Content is king, it's unlikely to be dethroned any time soon. It's simply too effective to reach new audiences and engage with potential clients. While no one questions content's power as a marketing tool, creating, finding or curating material can pose unique challenges. Sourcing the images and video needed to support all that content marketing and advertising brings its own costs and potential risks.
Take it from a content creator: It's both expensive and time-consuming to produce your own pieces. Curating the right type of content for your business initiatives can take nearly as much time -- and, if you're not careful, end up being just as expensive. If you're not sure what you need or where to to look, you're virtually guaranteed to expend too many resources in the pursuit.
To be clear, I'm not referring to content that's readily sharable on Facebook, Instagram or other social-media platforms. I'm focused on the imagery and video needed for company emails, websites, brochures and other collateral materials. How can you source the right type of content that's cohesive with your brand and your initiatives? Do you need to create your own, or should you license stock imagery? These all are valid questions to consider as you craft campaign pieces with a purpose.
Think of the overview that follows as a primer to help demystify the options. I've outlined three tiers of content, organized by price. Each includes a list of pros and cons to assist in your decision-making. Remember: You don't have to adhere to just one tier. You can combine categories to suit your specific needs and market your brand in the most effective way.
