Content marketing: what to know

What the job involves, what changes the price, and what to ask a pro.

What content marketing is

A content marketer plans and produces articles, videos, guides and posts that attract your target audience and build trust, all connected to your business goals. Businesses hire content marketers to be found by the people who need their service, instead of relying only on paid ads.

Signs you need it

  • Customers ask you the same questions again and again, and you have no place that answers them
  • Your website has few pages, and none of them explain your service in depth
  • You want to be found by people who are researching a problem before they are ready to buy
  • You have expertise that is not written down or shared with your audience
  • You have a plan to grow over the next year and need a steady source of useful material

What the pro does

  • Review your business goals, your audience's questions and the content that already exists
  • Build a content plan with topics, formats, the stage of the buyer's journey each piece serves and a calendar
  • Research each topic and outline the piece, including the questions it must answer
  • Write or produce the article, guide, video or post, and send it to you for review
  • Publish the content on your site and the channels you use, with the links and the calls to action
  • Report what was published and how it performed, and update the plan based on the results

What changes the price

Every job is different, so we do not publish prices. These are the things that move the quote up or down.

  • The number of pieces each month and their length and format
  • How much research each piece needs, such as expert interviews or data gathering
  • Whether the marketer writes, edits, designs or only edits what you write
  • Whether the content is updated over time, and how often
  • The number of rounds of review and the approvals needed
  • Whether the marketer must publish the content, or only deliver it for you to publish

What a written quote should spell out

  • The number of pieces, their format and their length
  • The research and the sources included, and any interviews or data work
  • The review rounds included and who approves each piece
  • Whether publishing, images and updates are included
  • The reporting schedule and the measures the reports cover

Questions to ask before you hire

  • What topics will you cover, and how do you choose them?
  • Will you write in my voice, and how do you learn it?
  • How do you check facts and sources before publishing?
  • Who owns the content and the rights to reuse it?
  • How will you measure whether the content helps my business?
  • Will you update old content when the information changes?

Red flags

  • Delivers content that is copied from other websites or from AI tools without checking
  • Promises that the content will rank first or bring a set number of customers
  • Will not explain the sources used for facts and figures
  • Asks you to publish without a review step

What you can do yourself

You can write down the questions your customers ask most and answer each one in a short post or a simple page, using your own words and your own examples. Hire a content marketer when you need a steady stream of pieces, when the topics need research or when you need someone to plan and measure content over a year.

Licenses and permits

No license is usually required for content marketing. Ask for samples of past work, references and a written statement of who owns the content; check with your state or local business licensing office if the marketer operates as a registered business.

Content marketing questions

How long before content brings in customers?

It depends on the topics, the competition and how often you publish. No marketer can promise a date, so ask for the measures and the review schedule.

Who owns the articles and videos?

Agree on this in writing before work starts. Many clients own the final content, but the marketer may keep the right to show it in a portfolio.

Do I need to be an expert to publish this content?

Your review is important. Make sure the content is accurate for your service, and ask the marketer to flag any claim you must check before it goes live.

Pro reviewers

Pros who offer content marketing remotely can improve this guide, like Wikipedia. We check every edit before it goes live. Every approved edit is credited in the edit history and on the pro's profile.

Edit history

How guide reviews work

How it works

  1. 1. Describe the job

    Pick the service, add your ZIP and a sentence about what is going on.

  2. 2. Pick the pros you want

    See screened pros who serve your ZIP and choose who you want to hear from.

  3. 3. They reach out

    They contact you the way you chose: phone, email or in-app messages.

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