We hear it on the daily: content budgets are tightening and marketing leaders are being asked to do more with less.
There are two ways to solve this problem. One is to trim the cost of procuring content; to simply look for cheaper and cheaper alternatives. The problem with this approach is obvious: quality suffers immensely. You end up spending more time and resources just trying to get a decent output than you would have if you’d invested in a more premium option from the get-go.
That said, the other way to achieve more from your marketing budget is to double-down on content that has the highest chance of actually driving a return. But how do you know your investment will actually produce a measurable ROI? How do content and results actually glue together?
At MarketSmiths, we consider ourselves a copywriting agency that’s driven by results. Every part of our process has been crafted to actually deliver a business return. We call this “outcome-based copywriting.” Here’s how it all works…
Top talent is foundational.
Outcome-based copywriting starts with the people behind the words. Of course you need highly skilled writers and strategists who are capable of articulating crisp value propositions in a unique voice. You want your readers engaged—and transported from where they are to where they need to be—believing in your products and services and eager to participate in your brand experiences.
But ultimately, assembling those resources shouldn’t be your responsibility as a marketing leader. You’ve simply too much on your plate to get trapped on the hamster wheel of sourcing, vetting, training, wrangling, and editing writers’ work. What you need is a solution where all of that legwork is built-in.
At MarketSmiths, the burden of procuring the best writers and strategists—talent that’s deeply experienced across industries and formats—resides with us. Pickier than the Ivy League, we test 15% of applicants—and accept under 1%. The result is a bench of wordsmiths, thinkers, and creative ideators with the experience to handle any deliverable in any industry—and produce a strategic, compelling result.
Layered teams cover every base.
Building a team of top-tier talent is one thing. But leveraging that talent in such a way that’s optimized to generate the best possible outcome is an entirely different matter. That’s because the best copywriter in the world still has limitations—one person can’t possibly manage every ask at the level of quality you need. Rather than expecting a lone freelancer or talented in-house copywriter to execute on your objectives, it’s far more effective to combine the abilities of your organization such that the sum is greater than the parts.
That’s why we employ a layered approach at MarketSmiths. On every project, there’s a content strategist who sets the direction of any given piece and oversees the development of work, ensuring that what’s produced aligns squarely with business objectives and brand considerations. Under that strategist, several writers are selected who bring industry expertise to bear as well as a proven track record for producing copy in the appropriate tone and voice for the client. It’s an air-tight approach, where every dimension of a project is accounted for—and the burden of performance is distributed across select team members.
Collaborative strategy comes first.
Would you believe some clients never get to meet the writers who are speaking on their behalf? It’s an all-too-common scenario. Agencies hide their writers behind a project manager or some other point of contact, leading to blind spots, misunderstandings, and work that fails to strike at the heart of the business problem. You need to have direct dialogue with your writers to surface and corroborate the key insights that will drive a successful campaign.
Enter the content strategy session. This is the vehicle MarketSmiths uses to kick off new projects, where every participant not only shows up—but does so with their business thinking cap on, ready to ask the pointed questions that enable us to understand the business context, audience, and proposition directly. We test assumptions. We play devil’s advocate. We dig into use cases and competitors.
By the end of a successful content strategy session, there’s a road map that’s been illuminated—one that will safely carry the reader from their current state to the desired outcome. Without, you’re lost without a compass. With it, your end goal is clear on the horizon as you make your way toward content performance success.
Deep partner engagement is vital.
So far, we’ve talked about what a client should expect from an outcome-based content procurement process. But driving results is a two-way street; deep client engagement throughout key moments of the process leads to better understanding—which, in turn, yields optimal results.
The first key moment of engagement occurs right at the outset, starting with the dissemination of clear business objectives. Sometimes a brief comes our way that feels disconnected from the company’s business goals. The digital landscape is littered with content for content’s sake. That may keep your blog populated or your social feeds full, but it’s not likely to drive genuine ROI. You want your writing team to be crystal-clear on what’s being produced, where it’s going, and why.
Another key moment of client engagement arises once we’ve delivered the content. We anticipate prompt, specific feedback so we can produce content that becomes more efficient over time. It’s impossible to underestimate the value of trust as you’re putting a piece of copywriting together—and trust is only built through sustained and meaningful collaboration. With top-notch writers, you won’t need to spend a lot of time editing or rewriting, but indicating what is or isn’t working, answering questions, and clarifying value props is at the crux of how all boats rise together. In other words, don’t expect to be a bystander and see impactful work landing in your inbox. You’re a vital part of the narrative.
That means we facilitate the collaborative development of ideas. We anticipate prompt, specific feedback. This collaborative juncture facilitates the development of ideas, builds trust, and produces content that becomes more efficient and effective over time.
Rapid prototyping sharpens output.
It’s tempting to imagine the copywriting process culminating in some kind of Mad Men-like reveal of the magic words that will drive your business forward. And while that may be how some vendors function, it’s not necessarily the best way to get the outcome you’re looking for. Too often this approach sets everyone up for failure: the client expects too much, and the writers operate in the dark until the last minute—when a great deal of time and money has already been invested. If it’s a flop, that investment all goes down the drain for everyone involved.
A better way to think is like a tech company—fail fast and fail often. With this ethos in mind, we practice rapid prototyping: producing a small piece of the project very quickly so we all have something to react to and iterate on. We tend to start somewhere small and simple before moving onto the more significant parts of your project. For instance, if we’re writing a website, we won’t write the home page first—we’ll go for a deeper internal page first to ensure we’re nailing the voice, tone, and message, before we move to higher-stakes assets. Once the prototype has been crafted to perfection, we work steadily outward from there, ascending to increasingly important pages until we get to the summit—armed with an in-depth understanding of how to knock it out of the park.
Robust QC elevates every piece.
But the question remains, even with all of this process in place, how can you be sure—objectively—that a seemingly rock-solid piece of content will truly work? Many would argue that it’s impossible to know. But while it’s true that there is some ineffable aspect to good creative work, quality control can go a long way in providing assurance.
At MarketSmiths, we believe that quality is measurable, definable, and knowable. Over the last 13 years, we’ve codified what effective writing looks like into a proprietary 35-point standard that includes aspects such as momentum, authenticity, intrigue, and logic. These qualities aren’t just nice-to-have elements—they’re literally the DNA of words that generate results. By holding every piece of work up to this robust rubric, we’re able to tell from a cold, hard, factual standpoint whether or not it’s going to evoke a desired response—and if it isn’t, we know what needs to change.
Get copywriting that smashes your targets.
The struggle to produce effective content and copywriting is real. We see it every day, as exasperated marketing leaders show up on our doorstep, looking for relief. But it doesn’t need to be such a mystery. The truth is, it’s a content shop’s responsibility to produce work that drives business performance. Every aspect of our operation has been crafted to meet this aim.
If you’d like to learn more about working with the team at MarketSmiths—and plug into this process for your own organization, get in touch today.
