Content is the currency of digital marketing. If marketing is the practice of expanding the visibility, credibility, and presence of your business online, your digital content is the means by which you do so. Digital content assets are used at every level of digital marketing, and include your blog articles, your website and landing pages, social media posts, downloadable guides and other gated content, your YouTube videos, webinars, and other online marketing collateral.
A digital content agency is a specialist marketing business that takes on the role of producing, managing, and publishing digital content on your behalf, usually as part of a marketing strategy. In this article, we will look at what a digital content agency does, what the term means, and why it’s important for your business.
What does a digital content agency do?
In general, a digital content agency is a team of experts that specialises in creating, managing, and delivering a range of online content. The purpose of this content is to attract your target customers, engage them, and convert them in line with your broader marketing goals.
However, the term ‘digital content agency’ can mean a couple of different things. Some agencies, for instance, only produce content, and you’ll need to market this content either independently or through your agency partner. These businesses may specialise in a particular aspect of content marketing, such as writing or video editing, and some may offer multiple content development services. Agencies like these often advertise themselves as ‘content marketing agencies’, and whilst some work with individual companies, many work exclusively with larger marketing agencies.
Other digital content agencies are, in fact, full-spectrum marketing agencies. JDR fall into this category. We have an experienced content team alongside our other teams of marketing specialists, which gives you access to all the digital marketing services you need under one roof, without having to either produce content yourself or work with multiple suppliers. When approaching a marketing agency for quotes, it’s worth checking if they provide digital content as an inclusive or additional service, or if you are expected to provide your own.
The role of a digital content agency in your marketing strategy
Digital content agencies have a pivotal role to play in your marketing strategy. Ultimately, what distinguishes a content creator from a content agency, is that an agency’s job isn’t just to produce content (e.g. such as a freelance web designer or writer would do), but to use it to drive practical results for your business. Through a long term creative partnership aligned with the needs of your business and customers, your digital content partner will help you develop a targeted portfolio of assets that strengthen your business identity, connects with your target buyers, and helps develop lifetime value with your existing customers.
Content Strategy
Your agency partner will help you define a content strategy and plan for reaching your buyers, advising you on the best content formats, channels, and platforms to use
Brand Consistency
Your agency will ensure that all content assets are aligned with your business’s tone of voice, marketing messages, and strategic goals.
Buyer Engagement
The focus of your agency will be to create content that sparks conversations online, promotes engagement, and keeps your prospects coming back for more.
What services to look for
Digital content agencies come in all shapes and sizes, and also offer a variety of services to support your online growth. We recommend looking for the following key services when doing your research:
Content Creation And Development
From e-books and blog articles to videos, webpages, and custom graphics, your agency partner should have the resources to produce a variety of high quality content assets tailored to your needs.
Content Marketing
The agency will help you distribute your content strategically, advise where to share it, and explain how to measure your success.
Search Engine Optimisation
An experienced agency will ensure that all your content is optimised for maximum search engine visibility, to help your target audience find you more easily, and to build your rankings for important keywords.
Social Media Management
Many digital content agencies actively help their customers to grow their presence and manage their posting schedules on LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook. This may involve scheduling and management as part of a holistic digital marketing service, as well as optimising your digital content for engagement on particular social media platforms.
Email Marketing
A lot of digital content assets are designed for use in drip feed email marketing campaigns, so look for any experience the agency has designing effective campaigns to nurture your leads and drive them towards conversion.
Performance Tracking And Analysis
Many agencies offer a data analysis service, helping to track how your content performs over time and helping you adjust your strategy to optimise results.
The benefits of working with a digital content agency
Whether you are just dipping your toe into the world of digital marketing or already have an established strategy in place, there are several benefits that come from partnering with an experienced digital content agency. For example:
Expertise
Many agencies bring decades of combined knowledge and experience in content creation and digital marketing practices to your strategy, giving you access to seasoned experts at a fraction of the cost of employing them in house.
Time Savings
Instead of trying to juggle content creation alongside your other in-house tasks, working with an agency allows you to focus on your core competencies while the agency produces the assets you need for your strategy.
Consistency And Quality
With professional content developers and marketers on your side, your content will always reflect the highest standards and consistently promote your brand identity in a way that maximises your reputation.
Adaptability
Most experienced agencies are able to scale their output and approach to align with your needs, giving you the appropriate content to support any shift in your market, new campaigns, or growth strategies you may have.
Find out more
To find out more about the role of a digital content agency and how JDR can help you in the coming year, please contact us today by clicking here.
