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To turn on content and build a sustainable content engine, early-stage companies have four main options: freelancers, agencies, internal hires, and boutique studios.
Freelancers, while brilliant writers, often lack experience in building a content function from zero to one. Larger agencies with the requisite functional experience frequently outsource writing and get too big – sacrificing content quality or charging too much for too little.
Internal content lead candidates are usually the best fit for the job, but most potential candidates are doing their own thing, are already employed, or are too costly in terms of salary plus equity. If you do find a killer head of content candidate right off the bat – hire them asap.
To figure out who is best equipped to build a content engine, we hear from Oliver Citrin, Chief Business Officer at Goody, and Erin Falter, Director of Marketing at Tydo, on why purpose-built studios were the perfect fit for both of their companies.
Why Goody Shifted Away From Agencies
Oliver highlights Verbatim’s impact in contrast with his unimpressive agency experiences. In his words: “They don’t understand the business or how to tell Goody’s story. They’re optimized to secure the contract, but they don’t really care for the quality after that.”
He also remains skeptical of the agency model at large for several reasons:
- They typically push content quantity over quality
- They tend to recycle the same playbook for every client without personalization
- They’re not incentivized to solve the same core problems as the actual brand team
He also frequently found himself with certain questions about agencies:
- Who’s really driving the strategy and execution?
- How could we communicate more transparently?
- Who’s responsible for and owns Goody’s projects?
Oliver says that with Verbatim, Goody experienced one point person asking the right questions and understanding how crucial every day is for an early-stage company.
In other words: Onboarding with Verbatim signaled no more spinning wheels.
“Unfortunately, agencies run on a feedback loop with writers churning out bad content with bad results. Verbatim operates under a completely different model.”
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