Excerpts taken from *original article appeared in Crowd Content blog
Running an agency is an exercise in managing multiple priorities.
You’ve got demanding clients, tight deadlines and a network of staff members and freelancers or content vendors to manage, all while keeping your competitive edge so the next “new kid on the block” agency doesn’t steal your best customers.
One of the best ways to maximize efficiency and stay nimble is to outsource content creation, especially if content isn’t your primary service. SEO agencies are particularly adept at finding ways to supplement limited in-house resources, but it makes sense from a financial perspective for a lot of agencies to partner with third-party specialists.
Here’s the issue: When your content partner fails to keep up with rising volume and starts to blow deadlines, you’re left holding the bag, and the consequences can be monumental.
Missed Deadlines Mean Missed Opportunities
Some content is time-sensitive and failing to deliver on schedule starts a tidal wave of epic proportions. Amanda Sutton of CATALYST Communications Choreography knows this reality all too well. “As a PR pro, missed deadlines are our worst nightmare. [They] could have very immediate implications, such as missing the jump on an important news breaking story due to an unapproved media release… missing content deadlines could also have less devastating but still negative ramifications on your marketing.”
Delivering sales copy late could scuttle plans for a holiday-themed product release and delayed employee bios could leave a client without updated marketing collateral to distribute at their annual industry meetup. “Usually,” continues Sutton, “the point of each piece of content is to elicit action or reaction in the audience, so communication pros need to take into account the reception of each individual message, the tone and the exact timing that will make the biggest impact.”
Harden agrees. “Many businesses have ‘high-value’ market times when website traffic is more valuable than any other time of the year (accountants, home improvement or service companies, niche manufacturing, etc.). It’s important to submit content orders ahead of these high-value times.”
Cue the Employee Confusion
If the content you’re waiting on is for internal use, such as a company newsletter or series of emails talking up the new insurance benefits, you face a different list of potential pitfalls.
“Mismanaged or delayed communications could have an impact on employee engagement, interdepartmental procedures, etc.,” says Sutton. Depending on the goal of the content, Sutton suggests even a small error could lead to drops in event sign ups or meeting attendance, lead to lackluster feedback or survey participation and lead to overall confusion as content gaps throw off your whole company-wide dialogue.
As Sutton reminds us, “In marketing and communications management, timing is everything.”
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Full article can be read here: https://www.crowdcontent.com/blog/2019/05/14/how-missing-content-deadlines-impacts-marketing-agencies/?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=CrowdContent&utm_content=How%20Missing%20Content%20Deadlines%20Impacts%20Marketing%20Agencies%20in%20a%20Big%20Way%20(and%20What%20You%20Can%20Do%20About%20It)