The Life-Long Customer

Don't Overlook the Benefits of Scaling Your Content Marketing Team - with Alissa Rogers, Senior Content Manager, Raken

November 23, 2021 Revenue Rhino Season 1 Episode 107
The Life-Long Customer
Don't Overlook the Benefits of Scaling Your Content Marketing Team - with Alissa Rogers, Senior Content Manager, Raken
Show Notes Transcript

Raise your hand if you’re a content creator who wants to produce all types of content. 🙋

In an ideal world, we would like to create viral or trending content, but we're sometimes faced with difficult challenges, like time or manpower constraints. 

In today's episode, we're joined by Alissa Rogers, Senior Content Manager at Raken. Listen now to know more about content strategy and scaling your content team.

“What we've learned about scalability is you don't need a huge content team to start. You don't need 6 writers, 12 designers. It's just about creating quality and consistent content. That's the big thing.

Where I've really taken our content strategy is trying to be very thoughtful and smart about how we're creating it.

Instead of trying to do anything and everything, create one high-value piece of content that's relevant. Content, in general, is moving towards a direction where it's about quality and value overselling.” 

- Alissa Rogers, Senior Content Manager, Raken

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Introduction: 0:04
From Revenue Rhino, I'm Brad Hammond, and this is The Lifelong Customer Podcast. We're interviewing successful sales and marketing leaders in discussing ways in which they're building lifelong relationships with their customer.

Brad Hammond: 0:20
Welcome to The LifeLong Customer Podcast. I'm your host, Brad Hammond.

Ice Artificio: 0:24
And I'm your co-host, Ice Artificio.

Brad Hammond: 0:27
Today, we have Alissa Rogers from Raken. Alissa, it's really nice to have you on.

Alissa Rogers: 0:32
Thank you for having me. I'm happy to be here.

Ice Artificio: 0:34
Alissa, thank you so much for hopping on with us. And before we jump into anything else, we'd love to know more about you and what you do.

Alissa Rogers: 0:42
Sure. Yes. So as you mentioned, my name is Alissa Rogers, and I'm currently the Senior Manager of Content over at Raken. And as the Manager of Content, we're a pretty small company still, but we're growing fast. So me and my team, we handle everything that's brand messaging, content across pretty much anywhere you see copy or design. I have a team of writers and a designer. And so we are handling from product to sales to, of course, marketing anything and everything that we need on the collateral website pages and messaging side for Raken.

Ice Artificio: 1:19
Nice. So for everybody else out there who doesn't know what Raken is, can you give us a brief overview of what the company is? 

Alissa Rogers: 1:26
Of course, yes. So Raken is in the construction technology space, and construction is a huge industry. So there's all different types of tech and software that exist. And Raken really exists to help the field crews streamline and save time in their day. So that was kind of how we got started, what our product still is committed to doing.

And in construction, if you aren't familiar with the industry, there's basically 2 different sets of crews working at all times. So when you drive by a construction site, and you see the people actually building, those are called the field crews, and they're the ones kind of executing on all of the projects. And then there's an office site as well for construction companies, and those are the people like finance, project managers, operation managers, engineers, everyone who exist on sort of the more operations and company side that actually handle across multiple projects all of the different types of data and making sure that the budget and timeliness of projects is on track. 

So we were created as an app for the field. One of the biggest problems in the construction industry is oftentimes all the crews working in the field don't have a streamlined way to report to the office. So Raken really exists as a field-friendly app that also gives insights to the office so that they don't have to write it down on pen and paper. That's typically what the construction industry uses right now is pen and paper. 

So Raken and other technologies like it exists to help save people time, get them home faster. You don't have to spend an hour at the end of your day, filling out your report, trying to remember what happened. We have a tool that people can use right on their mobile device as they walk the job site to enter any and all project data, and then that's extremely quickly uploaded straight to the office in real time, so that they can see exactly what happens in their projects without having to ask people.

Ice Artificio: 3:21
That's super interesting. I never would have thought that there was those two departments when it came to construction. I just thought that the construction guys, they do everything.

Alissa Rogers: 3:29
Yeah.

Ice Artificio: 3:30
Right. So it's super interesting how you guys are mixing digital people who are in the office who have a lot of access to that and people who are on the field. So when you create content for that, how does that space look like? 

Alissa Rogers: 3:46
Yes. So I would say when I started at Raken in 2019, we were predominantly an inbound organization, which marketing, that's usually kind of nice, because you have everyone coming straight to you. And I think that's a true testament to our product, and we set out to be kind of a field-friendly app that people would actually use. And we did it. And we were getting all these field crews and superintendents, finding the app, using it.

Construction is huge in the word-of-mouth referral base, so we would just kind of grow organically from that. And we were finding a lot of people coming to us, because they wanted to save time. And then what we've seen with a shift is that it's great to have your end user as your champion. But really, if you want to impact and save time for even more people and potentially help companies drive their processes even more efficiently, you have to also reach the office.

So if the field loves it, sometimes they don't have the buying power or the purchase power across every project to every company. So then we really wanted to start talking to the office to make sure we were showing them the benefits that they get from Raken as well.

So I'd say as far as content goes, we started predominantly just talking about the field, like we can save you time. Who doesn't want to get an hour back of every day? I think that was really easy messaging for us to go out with and just really showing the benefit for them and getting them bought in. And over time, we've definitely started to shift our content to be a little bit more industry-focused to talk about bigger topics that these executives at construction companies really care about.

It's about their bottom line. And if you get a tool that people actually will use, because that's the biggest thing with construction, some of the tools are complex. They can't pick them up and use them right away, so they never do. So it's really worth the investment, and that's where we've been focusing our content is the investment of field-friendly software and how it benefits beyond the field, everyone at the company.

Brad Hammond: 5:41
Very cool. Our theme of focus for today is scaling a content marketing team.

Alissa Rogers: 5:47
Sure.

Brad Hammond: 5:47
So obviously, it sounds like, based on our discussions, you've had a lot of experience with this in really scaling and growing the team and all this, and we'd love to hear more about that journey and what that's looked like for you. And then let's dive into some topics around strategies and advice for other marketers listening today.

Alissa Rogers: 6:05
Totally, yes. So for a while there, it was just me when I was at the beginning of my career at Raken. We really had limited resources. I, in my career, kind of worked my way up as a copywriter. So I felt very strong in content and copy and strategy as far as that goes. But we started super small, and it was just me writing, designing, building and publishing all of the content for a while there. 

And I think, over time, what we've learned about the scalability is you don't need a huge content team to start. You don't need 6 writers, 12 designers. Of course, it's nice if you have it, and you should definitely use those resources. But really, it's just about creating quality consistent content. And I think that's the big thing. 

There's different schools of thought. Some people think it's just get as much as you can out, put it in front of people. It doesn't really matter the quality. You want to hit like 4 blogs a week and just that was where I started. We were kind of in that space. So let's just create, throw stuff out there, and not really think too much about it. 

And where I've really taken our content strategy is trying to be very thoughtful and smart about how we're creating it. So instead of just trying to do anything and everything, creating one high-value piece of content that's relevant. And I think content in general, with any industry, is moving towards a direction where it's about quality and value over selling.

So before, it was all about, can you sell to someone? Can you get them to click? Do a demo, get them on the phone, which is still important. But I think really it's about making sure that you create something that's interesting even if the person never buys your products. So that's what we started with was what can we create for the construction industry to really educate them about the value of these different types of things. And then you get to kind of add in a, "oh, hey, we also do that." And over time, it's just about building trust.

And so I think creating pieces of content that are really about that and using it in an intelligent way by just breaking it down. You don't need to do a separate blog, video, piece of social, all these other things and feel like you're stretched thin. Really, if you create one solid piece of content and start there, you would be surprised by how much you can chop it up and use it across different things.

Create four different social posts that point back to it. Make a blog that pulls out some of those stat and digs deeper. I think that's really been the key to us scaling content is starting with quality topics and building something that we can use. And then getting the most juice out of it as we can to just make sure that we're being creative around what we're creating and how often and just consistently putting it out there and seeing what sticks. 

And I think social is another really great place if you're starting with content to just test if you're not ready to commit to building a full digital e-book that's 30 pages and going to take you all day or all week to make. I think starting with just nuggets of topics that you put out there, see what starts to get reactions, see what people are interested in on your content side, then you'll have an idea of what to build your bigger pillar pieces of content out of.

Brad Hammond: 9:13
I really love that. So it sounds like really just starting small.

Alissa Rogers: 9:16
Yes. 

Brad Hammond: 9:18
Really having that laser focus and focusing on quality and all this stuff was really integral as you got started. Tell us more about the progression of that. So obviously, it was just you.

Alissa Rogers: 9:29
Yes.

Brad Hammond: 9:29
You have limited time, limited resources, had a lot of focus. What does that progression look like as you've added more team members? And where are you at maybe now? And what's been the journey to get there?

Alissa Rogers: 9:41
Yes, we've been fortunate to build a rock star team under myself. And I think the key of what's been working for us for that is not just hiring when we feel like we should have a writer or a designer and being super intentional at looking at what we're doing and where we want to grow and then finding the roles that fit that.

So our first hire was a writer, because I think that definitely was where I was spending a lot of my time. I wanted to move up a little bit more in the strategy and having someone who could just start creating the basis of the content. Doesn't always have to look pretty, especially in construction. They don't necessarily care how it looks. But if we have the right value and content of what we're saying, then that really can take it pretty far.

So we started with the writer, and that was our first hire, and she became a jack of all trades. She was kind of just executing on anything and everything and starting to build that content machine. And then a designer was the next hire, because I think the aesthetics do matter. You want to make sure that you are creating things that represent your brand. 

And so having that tag team, I think, really was what escalated our ability to produce more content. They could collaborate directly together and work hand-in-hand on everything that we did. And then our next hire after that was another writer, because I think what I wanted to do was we had- it felt like a really good marketing engine going. But obviously, with marketing, there's also the search side of it and making sure that you're optimized for people who are looking or maybe don't even know about you.

So our next hire was actually a content writer who could focus on more of the long-form industry's type of content. Her projects take a little bit longer, but that's because she's able to really dig super deep into a specific topic. And so the three of them currently work really well together to take what they're creating across every platform or different initiative and then build upon it, cross-link and just build this cohesive ecosystem of content that really shows that we know what we're talking about in the industry and provide educational content as well.

Brad Hammond: 11:50
Love that. And one of the things you mentioned that building up the team has allowed you to think more strategically. 

Alissa Rogers: 11:56
Yes.

Brad Hammond: 11:56
What are some things that you're thinking about when it comes to strategy and spending a lot of your time on now that you've hired people to come around you and really take on a lot of these aspects that you're originally doing?

Alissa Rogers: 12:08
Yes. I think one of the biggest things that I've been able to focus on now is just looking ahead. Previously, when it was- you're kind of just heads down in that production phase, I just need to get stuff out and make sure that we're not missing any projects or deliverables that are needed across our entire team. Now I think we're in a place where we can start really getting targeted and personalized with our messaging.

One of the caveats, when you are small, and are kind of just getting out what you can is, it's a lot harder to create some pieces that feel customed to different personas. So obviously, not everyone resonates with the exact same messaging, especially when we were moving from the field to the office. I think now we're really able to look at a content road map and decide what different pieces we can make for different people. Or if we start with one, how can we change it to apply to all these different personas?

So if we're building an ultimate guide to being more productive, we can spin it and make it for someone in the office versus someone in the field. They have totally different ideas of what they value, of what they care about in their day, and really what they want in a software. 

So being able to tailor that content and think about the strategy of how we can tailor it and then, of course, creating projects for my team, making sure they have enough to do and balance the creative ideas with their actual production task, I think that's kind of where I've shifted to be able to recognize our opportunities and start to build the plan for how we're going to create more targeted, personalized, effective content.

Brad Hammond: 13:40
Love that. What are some of the indicators that marketers will start to see if they need to expand the team or hire another role? You have these projects you want to tackle, but you just don't have time to do them? Or what are some of those indicators you see?

Alissa Rogers: 13:56
Yes. From the creative side, so obviously, I came from the creative background. I think I am very passionate on the content, copy and design side specifically. So I would say if you're not from the creative side, it's kind of hard to tell how your team is doing, how they're feeling. And one of the biggest things for me that I saw when it was time to bring on more people was overall bandwidth. But I think you look at the time that it's taking to do projects and the overall quality of what you're looking for.

So for us, my team never had a quality issue. I think they always were able to really produce, but it was all production. They were very heads down. I was getting things back in a day, two days, which is kind of nice. But at the same time, I was able to then look at it and say, if we hire someone else to help take some of these projects, how much more time can we spend on this specific thing to make it that much better? And I think that's really one of the indicators is looking at what's just coming out like a production line over and over. It's starting to look maybe similar or you see opportunities where you can make it better. And it's really just letting those creative roles do their thing and have a little bit more time.

So now, instead of just making sure we have a hero image for an e-mail, the copy, and we ship it over to whoever is building it, we're able to take a little bit of time, collaborate, maybe come up with a new template or a couple of ideas or explorations on how we think it should look. And I think that just pushes all the content quality up overall, because you're really able to look at how can I give people more time for some bigger initiatives.

And I think that was huge for my team as well as, like I said, they were all in production roles and cranking out content. But I made sure in our one-on-ones to talk to them. What kind of projects do you want to work on? They have ideas. Oftentimes, your marketing content team has ideas. They just don't have the time to execute on them. So I think when you see it start to get to that point, bringing on someone else to help share the production of the work, everyone feels like they have more shared ideas that they can get across and that they can actually work on.

And if it's a passion project or one that could be considered a passion project, those have been some of our favorite ones because it came from the team. They're in it every day. And at the end of the day, it's something that they want to work on. So they'll do a little bit more behind it to make sure that it's perfect.

Brad Hammond: 16:18
Awesome. How do you handle the executive buy-in piece of this? Obviously, you have your goals. You have things you have to get done.

Alissa Rogers: 16:26
Sure. 

Brad Hammond: 16:27
And then how do you go about presenting the case to the executive team that, hey, we need a bigger team, and here's what we need to get that accomplished and all that kind of stuff.

Alissa Rogers: 16:35
Yes. I think with content, it's a pretty delicate balance of quantity and quality. So I think any executive, if you come to them and say, I can make x amount more of e-books blogs, whatever per quarter, typically, their ears will perk up and they like that. And I think that's definitely part of it. But you also want to make sure that it doesn't turn into just you promised me x this, we just have to get them out. I think that's kind of the balance that I try to strike.

And I'm very fortunate that our executive team at Raken believes in content. And I think that's super important of showing the value of content. And really, it's brand. It’s getting- if you want more leads or prospects through your funnel, you have to create the content that they care about. They don't always want to be sold to, depending on the stage that they're in, of awareness of your company, they really need to know why they should care about it.

And so I think we were fortunate to start early on just creating content pieces that showed that we could do that and really where we wanted to go with our content strategy. So after that, it was pretty easy to get buy-in to say, I'm so glad you liked that e-book. I could make you three more if we had a little bit of help for this, this, and this project. And I think at the end of the day, Raken is a company that cares a lot about work-life balance, which I super appreciate, and I know my team does.

So it's about showing your finite hours of the day and asking the executive team, this is what we can do. If you'd like more, we can either hire someone or you tell me what to push off the plate. And I think that's an effective way to help get that buy-in to make them kind of think about everyone has ideas. Everyone wants to do everything under the sun, but really being strategic about showing and not overcommitting to what else you could do with more resources, but also making sure that it aligns with their strategic. 

One of the things that we were looking at for the next year in 2020, when we began our plan was search engine optimization. So I think that made it really easy for me to say, I agree. I would love to do more. But here's where we're hitting a roadblock of being able to execute on all these things. So then, we were able to silo our team out a little bit in our disciplines and add an SEO writer who really can help us with that branch.

So I’d say it’s give and take of finding what your executive cares about and tailoring your pitch to it. If they don't care about your social media or all that, don't give them a whole pitch around, here's all the social post we can do. Make something that's content that will go across social if you're passionate about it, but really tailoring to what they care about and their end goals helps make it an easy yes. Because if it's budget for another head on the team, and they see it as directly able to help them reach those goals, then they're oftentimes a lot more susceptible to saying yes, because who wouldn't want to reach their goals a little bit faster? 

Brad Hammond: 19:28
Love that.

Ice Artificio: 19:29
That's pretty good. 

Brad Hammond: 19:31
Awesome. So as we're wrapping up here, what advice do you have for other content marketers out there looking to go through the same journey or maybe they're in the process of this, of scaling their own team?

Alissa Rogers: 19:40
Sure. I would say don't overthink it. I think that's another thing I see with a lot of teams is you feel like you have to create this perfect piece that checks all these boxes and really is the piece that you're proud of on the plan, taking you like 6 months when you think about it, of how long it will actually take or you're just constantly iterating. And something that we found is get it to good enough and put it out there and see what happens. 

The worst thing you can do is spend all this time and resources on this giant piece, and it doesn't feel great when nothing really happens after that. And then you're like, we just sunk all of our resources into this thing that we thought was the best. And so I'd say, start small. Just figure out these points of interest for your audience, what they care about. Start writing a couple of blogs, start posting around the topics, and you'll start to look at the data and see what's really working and then you can scale it up and really be able to create more content around it or more exciting content, more thought-out content.

It's really, I think, a lot of teams sometimes get stuck in the process of it of, well, what if we make it this whole big thing? Just start small. Put a web page out there. See how it starts to go, and you can always iterate from there. So I think that would be my biggest piece of advice. Don't overthink it. Let your teams get something out and then iterate from there.

Brad Hammond: 21:00
Love that. Well, Alissa, it's been amazing to have you on. Thanks so much for joining.

Alissa Rogers: 21:04
Yeah, thank you so much. 

Ice Artificio: 21:06
Thank you, Alissa.

Alissa Rogers: 21:07
Thank you, guys.