the world
of intern et marketing, many ag encies had no clue how to make it work successfully.
The “how” and “why” of content marketing still escapes many of these companies, and
we have encountered several that are still murky about the whole process.
If we claimed th at our content marketing campaig ns always went smooth ly for our
clients, we would be lying . There h ave been some wrong turns, but over time we have
accumulated a g reat deal of experience making it work for our clients. We believe we’ve
learned enoug h to piece tog ether an actionable content marketing g uide to help oth er
agencies g et their act in g ear.
So, from one ag ency to another, here’s a detailed look at the content marketing process.
What is Content Marketing?
To put it simply, content marketing is all about creating ‘g reat’ content, and promoting
it throug h the appropriate channels.
Obviously, the difficulty agencies face is determining what ‘g reat’ content is. Yes, it
should be well-written. Yes it should have no g rammatical errors. Yes it sh ould targ et a
specific audience. Yes it should be orig inal, and yes, it should be factual and well

researched.
That’s a lot of “yeses,” but it’s only the tip of the iceberg wh en it comes to ‘g reat’ content.
What it really needs to be able to do is add value. It must not only attract prospects, but
also convert them into customers; and not just single time customers, but repeat buyers.
It must also be shareable content: the kind of content th at can g o viral.
Here’s our process for building valuable content. First we understand wh at the client
wants, as any g ood ag ency does. But then we g o deep into th e needs and wants of the
client’s target audience, which is often ignored. We create content th at is related to th e
product or messag e in question, but our core focus is on creating the kind of content
that th e audience wants.
If th ere is a solution th at they want, we g ive it to them. If they are looking for facts,
that’s what we offer. If they are looking for stats, th en stats it is. Great content is always
audience defined; th is is wh at h elps build trust between our clients and th eir targ et
audience.
The rule of thumb that we follow is: “Give the audience what they want, not what
you think they want.”
This is what great content is all about, and what allows it g o viral…wh ich brings us to
our next topic.
How to develop great content that goes viral
Now that we’re clear on wh at g reat content actually is, let’s take th ings to th e next level
and make it go viral. Th ere is no doubt that creating viral content is the single most
importan t step of content marketing. Let’s take a look at how to make it happen.
What ar e the types of content that can g o vir al?
Speaking from experience, it’s real time content th at h as the most potential to g o viral.
Our focus is always on news stories, case studies, experiences (both g ood and bad),
controversies, strateg ies, solutions to common problems, actionable industry insig hts,
facts and fig ures, contests, free tools and widgets, g iveaways, open products reviews
(wh ich are in hig h demand), and anything and everything that your client’s customers
are currently most interested in reading about.
Nobody likes feeling out of the loop, especially when it comes to subjects that they care

about. The big g est influencers in your industry are going to care far more about brand
new information th an old news, even if it is trusted and established in formation.
Let’s take SEO as an example. In this niche, the most viral content will be about recent
updates to th e alg orithm, fresh strateg ies th at people haven’t seen before, and so on.
This is what SEO enthusiasts want to read and sh are. Remember, if someth ing is n ew,
interesting, and surprising , it gets shared.
This bring s us to our next question:
How do you develop such content?
Two words: “Your Client.” Get your client involved in th e content development process.
Nobody knows more about th e niche th an th ey do. True, there will be circumstances
wh ere you understand th e online market better than your client, but th ey are still th e
ultimate authority on th e subject matter and what people in th at industry care about.
Sit with your client, have long strateg izing sessions, and make your clien t a part of the
process. Remember: they have the most stake in the campaig n. Help th em understand
that novel information , which is often proprietary, is by far th e most likely to g o viral.
It’s often difficult for SEOs to gain access to this information, so make sure they
understand why it’s so importan t.
Here are some of th e questions that you can ask your clients, which will help th em open
up about th eir business:
What are the problems their customers face while using their
products/services?
What’s their USP (Unique Selling Proposition)? This is crucial.
What is their customer feedback while using their products/services?
What are the latest updates in their industry?
Where are the top blogs in their industry?
Content that provides solutions almost always works best. To solve problems for the
targ et audience and influencers in the niche, you’ll need to understand your client’s
business strategies. How to accomplish this will be different from client to client, and it
is a skill that can only come from experience.
We recently used this kind of strategy when we put tog eth er our Post-Panda/Penguin

Era Link Acquisition Strateg ies for SearchEng ineJournal. We recog nized th at th ere are
many SEOs looking for strateg ies with sustainable results in this new era of
optimization. We offered the post as a solution to th at problem. In the process, we
shared some of our own personal strateg ies openly with SEJ readers. It’s the kind of
content th at is perfectly suited to g oing viral, and, according to our standards, it did.
Identifying the Right Content Distribution Channel
Creating the rig ht content is a must, but you also need to zero in on a distribution
channel for th e content. You want to reach your audience th roug h a channel that they
already access h abitually.
Here, again, the client enters th e picture. Where does the client go to find solutions to
their problems? Where do their customers g o? Where do people wh o would care about
their products and services g o to solve th eir problems?
Once you have a list of viable content distribution channels, share it with your clients
and talk to th em about it. Then consider a format for the content, such as:
Whitepapers
Presentations
Ebooks
Blog posts
Videos
Email newsletters
Pdf
Doc
Webinars
Tutorials
Guides
Mobile/tablet apps
micro sites
landing pages
Offline – mag azines, newspapers etc.
Choosing the Right Distribution Channel, and Developing Content for It

Once you identify the most promising channels, you need to choose which one to
actually use. Consider th e following :
Is th e choice of channel sustain able, can you keep at it for th e long term?
Will a majority of your targ et audience be able to access th e channel?
Is it an “all-purpose” distribution channel, th at you can keep using despite
chang ing audience expectations, aspirations, and the emerg ence of new
distribution channels?
Are you th inking lon g term or short term?
Are you looking at a single channel or multi-channel distribution?
What we usually like to do is diversify our distribution channels, rath er th an stick to just
one or two. Th e choice of the channel depends on the market, the competition, and the
client’s personal preferences. Think according ly.
Suppose th at you have chosen video as your medium of choice. In that case, you need to
understand what kinds of videos are most successful, and what will be most helpful to
the targ et audience. Successful videos g enerally showcase something remarkable,
amazing , or funny. For it to be helpful to your client, it also needs to be related to th eir
products and services.
As an example, if your client was an idea-g eneration firm, a video of a real-life
brainstorming session would be a g ood choice. Such a video would be helpful for
viewers, since it would en lig hten th em about the creative process. It would also build
trust and reputation for your client by demonstrating h ow th ey do th eir work and th eir
willingness to share it openly.
The video sh ould endorse the company’s commitment to offering clients the best
services, and this sh ould be showcased in a manner that is really interesting, not
“salesy.” In th e case of videos, it’s about establishing an immediate personal connection
with the audience.
Every distribution channel h as its own specific content development requiremen ts. Your
content must live up to th em in order to succeed.
Developing a Big Audience Outreach Plan
Once you have g reat con tent and the perfect distribution channel, it’s time to reach out

to your audience with it. Audience outreach is an integ ral part of content marketing .
Here’s h ow you can develop a plan to accomplish th is:
Know your customers
Know wh ere th ey g o to find solutions to problems like those solved by your client
Try to reach out to th e targ et customer th rough their preferred channel. Only
then will they be able to find your content and consider it valuable
Plan for the present, but future proof your plan as well
Track your results; th is is importan t since it allows you to fine tune your outreach
plan
Use of Content Marketing Tools
Thing s g et a whole lot easier if you use th e plethora of content marketing tools
available. Th ere is something for everybody. The choice of tools depends on th e kind of
content you have chosen and th e distribution ch annel, among other thing s.
Let’s take a look at some of th ese tools. We have divided th ese tools into th ree
categ ories, namely content strategy, content production, and con tent promotion:
Content Strategy T ools:
Tools like the Content Strateg y Generator from SEOGadget can help you do thing s like:
Pull data from Goog le Insights for information about trends in your industry
Use data from FollowerWonk and Topsy to locate promising content placement
opportunities
Find outreach opportunities
Content Production T ools:
Content production tools help you put tog ether content more quickly so that you can
expand your reach more effectively. This slide sh ow does a g ood job of introducing some
of these tools. They can help you:
Set up easy to follow workflows
Do outreach, content production, and social sharing in one place
Get in touch with journalists
Gain insig ht into what your targ et audience is readin g
Simplify blog ging if you work with several writers, and more

Here are few of th ese tools. Feel free to mention more in the comments:
Contently: This tool allows you to choose your team of writers from the Contently
network with respect to th eir specialization, what they have worked on and wh o th ey
have worked for; you can manag e your team and your content work flow in th e cloud.
Go!Animate: Some ideas translate well into animated videos, and th is is wh ere th is tool
can h elp you out. You can create interesting animated videos, without sweating it.
YouT ube Video Editor: Polish your raw footag e; trim clips, add music, insert
transitions, rotate clips and do a whole lot more.
Skyword: This is a complete content product platform which allows you to recruit
writers, create content, promote your con ten t socially, and lastly, measure its
performance. All of this can be accomplish ed with minimal effort.
Follower Wonk: More than a content production platform, this allows you to do some
solid keyword research, search for topics that are making waves in your niche, and find
influencers. Produce top notch strateg ic content th at you know will cater to your niche.
Content Promotion Tools:
These tools h elp you g et the word out so you can reach as broad an audience as possible.
Check out th is Mashable post to learn more about th em if you like:
Smashwords: A g ood pick if you have chosen to distribute content using eBooks. It can
help you launch your eBook for free.
One Load: This is a g reat platform if you are choosing video distribution. This platform
doesn’t just allow you deploy your videos across different video sh aring sites and social
networking sites etc, but it also help you keep an eye on th em.
StumbleUpon: If you are looking for an inexpensive, pay-per impression form of
content distribution , this will be a g ood choice.
Blogdash: If g uest blog g ing is a part of your content marketing strateg y, then th is is a
great platform to find bloggers, engag e with them, or pitch your campaig n to them.
Zemanta: This one is a link distribution platform and what it does is very simple. While
you are writing your blog posts, it will analyze th em and make suggestions for th e
addition of links and relevant photos. It also acts as a content promotion platform for
relevant link building .

There are many oth ers out th ere. A bit of research into th e tools, th eir use, benefits, and
efficiency will g ive you a g ood idea of what to use, when to use th em, and how to make
the most of the various content marketing tools.
And Finally……Go Viral!
Now that you h ave a content marketing strateg y in place, all th at remains to be done is
getting it to g o viral. Take advantag e of social media, email marketing, outreach and so.
If your content hits the mark, it should start propag ating on its own.
Let’s take a look at wh at you can do to take your content to the viral stag e:
Use Social Media: but don’t just use social media, use it strategically. First, search
for the social influencers in your n iche: those authority fig ures that are looked
upon with respect, and whose sug gestions and opinions count in your target niche.
Make th e rounds in your web space and social networks, and fin d th ose fig ures th at are
going to influence your targ et audience on Facebook, Twitter, Goog le+, and Pinterest.
You need to eng age with th em and encourag e th em to share your content on th eir blog s.
What you are essentially doing is trying to leverag e their respectability in their niche to
promote your content; something that will help it go viral.
Let your targ et audience know that you are publishing new content. Your social
network is th e perfect place to connect with your audience on a one-on-one level,
so tell them about your newly publish ed content here.
Press Releases can work very well. A press release is, in itself, a content
distribution channel. However, you can also use a press release to promote a piece
of content. For example, you can really take your video to th e next level if you
supplement it with a press release. Think about it.
Cite your previous content. Be smart and th ink ahead. Develop content th at
relates to your previous work, and th en cite those posts in the new work.
Email marketing is one of the more traditional ways of reaching out to customers
and letting people know about the content that you h ave publish ed. Start an
outreach plan to g et in touch with your targ et audience through emails.
These are just some of the approaches to h elp take your content viral.
Conclusion

The g oal of content marketing is to improve your client’s reputation using content that
gets sh ared and propagates on its own. This means you need to meet th e needs of your
client as well as those of th eir potential customers. Excessively commercial content
rarely g oes viral, wh ile th e type of content th at is most viral rarely has commercial
appeal. One of th e most important thing s you will do for your clients is find the
intersection between these two cultures.
Do you have anything else to share about content marketing strateg ies? If you liked th is,
we’d appreciate it if you passed it along. Th anks for reading!
(Image Credit: Rocket Science, Great Content, Identifying, Big Audience)