Regarding the process of content marketing, I work both sides of the street.  In addition to generating original content for this blog, for the past 6 or 7 years I’ve worked as an outsourcer, both generating and editing content for two monthly newsletters and serving as editor only for a third.

The practice of content marketing has taken root in many organizations, from Freelance consultancies to multi-national corporations.  The responsibility for generating a good deal of that content has been outsourced.  President Trump is apparently the author of his own tweets but many corporate execs, government leaders, celebrities and other public figures are not.  Text, images, audio and video content destined for blogs, newsletters, webinars and an array of social media platforms might be created by an in-house social media specialist or, increasingly, the function is performed by an external marketing firm or a talented and plucky Freelance consultant.

Ideally, your content marketing will become an effective inbound marketing strategy and “pull” self-selected potential prospects who will be primed to become your customers.  Along the way, good content will also enable customer engagement and enhance and promote your organization’s brand.

Producing top quality marketing content is time-consuming and you may at some point decide to outsource all, or segments, of it.  Before you finalize that decision, take the time to consider what you would like your content to do for your organization; how much content it makes sense to produce; and how you can protect your intellectual property (because the content represents you and your business, whether or not you write it).

Determine the best content marketing platforms for your business

As always, it’s necessary to know your customers and target markets to determine the type of content that will resonate.  B2B clients will have different expectations than B2C or B2G customers and you must reflect that in your platform choices.  Be advised that you cannot and should not attempt to be all things to all people.  Consider picking one or two options, depending on the size of your organization and budget.  Develop an editorial calendar so that you will feature relevant seasonal topics throughout the year.

• Weekly blog
• Monthly newsletter
• Semi-annual webinar
• Email marketing
• Social media updates
• Semi-annual case studies
• Annual video (with audio) featuring you or other key team members

Specify the outsourcing requirements

Clearly describe what you would like your outsourced content specialist to do.  Do you want content creation and editing, or do you want editing services only for content that you create? Will your content be original, or will you mostly feature short preludes that introduce links to other articles that tell your story? Would you like images included in your newsletter or blog? Might you like short videos to be embedded in your blog or newsletter and will that function be the focus of the outsourced duties?

Finally, when would you like your blog or newsletter to publish (for example, every Tuesday at 6:00 AM or on the 15th of every month?) Share your proposed editorial calendar and publishing schedule with your outsourcer, so that s/he will know what to create and when to have the content ready.

Assign the content copyright

Stay on top of this one, people.  Be advised that unless you specify in the outsourcing contract that all content belongs to you, then ownership will lie with the outsourcer who creates it.  On your own, or after your outsourcer is no longer in your employ, you may want to repackage text, images, or video from your blog or newsletter and use it on your website, in email marketing letters, or in a book (that could be written by you or by the original content outsourcer, a ghost author) and you must ensure that you will have the unrestricted use of what you paid for.

Further, you are advised to include an indemnification clause against possible copyright infringement of text and images that the outsourcer may (unwittingly) commit.  Some images are free, 95-year-old plus images are in the public domain and others are for sale.  Misinterpretation can be costly.  Also, proper credit must be given to images and failure to do so will cause legal problems for you.  Your business entity is the publisher of the content and is the responsible party.

Address the potential legal liabilities of your content

If your content addresses a subject that requires some manner of official licensing—medical, legal, investment, architectural, engineering, or nutritional, for example—it will be wise to include disclaimers or some assurance to readers that the information provided meets accepted regulatory standards and best practices.

Contract with outsourcing termination clause

Include all points detailed above in a contract that is signed by both you and your outsourcer and send a signed copy to the outsourcer.  Hire an intellectual property attorney to review your draft contract to ensure that both you and your outsourcer are protected.   Be certain to specify  who owns the content and how it can be used after the work relationship has ended.  Non-disclosure of potentially sensitive information can also be included.

Thanks for reading,

Kim