Discover the only reason you need to know why your employees should be producing your marketing content and why your company should look inside for its biggest influencers.
From those at small startups to global brands, most marketers can bond over the need to produce great content consistently. It’s our currency and makes our worlds move, so why then do so many of us struggle to find the time or the inspiration to produce as much quality content as we would like? Why do roadblocks occur on our path to delivering ROI?
When it comes to producing content both of these questions can usually be answered with one of the following; “I have so many other jobs to do that I just don’t have the time to create more” or “I know marketing, but I don’t really know our products”.
There’s no shame in being familiar with either of these answers. Let’s look at the facts, less than 30% of corporate leadership are ‘absolutely convinced’ of content marketing’s value. How many marketers can you think of who would agree that content marketing is often the last thing on their to-do list? I can even remember myself being hired as a copy writer for a national retailer, only to find the bulk of my job being taken up in other areas – that same retailer then employed the services of 4 freelance writers, but we’ll get to discuss that later.
If you’re also familiar with the second answer then you’re not alone. Marketers are experts in marketing. 39% of marketers aim to move in the next 12 months according to Marketing Week, with that much movement between roles and businesses how can they be expected to become product experts?
OK, this is starting to sound like a marketers’ sob story but hopefully it illustrates the point, there are obvious reasons why blockages exist preventing more quality content from being produced. With all of that said, what is the one reason why employees should be producing more marketing content? That’s simple, value.
If we left it there, not only would that make for a very short article but you’d probably walk away thinking ‘what does that mean’. So, let’s take a closer look at how your employees can provide your marketing activity with incredible added value.
Amplify your experts
We can start by directly addressing one of the points we raised above. There’s a good chance that the best product experts in your business aren’t sat in the marketing office. They’re most likely on the phones, on the shop floor or in the production line. These are the people that you already trust to sell, support customers with and even create your products, so why don’t more companies trust them to talk about them?
If you’re not swayed by the idea of having actual experts write about your products, then try this. There’s already evidence to suggest that employees have enormous social influence online, as leads developed through employees’ social media activities convert 7x more frequently than others. Imagine how much more effectively that power could be harnessed if your sales people are sharing their own blog articles that have been published by the company.
A common fear is that product designers and salespeople don’t necessarily make the best writers, which may be true. But blogging by its nature is meant to be informative and informal. So long as your marketing team can proof the articles, they can bring them up to standard and in line with your TOV, whilst keeping the information intact.
All of a sudden, you’ve grown your team of contributors, with real experts at no extra mandatory cost (although rewarding writers for their efforts is advised). Not only that, but your marketing team will be able to work more efficiently on the areas that you consider to be of value.
Even more upside to employees
Here’s where we return to my comment on freelancers. You can hire freelance writers but your options are stifling (in my opinion I hasten to add). Hiring cheap freelancers will likely result in twice as much work and stress for your marketers because they may have to rewrite the bad articles they’ve been given. Hiring expensive ones may get the job done but will also eat into your content marketing budget. With most budgets falling below the $100,000 threshold, this could represent a huge chunk that’s lost.
I’ll be honest with you, I’ve been a freelance writer for multiple clients and in that situation, you actually spend more time researching what a company or product does than you do writing your article. When you’re already an expert in something, the research phase is exponentially quicker.
So, when it comes to making a decision for your business; on the one hand, you’ve got a stranger in a place that doesn’t know your business or you’ve got someone you already trust and who you know is an expert. I know who I’d choose. Various studies, including our own, have also shown that employees do want to be more involved in their company’s brand activities and that the happiest employees are those who are most connected with their brand.
You have the opportunity to provide that level of reward for your employees and make huge gains for your business in the process. In fact, more than 60% of companies enjoy better engagement thanks to content marketing, according to Incite Group. Yes, there really is a way in which everyone in your company can win.
Check out our article on building brand engagement inside your business.
