Choosing a Content Marketing Strategy Agency

Choosing the right content marketing strategy agency for your cannabis business is crucial for standing out in a crowded market. Here’s a quick guide to help you make an informed decision:

Understand the Importance: Content marketing is key for brand awareness, lead generation, and customer loyalty.
Agency’s Role: A good agency will develop a content strategy, create diverse content, manage distribution, and monitor performance.
Services Offered: Look for agencies offering strategy development, content creation, graphic design, distribution, and analytics.
Set Clear Goals: Know your target audience, set measurable objectives, and audit your current content’s performance.
Industry Expertise: Ensure the agency has cannabis industry knowledge, from customer personas to regulatory insights.
Evaluate Carefully: Consider their experience, strategy, quality of content, technology use, client services, and pricing.
Ask the Right Questions: Inquire about their experience, strategies, content production, distribution, analytics, and pricing.
Watch for Red Flags: Be cautious of agencies lacking cannabis expertise, a clear strategy, robust analytics, or effective communication.
Find the Best Fit: Look beyond capabilities to assess values, communication style, and compatibility.

Whether you’re aiming to boost your cannabis brand’s visibility or engage more deeply with customers, finding an agency that aligns with your goals and understands the cannabis industry is essential.

Role and Value

A cannabis-focused content agency does a lot of helpful stuff:

Figures out a plan for what kind of content to make based on knowing your audience, checking out competitors, looking at what keywords to use, and finding gaps in your content. This plan helps in making content that really hits the mark.
Makes cool and useful content like blog posts, ebooks, videos, and more. This kind of content shows you know your stuff and helps pull in and keep customers.
Shares content on your own stuff like blogs and social media, and also through other ways like getting mentioned in industry publications or working with influencers. This helps more people see your content.
Keeps an eye on how well the content is doing by looking at the numbers to see what’s working best. Uses what they learn to make content even better.

Working with a content agency means getting help with making a plan, making more content, knowing the industry better, and seeing how well your content is doing.

Common Services

Content agencies offer help with lots of things to make your content great:

Content Strategy Development: Learn about your audience and make a plan and schedule for making content.
Copywriting and Content Creation: Make all kinds of content like blog posts, case studies, ebooks, and videos.
Graphic Design: Create cool visuals like infographics, presentations, and social media images.
Content Distribution: Share your content in different ways to get it in front of more people.
Performance Tracking: Use numbers to figure out what content is doing the best and focus on making more like it.

An experienced agency has the team, the way of doing things, and the tools to make and share content that helps your business grow.

Identifying Your Business Goals

Before you start looking for a content marketing strategy agency, it’s super important to know what you want to achieve. Here’s how to get clear on your goals:

Understanding Your Target Audience

Think about who you’re trying to reach with your content. What do they need help with? What kind of information would be really useful for them? A good content marketing company can help figure out who your audience is and what they’re all about. This helps make sure the content hits the spot.

Setting Measurable Goals and KPIs

It’s better to have clear goals. Instead of saying something like "we want more people to know about us", it’s more useful to say "we want 30% more visitors to our website every month" or "we want to double how many people sign up for our stuff in 6 months".

You should also decide how you’ll check if things are going well. Here are some things you might keep an eye on:

How many people visit your website
How quickly people leave your site
How long they stay on your site
How many pages they look at
How many new leads you get
If you’re selling more stuff

Auditing Current Content Performance

Take a look at what you’ve already done and how it’s working out. Check out your past stuff and see what’s working and where there might be room for improvement. This helps plan better content in the future.

Getting clear on your goals, what you’re measuring, and where you’re starting from helps a content marketing services agency create a plan that’s just right for your business. Using data to guide decisions makes it easier to see if what you’re doing is really working.

Evaluating Cannabis Industry Expertise

When you’re picking a content marketing agency for your cannabis business, it’s super important they really know the cannabis world. An agency that gets the unique challenges, what’s new, the rules, and what your customers are like will do a much better job at making content that works. Here’s what to look for:

Relevant Experience and Results

Ask them about their work with cannabis companies. How many have they helped? How long have they been doing it?
Look at examples of the cannabis content they’ve made. Did it do well in getting people engaged, making sales, and giving a good return on investment?
Get names of other cannabis businesses they’ve helped and talk to them. Find out if they were happy with the work.

Understanding of Cannabis Customer Personas and Buying Journeys

The agency should really understand who your customers are and what they need at different times. This helps make content that talks right to them.
Do they know what questions and worries customers have? Do they use this info to make helpful content that guides customers along?
Can they explain the different types of customers and how to change up the content for each one?

Insights on Industry Trends and Regulations

The cannabis world changes a lot. Agencies need to keep up with new stuff and rules to make sure your content stays fresh and right.
How often do they check for changes in the market and update your strategy? Are they quick to talk about new trends?
It’s also about knowing the rules in different places. Do they have the know-how to make sure your content fits the laws everywhere you are?

Choosing an agency that knows the ins and outs of the cannabis industry means you’ll get content that really speaks to your audience and follows the rules. The right partner gets the scene and knows how to help you shine.

Key Criteria for Evaluating Agencies

When looking for a content marketing agency for your cannabis business, there are some important things to think about to make sure you find the best one.

Experience and Track Record

Check out their past work and what other clients say. Find agencies with good examples of successful campaigns and happy customers. This shows they can deliver what they promise.
Make sure they’re good with different types of content. A good agency can create blogs, videos, infographics, ebooks, and more. Look at their work to see if it’s high quality.
They should know the cannabis industry well. It’s important they understand your customers, what’s trending, the laws, and how people make buying decisions.

Strategy and Process

See how they plan using data. They should have a smart way of figuring out who your audience is, what content they like, and how to reach them. They also need to know how to measure success.
Look at how they improve content. They should always be checking how content performs and using that info to make it even better.

Content Production Quality

Read their content to check quality. Go through different pieces to see if they’re well-written, look good, and match your brand’s style.
Check if they can do videos and graphics. If you need these, make sure they can produce high-quality visual content.

Technology and Analytics

Ask about their tools. They should use modern tools for sending emails, managing leads, and keeping track of how campaigns are doing.
Find out how they report results. Good reporting will show you how well your content is doing and what can be improved.

Client Services and Communication

Understand how they handle clients. You should know who to talk to and how they manage projects. Good communication is key.
See how they manage projects. They should have a clear process for keeping things on track and letting you know how your project is going.

Pricing and Contracts

Look at how they charge. Some charge a monthly fee, some per project, and others might have a mix. Compare prices to see what works best for you.
Read the contract carefully. Make sure you understand how payment works, who owns the content, how to end the contract, and how to handle changes.

Taking your time to check these things will help you find the right agency that knows the cannabis market, is focused on results, clear about what they do, and works well with you.

Questions to Ask Agencies

When you’re talking to different content marketing agencies to see if they’re a good match for your cannabis business, here are some straightforward questions to ask:

Experience and Expertise

How long have you been helping cannabis businesses with their content marketing?
Can you tell me about a few cannabis businesses you’ve helped and what you did for them?
Can I see some examples of your work with cannabis companies and hear about the outcomes?
How do you keep up with what’s happening in the cannabis industry, like new trends and rules?

Strategy and Planning

How do you figure out what kind of content will interest our audience?
How will you learn about our audience’s needs, what our competitors are doing, and what kind of content we should make?
How do you set goals and check how well our current content is doing?
What tools or data do you use to plan and track how well the content works?

Content Production

What kinds of content do you usually make for your clients (like blog posts, videos, or ebooks)?
How do you make sure the content is good quality, fits our brand, and is easy to find online?
Can you show me some examples of different types of content you’ve made?

Content Distribution and Promotion

How will you get our content out there so our target audience sees it?
Do you have connections with websites or influencers in our industry?
How will you use social media and other ways to make sure more people see our content?

Reporting and Optimization

How often will you tell us how the content is doing? What will you look at to see if it’s working?
How do you decide what to change to make our content better based on how it’s doing?
What happens if the content isn’t doing as well as we hoped at first?

Pricing, Timelines and Contracts

How do you charge for your services? Is it a monthly fee, by project, or something else?
How long does it usually take from when we start planning to when the content is out there?
Can you show me an example of your contracts and how you plan out when things will be done?

Asking these questions helps make sure you pick an agency that really knows how to work with cannabis businesses, fits what you’re looking to spend, and meets your needs and goals.

Red Flags

When you’re looking around for a content marketing agency, especially for a cannabis business, there are a few warning signs you should keep an eye out for. Noticing these early can save you from picking a partner that might not be the best fit or deliver the results you’re hoping for.

Lack of Cannabis Expertise

If an agency doesn’t really get the cannabis industry, that’s a big no-no. Here’s what might give them away:

They can’t list many, or any, cannabis clients or show you cannabis-related work they’ve done.
They seem unsure about the rules and laws in the cannabis world.
They talk about cannabis customers in very general ways, not getting into the specifics.
They’re not up to date on the latest cannabis industry trends.

An agency needs to really understand the cannabis scene to create content that truly speaks to your audience.

No Clear Strategy

It’s a problem if the agency doesn’t have a solid plan. Watch out for:

They’re fuzzy on how they figure out who your audience is.
They don’t have a clear plan for setting goals or measuring success.
They’re not into using data to track how content is doing.
They’re all about making content without a clear plan for why or how it’ll help your business.

You want an agency that uses a smart, data-driven approach to decide what content to make. Without this, your content might not hit the mark.

Weak Reporting or Analytics

Choose an agency that really keeps an eye on how your content is doing, using data and analytics. Be wary if:

They can’t explain how they measure success or analyze content performance.
They don’t have a regular way to tell you about the results.
They don’t show how the content is helping your business goals.

Good analytics and reporting are key. If they’re missing, you won’t know how to make your content better.

Poor Communication or Account Management

Good communication is crucial. Be cautious if:

They’re vague about who your main contact will be.
They seem all over the place with how they manage clients.
They dodge questions about how they manage projects.
Contracts and work details are unclear.

You need a partner who’s open about how they work and keeps you in the loop. If they don’t, they might not be reliable.

Watching out for these red flags can help you steer clear of agencies that might not have the right know-how, strategic approach, analytics, or communication skills for your cannabis content marketing needs. It’s important to check these things before you decide to work with someone.

Choosing the Best Fit

Finding the right content marketing strategy agency for your cannabis business is key to hitting your goals. Here’s how to make sure you pick the best one:

Evaluate Agency Fit and Compatibility

After looking into possible agencies, think about more than just what they can do. Consider:

Values and Culture: Make sure you care about the same things, like helping the environment or supporting social causes. Working with people who share your values makes things go smoother.
Communication Style: Check if the way they talk and share information suits you. Whether it’s formal emails or quick chats, matching communication styles helps avoid misunderstandings.
Personality Compatibility: Meet with more folks from the agency, not just the salesperson. It’s important that everyone gets along well.
Work Style and Process: See how they manage projects and if it’s similar to your way. A matching work style means less hassle.

Picking an agency that feels right means less stress and more getting things done.

Hold Follow-Up Conversations

Have another chat to dive deeper before deciding:

Ask More Questions: Clear up any lingering questions about what they can do, their past work, and how they operate.
Discuss Expectations: Talk about what you’re hoping to achieve, when you need it done, and check if they can deliver.
Meet the Full Team: Get to know the people you’ll be working with. It’s good to start building a relationship early.
Review Proposals: Look over their plans, costs, and contracts carefully. Make sure they’ve got everything you need covered.

Taking extra time now means fewer surprises later!

Carefully Evaluate and Select

With all the info you’ve gathered, sit down and pick the best agency.

Compare Pros and Cons: List the good and bad points of each agency side by side. See who stands out.
Check References: Talk to other businesses they’ve worked with to hear about their experiences.
Trust Your Gut: Sometimes, you just have a feeling about whether or not an agency is right for you. Listen to that feeling.

Picking the right agency means looking at both the facts and your feelings. Putting in the effort now will help your cannabis business in the long run.

Why should I hire a content marketing agency?

Hiring a content marketing agency means you get experts who know how to make content that grabs attention and reaches new people. They can make stuff that really shows off what’s special about your business, solves your customers’ problems, and fits perfectly with what you want to achieve.

What should I look for in a good marketing agency?

Know what you want to achieve. Do your homework on different agencies. Consider their size and what they offer. Think about how well you’ll work together. Be clear on your budget.

What are the 5 essential elements of a content marketing strategy?

Understand Who You’re Talking To.
Make Content That Matters.
Stay True to Your Brand.
Find Out Where Your Audience Hangs Out.
Learn and Improve From What Works and What Doesn’t.
Set Yourself Up for Success.

What is a content strategy agency?

A content strategy agency helps you figure out what kind of content you should be making. They help with planning, figuring out what your audience likes, and setting up a plan so you know what you’ll publish and why. It’s all about having a clear plan for your content to help you hit your goals.