Creating a Custom Content Project? Here’s Your Four Options

I was reading this Seth Godin post on “What Would a Professional Do?” and I couldn’t help to think of the challenge that all marketers face regarding content creation.

Every company, no matter what size, needs valuable, relevant and compelling (and consistent) content directed to their customers. It’s not an option anymore, and the research is starting to show that more and more marketers are investing in content marketing, even during these tough economic times.

Even though we (at Junta42) are huge proponents of outsourcing content strategy and execution to custom publishers and content professionals, there are options.

In following Seth’s rationale for hiring a professional, they are eerily similar to your content creation options:

1. Hire a custom publisher/content provider.
2. Be as good as a custom publisher.
3. Realize that professional-quality work is not required for your content and merely come close.
4. Do work that a custom publisher wouldn’t or couldn’t do, and use this as an advantage.

The first option is the best choice if you have the budget to outsource this. Content creation and execution, especially from an integrated standpoint where print, online and in-person integration are involved, can be extremely complex. Also, in many cases, it’s actually less expensive to outsource. When I was with Penton Media, we used to sit down with brands and associations and show them “line-by-line” how they could actually save money by outsourcing their project. If you take in all the internal resources necessary for a content project to work, that’s absolutely the case.

The second option is a solid option. If you have the expertise in-house, and the available resources to dedicate to manage the editorial process, understand the art of storytelling that can drive sales, execute each step from content to distribution to feedback, and measure the effectiveness, it can definitely be done. One of the big issues here (check out the mistakes in this blog post) is that many internal communications specialists have a difficult time developing a story that doesn’t actively sell. Remember, we need to tell a story that is valuable and relevant to the customer. That means, for the most part, leaving the sales messages out of the equation.

The third option happens all the time. “We don’t need it to be first-rate. We just need to get our newsletter, white paper, magazine out to our customers.” If that’s your attitude, don’t do it at all. You’re not doing your customers any service by sending them second- or third-rate information. Can anyone say SPAM?

The fourth option is an interesting choice. First of all, you can probably find a custom publisher to do just about anything. That said, there may be some content initiatives that only you could do. For example, Microsoft’s Channel 9 project would have been impossible to pull off if an outside content agency came in to produce the project. But a Microsoft developer going around with a camera asking questions, altogether possible. And it’s been an incredible success.

To Seth’s point, the fourth option can be exciting. Today’s environment allows you to be completely transparent with the content process. If you have an idea that is new and innovative (or at least new in your niche), try it. The worst thing that could happen is it doesn’t work. Then you can try something new.

But if that’s not for you, try calling in a professional.

Related Articles:

• Five Questions with Seth Godin
• Content Marketing is the Only Marketing Left, and 10 New Marketing Lessons

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