Content marketing services provided by content marketing agencies vary according to the agency, its specialty area, and the end customer’s needs. Seven Oaks Consulting, for example, is a business-to-business (B2B) content marketing agency specializing in content strategy and planning, outsourced content creation services, and written content: blog posts, articles, case studies, white papers, and more.

Before addressing the larger question of what content marketing services content marketing agencies provide, it might be helpful to take a step back and ask: What services do you need, and is a content marketing agency the solution?

Content Marketing Services: Content Creation Can Be a Big Task

I recently read a book about scaling up content for organic search traffic (organic SEO). The book’s authors provided statistics and screenshots of Google Analytics platforms to prove that it takes over 1,000 blog posts to reach a specific level of traffic to yield X leads. According to their formula, posting a certain number of optimized posts over a specific period and building up a repository or search engine optimized posts leads to more leads and sales over time.

After reading their explanation, the question that lingered in my mind was simple: How in the world does the average person write that many posts?

Sure, some turn to AI-powered tools like Chat GPT and new platforms with similar generative AI running in the background, but generative AI isn’t meant for content marketing. It spits out plagiarized content, often with glaring errors (ask the lawyer who had it prepare his brief – it cited fictitious cases, and he’s facing charges because of it!).

There are many problems associated with this content creation method, yet with the increasing competition for search traffic, creating thoughtful, optimized content is essential.

Most people struggle to write, and it takes the average person several hours to write a blog post like this. How do you scale up your content marketing?

Scaling Up Your Content Marketing

There are several ways you can scale up your content marketing efforts:

1. Write your own content: If you like to write, you understand how to write compelling SEO content, and you have the time, this is undoubtedly an option.
2. Hire a freelancer: You can look through Fiverr or Upwork to find freelancers or post ads on FlexJobs or other ad search boards. Or, look for hashtags on LinkedIn for freelance writers who specialize in your content area.
3. Hire a part-time or full-time writer: If you have the budget, hiring a content writer is also an option.
4. Hire a content marketing agency: Agencies offer content strategy and planning services, content creation, and content amplification. They can translate rough ideas into action plans to help you achieve your goals, measure the plan against KPIs, and scale up or down according to your needs.

Pros and Cons of DIY and Freelance Approaches to Content Marketing

The question of which of the four options to choose is answered by budget and need. If you’re a startup or sole proprietor with a limited budget, you will likely be the DIY writer (1) or hire a freelancer (2).

DIY or Hiring a Freelancer

Pros

  • Lower cost: DIY costs only time, and freelance writer prices vary according to the writer, the length/topic of the content, and the turnaround time.
  • Flexibility: If you’re a DIY writer, you can write when the inspiration strikes – after reading a news article or hearing a podcast that inspires a reaction, for example.
  • Output: Output depends solely on your efforts or the budget spent on freelance talent.

Cons

  • Costs money: Freelancers don’t write for free, and if you expect them to provide free content, stop there and be a DIY writer. Expect to pay $25, $50, $100, and up for a good article or blog post from a freelancer.
  •  Requires time: You’ll need to write your content (DIY) or create the instructions, called a creative brief, for the writer. You’ll still need to research topics, find keywords, assign them to writers, check and review their work, provide feedback, and publish your content.
  • Finding good writers: Freelancers are a dime a dozen, but finding reliable, professional freelance talent who understands your company, products, services, and target market can be challenging. And once you find that person, they may stop freelancing, ghost you, or raise their prices.

Hire a Part-time or Full-Time Writer

Pros

  • You’ll have someone on staff during business hours whose sole job is to write content for you.
    They’ll quickly learn brand voice and tone, products and services
  •  Depending on the writer, you can turn out a high volume of quality content quickly.

Cons

  • Expensive – you have to pay a salary, benefits, and insurance.
  •  Challenging – it isn’t easy to find a good full-time freelancer.
  • They may be unable to turn out the consistent quality you desire or handle other aspects of content marketing, such as planning, strategy, and amplification. So you’ll end up doing that yourself, too.

Content Marketing Agency Services

Pros

  • Offers teams of professionals to work on your account, so someone is always ready to handle any aspect of your project.
  • Experienced at content marketing – no need for hand-holding.
  • Flexible teams can provide additional content services (amplification, strategy, visual content) as needed
    Can get better results faster and report on results.

Cons

  • The most expensive option. Seven Oaks Consulting’s monthly fees start at $2,500, although we work on a per-article basis if companies want to try us out first. Pricing with large content marketing agencies like Brafton begins at $10,000 per month. The average is around $4,000 – $6,000 per month.
  • It still requires some time from the client. We always ask clients to review their content before publication to ensure accuracy.
  • Some ramp-up time is needed to learn the company, products, and services (but likely much less than a freelancer would need).

Typical Content Marketing Agency Services

Again, I emphasize that no two agencies provide the same services, and the final list of services an agency recommends for your company’s needs may vary from another company’s list. It’s all in the goals: What do you want to achieve? Then it’s about the audience: who are your customers and competitors, and what will it take to reach them?

Strategy and Planning

  • Developing a strategic content marketing plan
  • Creating an editorial calendar or content calendar
  • Competitive analysis
  • Persona identification and mapping

Creation

  • Researching and writing content
  • Identifying target keywords
  • Optimizing digital content
  • Graphic design of content

Amplification

  • Promoting content across various channels (social media)
  • Guest posts and article placement
  • Advertising content on search engines and social channels

Other

  • Reports and metrics
  • Other marketing services: brand consultation, digital marketing, direct mail marketing

Do You Need a Content Marketing Agency?

A content marketing agency offers a comprehensive suite of content marketing services: strategy, planning, competitive intelligence, SEO, creative design, writing, and promotion – the marketing of the pieces themselves. Agencies also provide reports, coaching, and guidance on various marketing disciplines.

Content marketing agencies may work across both B2C and B2B companies or specialize in a specific niche: beauty and health products, medical or health, technology, manufacturing, and more.

Agency-Client Fit

Finding the right agency to fit your goals, needs, industry, and audience is essential. Part of your due diligence is to ensure a good agency-company fit. This means meeting with the company’s team – perhaps the account executive you’ll be working with and other key players who will be hands-on with your projects.

Experience Match

Take time to ensure that your expectations align with their experience. Don’t try to fit a square peg into a road hole. You may like how an agency approaches its graphic design, but the ramp-up time may be significant if they don’t know your industry very well.

Time Investment

Be ready to invest over 6- 12 months with a content marketing agency. Most will require that much time to get content planned, created, and promoted. It is unreasonable to expect results within weeks or months. Good content marketing takes time to develop, time to index by search engines, and time to be found and appreciated by customers.

Ready to Get Started with Content Marketing Services?

Are you looking for content marketing agency services? We’re happy to help. Please contact us after you’ve reviewed our prices and services, and we can discuss your goals and needs.