What is content consultancy?

by Darren Clare

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Marketing teams need content to reach out to, acquire, and retain customers. A cottage industry of content producers has sprung up across the world to cater to this demand. Unfortunately, many of them are not creating content tailored to their client’s audience or aligned to the needs of the business. So any positive impact it has on strategic objectives is just dumb luck.

What clients need is content consultancy – a more sophisticated, holistic approach to creating high-quality content. Instead, many of them get assembly-line producers of cookie-cutter content.

This model of content creation is designed for speed and cost-efficiency rather than brand-building and business outcomes. Marketers are often in a hurry to get content at the lowest rates and get it out as soon as possible.
Sadly, what suffers in this mad rush for quick and dirty content is brand equity.
Any savings that companies make through publishing low-quality content production can end up costing significantly more in the long run through lost followers and a dented brand reputation. Content consultancy can help avoid that.

What is content consultancy?

A content consultancy approach starts by developing a deep understanding of your business objectives and your BAU communication needs. We then mine audience insight and internal expertise to develop a strategy designed to showcase your company’s unique point of view and emphasise your USPs. Our holistic plan will also diagnose any issues with your current communications plan and identify solutions to help establish a self-sustaining content programme.
Content consultation isn’t another buzzword. It’s not about putting together a list of hot keywords or headline ideas for your landing page. We deliver a communications plan driven by strategy and designed to support better business outcomes.
The journey to fantastic content starts way before the finger hits the keyboard. The first step in the process is understanding your objectives and what makes your business unique. What worked for another client in another sector – or even the same one – may not work for you. In fact, producing copycat content is a sure-fire way to turn off your audience. Your content needs to marry your business expertise with insight into your audience’s priorities to be successful.

How it works

Discovery

The first step is understanding your business goals. We’ll analyse your short and long-term objectives to understand the role that content plays (or could play) in achieving them. We don’t believe in creating content just because everyone else is. We think every piece of copy should be contributing to your overall goals.  

Customer exploration

Content is ineffective unless it adds value to your customers’ lives. In the second stage, we’ll research your target audience. Our strategists will explore their pain points, challenges and priorities to develop actionable insights.

Competitor analysis

Content should always be created in context. And that context is determined not just by your target audience but also your competitors. So, to develop an effective content strategy, we’ll do a comprehensive analysis of your competitors.
This will show us what your competitors are doing, whether their content is working well for them or not. The analysis will reveal opportunities to stand out from the crowd by identifying any angles or perspectives on key topics that you can own.

Content audit

In this stage, we’ll deep dive into your existing content across platforms. We’ll assess quality, consistency, and relevance to the audience and the larger business needs.
We’ll conduct an extensive review to uncover any problems that we need to address, either by improving the processes, providing resources, or adding capability. We’ll also learn what content performs best for you at the moment to learn how we can capitalise on your strengths.

Content recommendations

Now it’s time to share our recommendations. Our content strategy will clearly outline how different forms of content will work together to support your business goals and enhance your brand.

Bringing the briefs to life

In the final stage of our content consultation, we’ll generate targeted briefs to create content that aligns with the overall strategy. This is where we combine creativity with strategic insights to deliver content that interests and adds value to your audiences.

The benefits of content consultation

  • Diagnose your content concerns: Without an audit, you may not know what’s holding back your content. You can only correct problems once you’re aware of them.
  • Use resources more efficiently: You can optimise your resource allocation and spend your time where it matters most. Not constantly monitoring your content producers. You’ll also save time when they’re no repeated edits and iterations.
  • Your content will work harder: It will be based on business objectives, audience insights, and a carefully developed strategy. This will make it more efficient and productive.
  • Future-proof your communication: A content consultancy will help you create high-quality content that can catch attention now and remain relevant in the medium and long terms, too.
  • Find a unique voice: Clear strategy and planning help avoid creating generic content. In a crowded marketplace, your content will be distinct, unique, and memorable.
  • Stay one step ahead of content trends: With a long-term content strategy, what you create will live on well beyond the day’s trends.

In short

As a content consultancy, our objective is to add life, purpose and momentum to your content programme. Our team has in-depth experience in management, strategy, analysis, and content creation. Everything you need to create engaging and effective content that will help you achieve your business goals.

Get in touch. Let us know how we can help.