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Who’s This Third-Party Person They Keep Talking About?

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Everywhere you look in the marketing world, they talk about third-party content generation or content curation. You may be asking, “Who is this third person at the party anyway?”

It is actually pretty simple. When someone else writes something about you, it has more credibility than when you write something about yourself.

Makes total sense, right? Then why do we not all do it?

writing

We all know someone that can write something great about us … well, at least we think we do. As most of us go on the hunt to look for that perfect person that has credibility and notoriety in the industry, our lists get shorter. We may find ourselves with no one on the list as we pare it down. But, have no fear; the industry has created something called “paid content generation.”

You can pay someone to write something great about your company. You can even tell them what to say. How much easier could that be?

Well, it is not quite that simple. You need to do your due diligence to make sure the person writing is credible, has a influential voice and is a great writer. You don’t want this opportunity to backfire on you.

Many companies don’t have the resources to create content for all of today’s platforms: social media, blogs, infographics, etc. So, this third-party content generation can also help them with their overall content strategy.

But, all postings are not created equal. For example, a common strategy on Twitter is to create some original content with other people’s content mixed in by way of retweeting.

This combination works, but make sure your original content is sprinkled in as much as possible. You want to be seen as an expert in your industry; not just someone who reposts other companies’ stuff. Always make sure you are building your brand, not someone else’s.

Now, let’s add the third-party content developer to the picture. This adds another voice to your brand. This person (or publication) is seen as unbiased and trustworthy because “What do they have to gain by pushing this brand so heavily?”

You know it is because they were paid to do it … but, no one else needs to know that. A good third-party content writer will make that part of the equation invisible. And the best content developers will make it something the audience actually wants to read, regardless of the source. That quality is essential to your investment.

Sometimes the idea of it being paid content is unavoidable. For example, most industry publications bank on their unbiased and editorial trust, so the idea of getting paid to write content is not acceptable. Therefore, it may state that the content is paid or an “advertorial.” That is OK – don’t run away from these opportunities.

These publications tend to be the most trusted and well read. Many people won’t notice the subtle paid content message and even if they do, you still get the SEO benefit of being mentioned someplace else other than by your company.

So, let’s talk SEO and how this content can benefit you there as well. Google has crazy algorithms they create so no one can even figure out the system and win the rankings game. For the past couple of updates, content generation has been the most important element in a ranking strategy. Third-party content is a big part of that.

The digital world makes the linking from site to site easy and research has shown that when there is a link present from an outside site, clicks increase by 33 percent versus links posted on your own site. We tend to trust this content four to seven times as much as internally created content.

Google sees it as credible and the companies that have it will rank higher (assuming the rest of their site isn’t a disaster). Google doesn’t have the ability to know it is paid content, so you get the same benefit as traditional coverage.

Where do you find these people to invite to the party? An agency with proven content marketing services is a great place to start. In addition to staff, an agency can use established connections and technology to get the right message in a quality article that’s expertly placed in front of the right audience.

About The Author

Jenn Cline is another idea-based evangelist who connected with ABC after doing business with the agency as a client.

After 20 years in communications and sales, she decided to shed the stuffy layers of corporate structure to do business on her own terms. An expert marketing strategist, Jenn needed more space for creative planning and carefully measured execution.

As a marketing executive, she familiarized herself with ABC’s culture and talent. As a consultant, she sought the agency as a creative partner.

Jenn’s idea-based sales service adds a unique layer to traditional marketing. Her strategies give great consideration to conversion of a campaign. Not only does she develop plans for execution on the sales side, Jenn also works with clients to develop measurement tools that keep campaigns sustainable long term.