What to Look for in a White-Label Marketing Agency

Want to generate high-quality content for your digital marketing campaigns without enduring the headaches associated with building an in-house team of writers and editors? You may want to consider working with a white-label marketing agency. 

White-label marketing agencies are all the rage these days, and for good reason. A talented group can provide you with all the content you need to connect with quality leads, climb the organic search rankings, and stand out from the competition.

That said, not all white-label marketing agencies are created equal. If you choose the wrong partner to create your content, you’ll wish you had just published that in-house copywriter position on your “Careers” page.

Fortunately, it’s possible to make the most of your marketing dollars and connect with a premier white-label marketing agency — provided you know which attributes to look for.

With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at what these producers of custom content do, how their services work, and, most importantly, what “must-haves” a white-label agency should possess. 

What Is a White-Label Marketing Agency?

A white-label marketing agency is a collective of marketing specialists that produce branded content for the agency’s clients.

The agency creates the content, and the client retains all rights to it. Once the requested materials are delivered, the client applies their brand and company name and publishes the content on their own website or a third-party platform. 

As you can imagine, white-label marketing services are incredibly appealing to in-house teams that lack the resources or talent necessary to keep up with content demands. 

Generally speaking, business decision-makers view these services favorably as well. Why wouldn’t they? Ordering white-label content is a great way to generate copy “on demand” without incurring the costs associated with maintaining a sizable team of writers, editors, and strategists. 

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How Does White-Label Marketing Work?

White-label marketing is a straightforward process.

First, you hire a white-label marketing agency and place a content order. Then, their professionals generate the commissioned content and deliver it to your internal team. 

Upon receipt of the copy (or other marketing materials), your staff reviews it to ensure that it matches your brand voice. Lastly, you apply your company name and logo and publish it for the world to see.

The term “white label” originated in the tangible product space. White-label products are goods manufactured by one entity and branded and sold by another. The same basic premise applies to white-label marketing.

Although you and your team don’t create the content, you have the rights to it. As such, you can publish it where you choose, make modifications as needed, and incorporate it into your marketing strategy to support your business goals. 

9 Must Haves in a White-Label Marketing Agency

The digital marketing space is currently experiencing unprecedented growth and is expected to reach $1.5 trillion by 2030. This rapid growth has prompted the creation of hundreds of white-label marketing agencies, which is why finding the ideal partner for your business can be tough.

When vetting prospective providers, make sure the white-label marketing agency you’re considering working with can provide the following advantages.

1. Confidentiality

Often, white-label marketing agencies are given access to important internal documents, such as unreleased product specifications, news of upcoming business initiatives, etc.

If this information was somehow leaked early, it could make the content you ordered irrelevant. Depending on the nature of the documents, a leak could even undermine your competitiveness.

As such, it’s important to ask prospective partners about their confidentiality practices. For instance, do they require their staff to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs)? Taking this extra step to protect your documents and other business information indicates that the agency values your privacy. 

1. Relevant Expertise

Some white-label marketing agencies specialize in creating content for a few select verticals. Others have incredibly diverse teams of writers and content creators that can meet the needs of virtually any client.

While you don’t necessarily need to hire the latter, you do need to ensure that the agency you partner with has writers that know your industry inside and out.

When interviewing a potential content producer, find out whether they’ve worked with clients in your industry in the past. If so, ask if they can provide samples or reference links. Reviewing their work can help you decide whether they’re an appropriate partner for you.

1. Results-Oriented Service

While no white-label agency can guarantee results, client-oriented groups will go above and beyond to deliver for your business.

For instance, they’ll want you to provide feedback about how past pieces performed so they can optimize future content. Additionally, they’ll be receptive to criticism from your team and be willing to rework in-progress pieces to better align with your brand’s goals.

You can determine whether a partner offers such thoroughness during your initial consultation. To do so, ask targeted questions like, “Will I be assigned a designated account manager to work with” and, “What is your process for correcting and optimizing content orders?” 

1. Broad Support

Blogs are perhaps the most popular form of white-label content, but they represent only one type of marketing copy, albeit an important one. To get the most value out of your white-label partnership, you’ll want to ensure that your agency can produce a broad range of copy, such as:

• Landing pages
• Service pages
• Blogs
• Whitepapers
• Social media content
• FAQs pages
• Infographics

While you’re at it, make sure they’re comfortable producing email copy. The return on investment (ROI) for email marketing is approximately 3,600%. Finding a partner that can support your email marketing efforts can help you tap into this exceptional ROI.

1. Responsiveness

Marketing campaigns are typically planned out months in advance. But what if you decide to add a last-minute blog to your latest content series?

See if your prospective marketing partner can accommodate rush requests. If so, ask what the extra fee will be. A good agency will charge an add-on fee for last-minute orders, but they’ll also be able to meet tight deadlines while delivering exceptional content.

1. Social Proof 

What better way to vet a partner than to actually read their content and peruse customer reviews?

If you really want to learn more about a particular agency and its team’s capabilities, read their content samples. We recommend going over several samples to ensure that they can match a variety of tones and accurately reflect the spirit of your brand.

Next, check out any available customer reviews. Doing so will give you a better idea of what it might be like to work with the agency and prepare you for any potential issues you may encounter. Make it a point to pull up reviews from all across the internet, not just on the agency’s website.

1. Transparency 

Is the agency up front about pricing, deadlines, and their processes? If so, they’ll probably be easy to work with. If not, you may be better off going with another group.

Working with a transparent agency also makes it easy to formulate — and stick to — a marketing budget. When you know exactly what it will cost to generate copy, you can begin exploring other opportunities to put those marketing dollars to use.

1. Flexibility

The ideal marketing partner for your business is one that exhibits flexibility and agility. In other words, they’ll be able to adapt to changing order volumes and keep the content flowing.

Additionally, they’ll always stay apprised of the latest trends, best practices, and algorithmic updates that could impact content performance. They’ll apply these principles when crafting your content to ensure that it exceeds your expectations and helps you meet your target business goals.

1. Talent

Millions of blogs are published every single day. If you want your content to stand out and get noticed, you need a white-label marketing agency with world-class talent.

The best agencies will employ versatile wordsmiths who know how to turn a phrase, captivate audiences, and strategically incorporate relevant keywords into your copy. They’ll support their writers with detail-oriented editors that can polish your content and prepare it for publishing.

Starting Your Search for a White-Label Marketing Agency

Finding the right white-label marketing agency for your business doesn’t have to be complicated. To accelerate your search, make sure any prospective partners possess the attributes on our “must-haves” checklist before you commit.

Want to ensure that the agency can meet your needs? You always have the option of ordering a test piece. If the content they deliver wows you and your marketing team, congratulations — you’ve found your new marketing partner!