How long does content marketing take? 

Content marketing is an ongoing practice that can take anywhere from a week to 6 months to create the proper pieces of content.

The truth is, there is no set answer for HOW LONG content marketing takes. It's not the same as taking a test that you know will be 2 hours long. It's not the same as a sales promotion that has a start and end date. Based on your industry, strategy, your buyer, and your budget, the time frames will be very different from business to business. 

Here are a few factors that go into how long content takes to create

• What kind of content are you producing - Different types of content will take you different amounts of time to create. For instance, a low level blog may take you two hours to write, but if you want a video, it could take you weeks between shooting and editing. 
  
  There are MANY different types of content you can produce, and they should be tailored to your audience and industry. Incorporating different types of content into your marketing is a great way to stay fresh, and appeal to different people. Some people prefer to  read a long blog post, others may like reading a short one, while some may want to see a video. Having all 3 kinds of content means that you can speak to all 3 of those potential customers. 
  
  So when it comes to how long, consider what kind of content you want, and schedule it out accordingly!
  
  
• What is your budget?- This is a simple one. If you have more money to spend, you will be able to get higher quality content produced more quickly. The less you have to spend, the less content you can have produced, and it may take more time. 
  
  When budget is an issue, we would recommend finding types of content you can produce consistently, that have a decent level of quality your audience will enjoy. For example, if you have a certain budget to spend in a 3 month period, having 1 high quality video produced that takes up the majority of the budget may not be the right move. Instead pricing out blogs to be posted on a schedule throughout the 3 months may be a better option. 
  
  If you simply create one off pieces of content every now and then, you are putting all your eggs in those baskets, and if you can't properly use this content to create more business, you just threw away a lot of your marketing budget.
  
  Your budget definitely has to do a lot with how quickly your content marketing strategy will come together, but having a limited budget shouldn't stop you from getting it going. Just make sure you are having the RIGHT pieces of content produced to maximize your efforts. 
  
  
• Who is creating the content - This can be tied into your budget a bit, but deciding WHO will be creating your content will give you a good idea of how long it will take. 
  
  We have noticed that companies who hire vendors to assist with content creation generally move faster than companies who pay people in house to start creating content. If you are paying an outside source to create your content, there is a lot more of a defined course and dates assigned to things. If you take a current employee and task them with content creation, it may not go as smoothly as hiring someone who is used to doing this. 
  You can also hire a new employee and assign them content creation duties. This usually works better than simply handing off new projects to current employees who aren't used to it. The only issue here is the limit of what one person can do. It's unlikely they will be skilled at every aspect of content creation (video, writing, graphic design, etc.).
  
  This is why we recommend some form of both! Having an in-house marketing manager that works with one or multiple vendors to have your content created is a great way to make sure you have content consistently produced on time, and gives it some variety. If you have 1 or 2 people that create all your content, it's tough to stay fresh and create new ideas. When you use a vendor or 2, they have teams of people working for them, with different ideas and input that will keep your content cutting edge. 

Short and Long Term Content Strategies

A great way to start thinking about your content strategy, especially when it comes to length, is short and long term content goals. Make your goals measurable and achievable.

Creating a short term, as well as a long term marketing plan will keep you focused on the things that need to be created, when they need to be done by, and gives you an idea of what to expect from your upcoming marketing. 

To get started, if you've never created content before, saying, "We want 20 blogs and 3 videos this month to get started", is probably not achievable. 

If you say, "We want to create 4 blogs this month, an email, and a video", this is definitely more reasonable, and it gives you some room to create all this, and then assess how it went. 

Short term goals can be fit into smaller time frames. This is content that is usually easier and cheaper to produce consistently. 

Longer term goals are typically higher quality content that is more time consuming to produce. Videos, certain types of case studies, eBooks, and graphics all can be more involved, and should be considered parts of your long term strategy. 

Using a blend of short term and long term content goals should allow you to create different content pieces consistently, while not overwhelming your company or your marketing budget. 

For example... 

"Our marketing strategy will consist of 4 blogs, 1 email, 15 social media posts per month, while creating 1 eBook, 2 3 minute long videos and 6 new landing pages every 6 months."

This is a VERY brief look at long and short term content goals, but you understand the idea. Preparing your different timelines allows you to budget and set proper expectations and goals for your content marketing.

Content Marketing Is Like Working Out... For Your Business

One of my favorite ways of thinking about content marketing is similar to working out and keeping yourself in shape. It's similar to working out in these ways:

• It doesn't happen overnight - You don't join a gym, go once or twice, and all of a sudden are in perfect shape! It takes time to build your content marketing strategy.
  
  
• You need to stay fresh - If you do the exact same workouts every time, you will become complacent. Changing up your workout routines and constantly learning new things will all help you to stay fit. 
  
  The same goes for your content. If you find one great piece of content, and that's all you ever create, it will eventually become stale. We aren't saying you should STOP what is working, but adding new content ideas to your strategy will help keep you fresh and appealing to new audiences. 
  
  This goes the same for educating yourself. The more you learn about marketing, the better you'll be at it. Read articles, go to conferences, or hire an agency who stays on top of it all! Just like researching a new diet or workout routine, researching marketing makes sure you are doing the right stuff! 
  
  
• Different for everyone - Not everyone looks the same, and not every diet/workout routine is right for everyone. The same goes for content marketing! Not every company is the same, and the marketing strategy for one HVAC business may not be right for another one. 
  
  Company size, location, goals, and resources have impacts on what the content strategy should be for a particular business, and how it should be executed. Make sure you do your research and choose the right pieces of content that will fit your business. 

In Conclusion...

As I stated in the beginning, content marketing doesn't usually have a set time, but it becomes an ongoing process that your business should adopt as part of their marketing. 

If you are looking for a few base timelines to get your content marketing started, it usually takes a few weeks to get everything set in place, and you should begin producing content within 1-3 months of beginning. 

Determine your budget and what kinds of content would work best for you, and set up some short and long term content goals. 

The biggest thing you can do when it comes to content marketing is GET STARTED. No matter how small or big your effort is, whether it writing your first blog, or calling a marketing agency to see how they can help. getting the ball rolling is so important. Once you get going on your strategy and content creation, the ideas will start to FLOW. 

If you'd like a hand getting started, let us know! Call us at 888-519-1950, or email me at donjr@comfortmediagroup.com.