Hiring the wrong people is the fastest way to undermine a sustainable business.
Kevin J. Donaldson
Hiring the right partner is vital to making your content marketing strategy successful. A SaaS content marketing agency will help elevate your business by understanding its fundamentals and assisting you in achieving your goals.
The process of hiring a SaaS content marketing agency can be time-consuming. But, a clear understanding of the critical questions you should ask during the screening process will help ensure that your recruitment efforts don’t waste vetting the wrong options.
Let’s go through a comprehensive list of twenty essential questions you should ask before choosing a SaaS content marketing agency and ensure your enterprise’s processes fit in perfectly with the agency’s established systems.
1. In What Format of Content Marketing Do They Specialise?
2. In Which Industries Do They Specialise?
3. What Kind of Clients Works Well With Their Business Model?
4. Which Stages of the Buyer Funnel Will They Target?
5. How Will They Help Your Business?
6. Can They Create Materials Like eBooks, Website Copy, and Landing Pages?
7. What Metrics Will They Use To Measure Success?
8. Will They Provide Unique or Standardised Solutions To Your Business?
9. Are They A Partner Or Provider?
10. How Will The Project Be Handled?
11. How Frequently Will They Communicate?
12. What Do They Require From Your End?
13. Can They Share Case Studies?
14. Can They Provide Testimonials?
15. What Industries And Topics Are Their Writers Familiar With Curating?
16. Which Tools Will Their Team Use?
17. Will They Provide Access To Marketing Automation Software?
18. Are They Comfortable With Your Brand And Culture?
19. What Will Be The Cost?
20. Is The Contract Flexible?
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1. In What Format of Content Marketing Do They Specialise?
Some agencies specialise in one area of content marketing or have a team that covers many. So ensure you’re in the clear. For example, some agencies provide full-scale end-to-end marketing services like Grow and Convert and Concurate, while some specialise in link building like Heroic Search. Alternatively, you may need an agency to market your SaaS enterprise on social media; that’s where content marketing agencies like Siarza Social Digital come into the picture.
2. In Which Industries Do They Specialise?
It makes sense to approach the relevant SaaS content marketing agencies that have prior exposure to the industry in which your business operates. Having this background means that the agency will be well immersed in the best practices and have a clear understanding of your competitors, the pain points of your target audience and the required steps to help you grow and scale your business.
3. What Kind of Clients Works Well With Their Business Model?
The different stages of T2D3 growth for B2B SaaS businesses are $1M to $10M ARR, $10M to $100M ARR, or $100M+ ARR. For example, Concurate works with medium-sized B2B SaaS businesses. Collaborate with content marketing agencies – bespoke or boutique – that are more attuned to the growth stage your business is experiencing.
4. Which Stages of the Buyer Funnel Will They Target?
Each business will have its priorities. For example, one firm might want to inform its target audience, while another might have commercial intents. This clarity will require hashing out the agreement on how the content marketing will either make your target audience aware of your product or interested in trying it out, make your business desirable, or make a purchase decision.
5. How Will They Help Your Business?
Be clear about what the content marketing agency aims to achieve, whether bringing in more marketing-qualified leads (MQL) or sales-qualified leads (SQL). Or, your business might be looking to secure more signups and sales. But, again, there should be absolute clarity on the results.
6. Can They Create Materials Like eBooks, Website Copy, and Landing Pages?
Emergencies are precisely that – emergencies. Your agreement may require receiving content pieces like blogs, case studies, and allied materials. Ask if the content marketing agency can provide you with additional services like creating lead magnets in the form of eBooks or developing your landing pages, website copies, and more.
7. What Metrics Will They Use To Measure Success?
Run away if you hear about some vanity metrics. Instead, ask how the content marketing agency will keep track of and report on results. You’d like to see the progress since the start of your agreement, and it will be crucial to measure the performance against established indicators.
8. Will They Provide Unique or Standardised Solutions To Your Business?
In other words, do they provide unique or cookie-cutter strategies? Every business has individual needs, and formulating a content marketing plan should not rely on a templated approach. In a perfect scenario, an agency would build all of its client strategies from the ground up and design them per the account’s goals and objectives.
9. Are They A Partner Or Provider?
Be on the lookout for content marketing agencies that are comfortable with either assisting your in-house marketing or even acting as their extension. It should be the agency’s objective to not just focus on the minutiae but also help you focus on scaling your business, keeping customers happy, and more.
10. How Will The Project Be Handled?
Inquire whether you will get a dedicated point-of-contact. The answer should be a resounding yes! Agencies need to provide a human touch, and an account manager will do that. Another pertinent point is to ask for a dedicated secondary or “backup” point-of-contact with extensive account knowledge.
11. How Frequently Will They Communicate?
Routine and free-flowing communication is vital to the success of any plan. So while outsourcing may have its caveats, a barrier to communication shouldn’t be one of them. Make sure that you block calendars to get regular and timely updates on the health of your content marketing campaigns.
12. What Do They Require From Your End?
Establish expectations on what the content agency will be expecting from your team to hit the results that they’ve promised. For example, how much would you like to be involved in the process? What reviews and approvals do you need to give regarding the content creation? Maintain clarity to avoid difficult conversations in the future.
13. Can They Share Case Studies?
The proof is in the pudding. If the agency can share similar results to those you expect, that is a great indicator and will give you loads of confidence. Spend time digging into the case studies they have presented on their website. For example, Concurate has published its own B2B client success story.
14. Can They Provide Testimonials?
Testimonials speak a lot about an agency. If a client is confident enough to put their name on a review of the agency’s work, that speaks volumes of its credibility.
15. What Industries And Topics Are Their Writers Familiar With Curating?
Agencies typically also hire freelance writers as part of their staff. Again, it helps to inquire about their team’s familiarity with the topics and the content pieces you’re looking to get published.
16. Which Tools Will Their Team Use?
Content creation requires using industry-standard tools like Grammarly, Canva, HubSpot, SEMrush, Google Analytics and more to help elevate and bring life to content pieces. Ask what tools the team at the agency is comfortable with and will be using to bring your ideas to life.
17. Will They Provide Access To Marketing Automation Software?
Marketing automation software dramatically simplifies and streamlines your marketing efforts. Whether Buffer for publishing content on different platforms or using HubSpot to manage leads. Ask whether you will gain access to such automation tools.
18. Are They Comfortable With Your Brand And Culture?
Don’t be afraid to look for competing options if there isn’t a required level of overlap in conducting business and company cultures. A clash of cultures and approaches to building brands will lead to unnecessary difficult conversations. So proceed with caution.
19. What Will Be The Cost?
You need to understand the investment required from your business. The quip “You get what you pay for” is prescient here. However, a cheaper or more expensive proposal does not mean it’s the right choice for your business. Use the screening abilities you’ve showcased to make the best decision. Prices can range from $1-5k per month on one end of the spectrum to rise as high as $25-100k on the other.
20. Is The Contract Flexible?
If you’re dissatisfied with the results, you’d ideally like to bring a “bad” decision to a close. Ensure you’re clear about the level of flexibility and leeway the contract offers.
Parting Thoughts
SaaS businesses stand to gain a lot of benefits from dedicated content marketing agencies. But that is only possible if the SaaS content marketing agency knows what they’re doing. We hope this comprehensive list will help you shortlist and recruit the right content marketing agency for your business.
As a bonus, ensure that the content marketing agency you’re looking to hire possesses these 5 strengths!
About Us
We are a content marketing agency that brings business, not just website traffic. We curate the best content as per your company’s requirements and philosophy because we believe in the power of meaningful information.
If your organisation wants its content marketing strategy designed by Concurate, let’s connect over a short call. Block our calendar today!
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