With 46% of people reading blogs more than once a day and 93% of B2B marketers and businesses using content marketing the need to be creating content has never been greater.
For you, a business owner, it is difficult to see how on earth you are going to create all of this content. If you are considering inbound marketing you will know that it does involve creating a lot of great helpful content.
I hope this post will help relieve the anxiety of content creation and help you to understand that it is not as difficult as it sounds.
Who creates the content?
You are the industry expert and it needs to be a shared responsibility when it comes to creating content.
An inbound marketing agency will respect your time as they have very efficient ways of helping you to create engaging content. The businesses that have the most long term success with inbound are the ones that adopt a content publishing culture within their organisation.
Inbound marketing requires your agency to create a lot of content and they will need you, the industries experts, to help with this.
They should conduct weekly interviews with you so they can create the most accurate content possible, then create outlines of this content for you to review before they create the final versions.
I would estimate that they will need around an hour a week of your time to conduct these interviews and have update meetings on progress.
They will need you to invest at least 4 hours every month liaising and you will need some further time for you to gather the information needed. They will work with you to find the perfect balance of responsibility.
These days there is some really advanced project management software so you and your agency can collaborate ensuring there are no missed deadlines and missed deliverables.
I have seen the best results with our partners when they appoint a point of contact that can respond quickly and make crucial decisions. This is the key to a successful partnership.
How long does creating all this content take to see results?
I believe the best things in life take hard work and patience, inbound marketing is no different. It is important not to expect overnight success. The inbound marketing methodology is designed to build momentum and lasting success.
Month 1 & 2 – Research, Development & Implementation
Your inbound marketing agency will work with you to build you the infrastructure you need to succeed.
Together you will create buyer personas and understand your sales process. They will analyse the best keywords that people use to find your business and create your custom blueprint. They will then create your inbound marketing framework.
Month 3 to 5 – Creating Your Custom Sales Engine
Now that they have built the engine it is time to add fuel to that engine and start building momentum for success. Creating weekly blog content that answers questions customers have will attract them to your website is a must and I recommend this as being a shared task.
Month 6 to 12 – Start Seeing Results
Having the foundation firmly in place you can now start to see some results. You will be able to examine the success of the blueprint and optimise this for greater success. Your agency will work closely with your team to continue to develop the campaign based on the measurable data that you now have.
Next you and your agency can start to set some monthly goal targets so everyone can see what you are going to achieve.
Inbound marketing takes a lot of patience and collaboration from both sides and can take time to see results. No good marketing strategy happens overnight and no great marketing strategy works without the timely collaboration of both parties.
I would encourage you to allow at least six months. This helps to fully achieve your success and meet your marketing goals.
Conclusion
It is difficult to understand at first how you are going to manage to create all the content needed for successful inbound marketing but by getting some help from an inbound marketing agency they will work with you to extract your expert knowledge and create content that is helpful to your prospects.
What are your biggest challenges you face when creating content? Let me know in the comments below.