What to look for when working with a content marketing agency

Working with a content marketing agency is supposed to save you time and make your life easier. But finding the right one can feel like a time vampire.

And, once you have agreed to work with one, how can you be sure you’re getting the best possible service?

It sounds basic, but it's an often-neglected fact: a comprehensive understanding of your business is crucial and should be the foundation of your relationship with your content marketing agency. Do they really care about your campaign and the needs of your business?

It is only from this strong foundation that a clear strategic framework can be built. All output should be backed up by strategic thinking, considering your individual needs and aims as a business. Oh, and being award-winning also helps.

At Dialogue, we have more than 30 years’ experience crafting diverse, multi-platform, award-winning content for our extensive and diverse client base. Saving you time and making your life easier is our business.

There are four key characteristics you should look for in your next content marketing agency:

1. A strategy-first approach
2. Customer intimacy
3. High-quality, innovative content creation
4. Measurable results and ROI

Read on to discover how these characteristics can take both your content and your business to new heights.

Strategy-first approach

We’re in the 2020s. There’s really no excuse not to be using data to make your marketing decisions, especially when it comes to content.

We use data and insights to align with our clients’ business goals and to understand their target audience to ensure content is strategically planned to drive positive actions and conversions.

This goes beyond the ‘what’; there is always a ‘why’ (content purpose) and a carefully considered ‘where’. A good content agency should always be able to identify optimal channels for your content, ensuring that it not only stands out, but is also seen by the most relevant audience.

They should also advise on the best platforms to distribute that content. For example, to meet the objectives for an email campaign could mean choosing an email service provider like MailChimp, or it might be better suited to integrate with your CRM and using Salesforce Marketing Cloud.

They should ask about other systems you already have in place. Do you need a platform that integrates with your HubSpot CRM? A bit of fact finding can help the process run smoothly and help future-proof some of the work you've put in place. Dialogue’s dedicated digital team are on hand to help you craft the best digital solutions for your company.

More broadly, your agency should offer advice and guidance based on the latest content marketing insights. Dialogue’s key understanding of these trends allows us to ensure our clients are never left behind. We continually seek innovative strategies and strive to enhance our clients’ content plans with fresh and effective approaches, all underpinned by strategic thinking.

Customer intimacy

A good marketer should know the importance of customer intimacy to help build deep and long-lasting relationships with their customers by tailoring their offerings to meet their client’s specific needs - and this is how Dialogue approaches our work with our clients.

Your content agency should want to you to achieve your goals as much as you do. Working hand in hand, we strive to understand your needs and devise effective strategies to accomplish them, becoming an extension of your in-house marketing team.

Throughout the creative process, we collaborate closely, ensuring that your content not only aligns with your goals, but also meets the needs of your audience.

Visuals, messaging and tone of voice need to be consistent across all aspects of your brand and marketing collateral. Dialogue’s expert content team has a proven track record of producing award-winning, brand consistent B2B and B2C content for a vast array of clients. We’ll ensure your content is consistent, cohesive and effective across all channels, including social media, websites, magazines or even annual reports to name a few. We are here to work with you and will generate customer intimacy with you as our client to ensure we meet the needs of your business.

High-quality, innovative content creation

Innovation and creativity are a given for any content agency, but the Dialogue difference is it all stems from a well-thought-out plan.

We take immense pride in consistently pushing boundaries to generate innovative solutions, crafting high-quality, engaging content for our clients. But we know that great work comes from great planning, and we will always work alongside you to generate an effective content plan that meets your requirements. Whether it’s to inform, inspire or engage, we’ve got you covered.

Whatever your campaign needs, our award-winning teams help you every step of the way. A great content agency will be able to produce content in a variety of formats, from videos for YouTube, editorial for a magazine, short-form content for social media or something else entirely.

We can even help you update your current content, with our report design service, in-house advertising design option or automating your existing email campaigns - our content plans ensure innovation at every corner. Be it editorially led content to communicate your message or selling adverts to complement and support your brand.

Measurable results and ROI

Can your agency tell you what your top performing content is? At Dialogue, we’re a fan of data. We like to know what’s working, what’s not working and, most importantly, what we can improve. We are results-focused, constantly striving to produce better, more effective content for your brand. Utilising KPIs and metrics to measure a campaign’s success, Dialogue produce measurable figures to demonstrate the ROI.

We know efficiency and adaptability are at the core of any good campaign and our agile approach to content means we adjust to what the results are showing us. By keeping our finger on the data pulse, we make sure your content is always alive and kicking.

Common misconceptions about award-winning agencies

When you think of an award-winning agency, what do you think of? A large, global organisation with countless employees all working on the same account, without any form of personal touch or interest in your business or your goals.

Well, we like to prove that wrong. Our team is made up of passionate and hardworking people who are dedicated to your business. Each of our clients has a team solely focused on meeting their needs and producing top-quality, award-winning content.

But don't just take our word for it. Awards are a good indicator of a content agency’s quality of work and service. Dialogue was delighted to win Best Membership and Best Use Of Monetised Content, as well as the coveted Agency of the Year title at the Content Marketing Awards (for the second year running), where entries are judged by content marketing specialists around the world. But that’s not all. Dialogue was also the proud recipient of Sales Team of the Year at the ALF Awards 2023.

These accolades recognise all our hard work, dedication and commitment to our clients, as well as our impeccable attention to detail in creating content that truly resonates with an audience.

We take pride in getting to know our clients and are always keen to get involved with their work, be that going to events, ceremonies or even just a coffee, we believe the key to a productive and collaborative working relationship is, well, a relationship.

A good content marketing agency will most likely demonstrate most of the above. However, an award-winning agency like Dialogue will always take their work to the next level. Your campaign becomes our campaign, and we want to see it succeed as much as you do. Our creativity, industry knowledge and client teams together with our data-informed strategic thinking allow us to give the Dialogue touch to each and every project we work on.

10 questions to ask yourself when looking for your next content marketing agency

1. Are you getting the best possible care and support throughout your contract?
2. Is your contract designed to suit your needs?
3. Is there a set time structure for the work that needs to be done and do they keep to it?
4. Has your agency taken the time to get to know your brand?
5. Do you feel you are in a constant flow of communication with your account manager and, subsequently, your creative team?
6. Does your agency continually strive for client satisfaction?
7. Are you happy with the results you’re getting from your content marketing?
8. Are you kept in the know with regards to timelines and expenses?
9. Do your current client services team take the time to understand your daily working situation and pressures?
10. Is your job made easier by working with the agency, not harder?

If the answer to any of these questions is ‘no’ reach out to our award-winning team and get in touch.