The Miami Heat has Wade, Bosh and James. What super-star line-up can your clients expect on their content marketing project team? Bringing together talent that meets the objectives of the project is key to long-term success. Having the wrong players in the wrong positions can put your organization on the sidelines.
Here are four simple questions to ask when putting together a project “Dream Team.”
Who will manage the project?
Every project needs a project manager. This person is the key contact with your client on a day-to-day basis once the project starts.
What to look for:
Select someone who has the expertise, flexibility, planning, troubleshooting and management skills necessary to keep the project team on time and on budget–and someone who will keep the client satisfied along the way.
What content will need to be supplied?
Gone are the days when clients supplied their own content; they need help with content development. They don’t have the resources and/or they can’t keep up with demand. It’s your job to provide the content development team to meet the project goals.
What to look for:
You need to develop a network of reliable subject matter experts (across many industries) to join specific projects teams. Clients are looking for content developers to be experts, to deliver their message within their established guidelines, and to do it quickly. Finding the industry experts and drafting them to the team can be the first steps toward meeting client expectations.
How will content be delivered?
Content delivery can dictate the level of technical expertise your project will need.
For instance, if you are building a website, you know you will need to add a website developer to your team. But what about SEO? How important will that be and do you need to add an SEO expert? Know how the content is being delivered so you can secure the right level of technical expertise to help with planning, development and deployment.
What to look for:
It seems every agency and design firm offers programming and SEO services. But, not everyone is doing a good job at it. Before you partner with anyone, check his or her references, and be sure to visit the sites they’ve produced (and check out this post from Heather Lloyd-Martin with a checklist of things to look for in an SEO copywriter). And, remember, all website coding is NOT equal. The key to getting good SEO results is valid coding. You can check coding, website ranking and a whole lot more with Hubspot’s website tools.
What level of design talent is needed?
Content keeps audiences interested, but graphics pull them in. Good design keeps audiences engaged. But, design needs are not always based on the audience; sometimes design requirements are dictated by client expectations, budget or simply the end format.
What to look for:
Bring the right level of design talent to the team from the beginning and be sure the designer understands the project, timeline and project goals.
Your content marketing “dream team”
In summary, here’s a list of players you may need on your content marketing project team:
- Project manager
- Subject matter experts
- Writers
- SEO copywriter
- Web developer
- Designer
Lots of consideration has to be taken when creating the right project team. But, with good planning, networking and clearly defined expectations, your client will have their own dream team working for them and you’ll be on your way to a successful project.
