Content Agencies Part 1: Specialise

Content Agencies Part 1: Specialise

October 7, 2016

 

October 7, 2016

 

Content Agencies Part 1: Specialise

WRITTEN BY

Tony Hallett
Managing director

Tony set up Collective Content in 2011 so brands can more easily become publishers and tell stories. This built on 15 years in media, from reporter to publishing director at Silicon Media Group, CNET Networks and CBS Interactive.

What follows is controversial to some. The message of this post is: do one thing well.

That’s what we believe in, speaking as a content agency. We think it’s good to specialise at being great at content. But others in agencyland would disagree. Which is why this is controversial.

photo credit: BAKOKO BAKOKO CDS 2F Pantry Cropped via photopin (license)
photo credit: BAKOKO BAKOKO CDS 2F Pantry Cropped via photopin (license)

We live in an age of integrated agencies. They might start out as media buyers. Or designers. Or PRs. Or a digital agency – which is a pretty wide catch-all in itself.

Then they add on complementary services. And content is complementary to all the other types of agency service.

So we get how everyone now ‘does content’. We openly partner with a number of agencies (smart guys!) for whom we’re the content arm. That makes sense all round.

But us? We’re not about to branch out.

In this series we ask one fundamental question: What makes a great content agency? After this post we will talk about all kinds of things – transparency, agency models, experience, pricing and more – but we think that, being content people, specialising on content is what we should do. Maybe not 100 per cent. But 90 per cent-plus.

That doesn’t just mean knowing how to write or edit or present or commission or do one of dozens of other content things. It means marrying all that with subject matter expertise. But these are still all fundamental content disciplines.

Do you agree? What’s been your experience, as someone buying content services or as someone else providing them? We’d love to know.

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