What Working with Marketing Support Looks Like

Content is important to online businesses because it helps you to showcase your thought leadership and stay in front of your audience. But it’s also really time-consuming to do all the behind the scenes work on your content. Hiring someone to help you can get a big chunk of your marketing off your plate.

If you’ve never worked with marketing support or you’re looking for another perspective of what it looks like to work with someone to help you, listen in this week.

In the episode, you’ll hear what the role of a content creator is, what to expect, why communication is so important, and what you could potentially take off your plate if you have the right help in your business.

Mentioned in This Episode Podcast

Transcript:

Welcome to episode 246 of The Content Experiment Podcast, a podcast for service-driven business owners who know that content is important but there’s so much more to marketing and business growth.

Here we talk about showing up for your audience in a way that they want to hear, in a way that’s sustainable for you. This might mean publishing a weekly podcast or blog, but it also means paying attention to your email list, leveraging other people’s audiences, building relationships, and getting over the limiting mindsets that often hit when we’re reaching for the next level in our business.

I’m Abby Herman, fractional marketing officer, content strategist and podcast manager for business owners who want to make their marketing feel easier and more streamlined so they can get back to serving their clients and making those sales. I’ll show you how OR do it for you, while you do business in a way that works for you–I can help by supporting you through building and implementing a content and marketing strategy, taking care of the podcast management for you, or giving you the tools and resources to take this on yourself.

Have you ever thought about hiring someone to help you with your content but you’re not sure what it would look like for you?

Content is important to online businesses because it helps you to showcase your thought leadership and stay in front of your audience but it’s also really time-consuming to do all the behind the scenes work on your content, so hiring help is key so you can keep doing the things you want to be doing in your business, like working with clients and making those sales.

It’s important to remember that content, like your podcast, YouTube videos, and blog, are about nurturing the people who have already discovered you. These aren’t necessarily avenues for gaining new followers. To grow your audience, you need to put yourself in front of new people by being on podcasts or being a speaker on summits. And that’s a whole different conversation.

I talk about this with Lisa Simone Richards on episodes 124 and 176, and I also talk about it on a solo episode, 177. I’m sure there’s another episode or two of mine where I talk about it too.

Today we’re just talking about working with someone who helps you create content for your business. So what does that mean?

A content creator crafts compelling content tailored to your business’s unique needs and goals, whether that’s blog posts, YouTube descriptions, social media posts, nurturing emails, or podcast show notes. Obviously you’re creating the video and audio content that might be needed, but then your content support team, the person or agency you hire, should be able to handle the rest.

It’s crucial to partner with a content creator who truly gets your business and can resonate with your target audience. That doesn’t mean they need to fall into your target client, but they should be able to empathize with them. They also don’t have to be an expert in your industry, but they should align with your core values because that will shine through in the content they’re creating for you

So what kind of content can you expect someone to help you with?
Well, that really depends on your needs! They can work on a variety of content types, depending on your platform of choice, but the goal remains the same – engaging your audience and driving them towards a specific action.

Maybe they help you develop an overall strategy for your content, write video scripts for you, develop your video descriptions for YouTube, write social media captions for your content, write show notes and nurturing emails, create your blog posts and Reels, develop opt-ins and workbooks for your audience, write email sequences.

There are so many things that you can get help for, depending on your needs. And ideally you hire someone who can help you decide what your needs are.

But what does it look like when you start to work together? What should your expectations be and what do the workflows and timelines look like?

I talk about expectations and timelines in episode 244 so I recommend you go take a listen to that. But here are a few things to keep in mind:
A. Often, business owners underestimate the time it takes to create high-quality content, leading to unrealistic expectations.
B. Depending on the complexity and the type of content, timelines can vary – for instance, a blog post might take a few days, while a detailed video script could take a week or more.
C. Content planning is not an overnight job; having a content calendar in place well in advance ensures consistency and quality.

And, of course, your content support can’t do their job unless you also do yours. They can’t write video descriptions or podcast show notes if they don’t have your recordings. And they can’t turn something around overnight. Not only that, but your marketing team has time set aside to work on your content. Let’s say I’ve earmarked Wednesdays for a specific client. If I don’t have next week’s content until Thursday, the chances of an episode going live next week are slim. Listen to episode 244 to find out why.

So that brings me to communication. You must have open and ongoing conversations with anyone you hire to support you in your business…I think that goes without saying. And so of course it’s important to communicate with someone you hire to help with marketing and content.

Effective communication is vital to make sure your content creator is on the same page with your business goals and target audience. You need to communicate your business goals and target audience to your content creator so they know how to craft your content.

You also need to share upcoming launches, if you need or want to spotlight a specific area of your business, if you have free offers or anything that needs to be promoted. I know you know what’s going on inside your business, but unless you’ve hired someone full time to support you in your business, they’re not going to know about all the ins and outs unless you tell them.

I’ve had clients make complete left turns in their business before and I had no idea until I saw it online. That’s not good for cohesive messaging.

Regular check-ins and updates can help track progress and make adjustments as necessary. That means you should meet with your content creator regularly – I meet with my clients once a week in some cases, twice a month or monthly in others. It just depends on the scope of work.
Remember, content creation is a collaborative process – your feedback is invaluable, and revisions are part of the game. Factor this into the content creation process and timeline.

So what do those timelines and workflows look like?
A typical content creation workflow involves stages like idea generation, research, drafting, editing, and final approval. Your content creator, if they include strategy in their work, should be responsible for the workflow and ensuring that it stays on track.

I always recommend having several months of content planned in advance so you (or your content creator) has time to do the research and draft (or you have time to record videos or podcast episode, if that’s your pillar content of choice). You’ll need time in your calendar to review and approve everything.

And like I said in episode 244, recording your podcast today doesn’t mean that your contracted team member will get it released tomorrow. All of this takes time and they have other clients.

Having a workflow, and everyone sticking to it, ensures your content remains consistent and high-quality, reflecting your brand’s voice and message. And it also ensures that it’s published on time, every time. Of course, again, that all depends on everyone in the process doing their part on time too. I can’t say this enough.

Depending on the type of content, the workflow may need adjustments especially after you’ve been working together for a while, but the core steps remain the same. Usually video content takes longer to process than audio or solely written content. So if you have a YouTube channel, the editing process and timeline needs to be factored in, especially if someone else is doing the editing.

I’ve mentioned content strategy a few times so you might wonder what’s the difference between hiring someone to help with content creation vs someone to help with content strategy on its own or strategy AND creation (my team and I can actually do both)

A. Content strategy refers to the planning, development, and management of content, whereas content creation is the execution of this strategy.
B. A good content creator can help you with both aspects – crafting the strategy and bringing it to life through engaging content. They should be looking at the numbers, the analytics, and helping to make decisions about future content based on that.
C. Remember, your content strategy should always be aligned with your larger business goals to ensure every piece of content serves a purpose. Having someone to help you with this allows you to see your business and your marketing through another lens.

VII. Tips for a Successful Relationship with a Content Creator
A. A successful relationship with a content creator is built on trust and mutual respect – you are partners working toward the same goal.
B. Recognize the content strategist’s or creator’s expertise. This can lead to more effective collaborations and better content outcomes. That means understanding that you’re not paying someone hourly to churn out work; you’re paying someone a fair rate to strategize, create, and implement the content for you. Have conversations and respect their input. They’re a professional.
C. The creative process involves trial and error, and requires patience and understanding from both parties. Honestly, that’s why my business and my podcast is called The Content Experiment. Because it’s okay to experiment and make changes along the way.

VIII. Conclusion
A. In summary, working with a content creator can be a game-changer for your business, but it’s important to set realistic expectations, communicate openly, and understand the workflow.
B. If you’re ready to take your content to the next level, consider bringing a professional content creator on board. If you want to learn more about what my team and I can do for you, let’s chat! You can book a free call with me at thecontentexperiment.com/chat

If you found value in what you learned here today, be sure to share it on social media. Take a screenshot of the episode on your phone and share it over on Instagram stories. Tag me at thecontentexperiment. Or head over to LinkedIn and connect with me. Be sure to tell me you found me on the podcast when you send the connection invite! The more you share this podcast with others, the more we can get it into the hands of more business owners, just like you, who need to hear the message that they are not alone.