Choosing the right content marketing expert is tricky: get it wrong and your business will be eaten alive by The Grombumarak. The Grombumarak will eat your business head first, then keep your feet in a trophy cabinet to remember the experience. It will clean its teeth with your toes and fart shop windows, desks and employees' bones.
On the upside, choose your content marketing expert carefully (AKA hiring me) and ROI can whack the The Grombumarak right in the eyeballs with a pointed spreadsheet which clearly indicates increased profits, which in turn will go onto breathe new life into your business.
Here are some thoughts to consider when choosing the right content marketing person, and consequently avoid your feet becoming part of The Grombumarak's trophy cabinet.
The 'lost at sea one sandwich between two' test
You wouldn't travel in a boat across a vast ocean with only one sandwich to share between you and a stranger. You would want to meet them first. Get to know them. Talk about some sort of sandwich arrangement whereby you both share half each. You would want to know that you could trust them, that you won't wake up one morning with the sandwich missing, or worse, with the person sailing away on the tiny sandwich, having seen some type of escape.
And like you wouldn't travel the ocean with one sandwich and a stranger, nor should you agree to let a business take over your content marketing without meeting the actual person who will be doing the writing. Not the manager, not the face - you need to meet the writer. You need to trust them, to know they won't eat the entire sandwich, and leave you and your brand to starve to death, lost in an ocean you are unable to navigate.
Just because Dave wants to shag you doesn't make you a singer
The entire internet thinks they are a social media and content marketing star. But just because Dave clapped you off the stage that one time after you sang Celine Dion pissed in the local pub doesn't make you Celine Dion. It doesn't even make you a singer.
If someone says they know how to launch your business on Twitter to drive sales, check their Twitter following. If they only have 50 followers, you might think it reasonable to ask how they are going to do it for you if they haven't done it for themselves. The same logic goes for everything - look at their content, if they have a blog, find it and read it, if they have a business website, read it. Look at their CV. Look at their clients.
Up above. Down below. Oh look, Kaleidoscope
Everybody loves a Kaleidoscope. You put your eye to the lens and it's like walking into John Lennon's brain three days before he wrote Strawberry Fields. When he was likely on heroin and running naked around a field being a rabbit. But the thing with Kaleidoscopes is yes, they look lovely - but they make money. Lots of it. It's a beautiful absorbing experience, with a purpose.
Content Marketing has to have a clear point to it. Have it clear in your mind what you want to get out of your marketing campaign, explain, and it will happen. Most companies want ROI - just make it clear to your expert that you are all up for swirling colours, but only if that's what your audience are buying.
The truth based on experience is a wonderful thing
A ‘yes’ person is not a good person. They might make you feel like a King for a day, but they are just looking for an easy life and not helping you with advice that might push your brand forward. No can be a powerful word, but it's never used when money is exchanged. As the employer, it's all too easy to get a nod of the head and a 'no problem' when sometimes what you need is the truth. A response that explains the pros and cons of a content strategy, and how it could be tweaked to better improve results - the trust based on experience - is a wonderful thing. Value it - because the content marketing expert that can explain himself to you, is the same person who can explain himself to shareholders and the bosses of bosses.
To discuss content marketing and how it can help you and your business, email [email protected]