Every company deserves to have a strong content marketing strategy. If you have a small marketing team, take our advice on how to excel in your content management department. Not every B2B business has the deep pockets of large corporations to have a village-sized marketing team. Start with these tips to build a sturdy foundation for your content management and a marketing team that's productive and happy.
Be Resourceful with your Resources
Don't waste time, money and man power in creating brand new content without repurposing existing material. If you're taking inventory of your content, chances are you have ample opportunity to get creative. With a bevy of mediums at your disposal, this is a great way to diversify the way you're reaching your target markets.
In a Business 2 Community post entitled, 5 Key Benefits of Content Repurposing, Michael McKenzie explains, "Every piece of content supports multiple formats, buyers and delivery channels without having to start from scratch every time."
When you have a small team, every project takes 100% of everyone's effort. Make every piece of content go the extra mile. Keep a checklist of all your possible content options and their benefits. Whitepapers, blog posts, webinars, eBooks, videos and social posts just to name a few! Let's not forget that Google loves websites with freshly updated content.
McKenzie adds, "Publishing different content formats on your website, such as blog posts, videos and infographics, can be an attractive signal for search-engine ranking algorithms."
Harbor a Nurturing Environment
How can we expect a marketing team to nurture new leads if they aren't being nurtured themselves? With a small marketing team everyone's voice must be heard clearly and needs addressed. You've curated a tight knit enclave in your company with a lot of responsibility. If they don't feel that their projects are rewarding or contributing to the company's success, you're in for trouble.
Sabrina Parsons, CEO of Palo Alto Software, writes in an entrepreneur.com article, 4 Goals Every Small-Business Owner Should Set in 2015, "Focus on taking better care of your employees for the year ahead. Keeping employees happy at your company is not only important financially, but it also influences overall office morale. If your employees enjoy coming to work, they'll be more productive, and that attitude is contagious."
With a small marketing team, make it your prerogative to retain as much of that group as possible. It's in your best interest to have marketers who are well versed in your company's mission, audience and archive of content. Training new marketers is time consuming, so rather than letting your current team's morale fall by the wayside, make it your priority.
Know when and when not to outsource
Knowing which tasks and projects to outsource is a project unto itself. While you don't want to overlook your in-house talent, you could also save significant time by delegating certain items to a pro. When you've profiled your marketing team and everyone's skill sets, you have a delicate role to play in identifying strengths and internal resources. Moreover, with the pool of providers growing seemingly exponentially, you need to ensure that if you do outsource that you've picked a vendor that understands your business and goals.
"Before you move forward with an outsource provider, you should research them, ask for examples and jump on a call to learn about their process, among other checks." says Derek Miller in an entrepreneur.com article, Should you Outsource Content Creation or Hire a Marketing Team?