Source: Forbes 

In the 1990′s and early 2000′s, many businesses looked to SEO agencies to drive traffic to their site. While SEO companies still exist in the 2010′s, you’ve probably noticed that another type of agency has become even more prevalent: the content marketing agency.

While most companies know they need to create a steady stream of content to attract and retain customers, this can be a difficult feat for many. This is when they turn to content marketing companies to help.

If you’ve been considering starting your own content marketing business, this post is for you. I’ll outline some of the strategies that can help differentiate you from the other SEO, social media and content marketing companies you’ll be competing with.

1. Clearly define your niche

Content is everywhere. The latest research indicates that 88% of  B2B companies are now using content marketing; and this means the competition among content marketing agencies is fierce.

Fortunately, there’s a simple way to differentiate yourself from 90% of the competition. When you become known as a content marketing expert in your niche, you’ll find the competition much less severe. Instead of trying to become a generalist agency, drill down and focus on a single industry. Do you have experience or knowledge in a particular niche? Offer specialized content services to businesses in that field.

Believe it or not, specialized content marketing services are in demand even in “unsexy” niches like dentistry and construction. Instead of competing in an already-oversaturated market, these agencies offer content services specifically to businesses in their chosen field. This allows them to produce highly specialized, expert content that generalist agencies cannot. Greatest thing about them, you can work from anywhere.

2. Offer a range of services for every budget

Particularly when you’re just starting out, having a wide range of services is imperative. You’ll find some clients want to be very hands-on, and just need a little guidance with their content strategy. Other clients will want you to take complete charge of their content strategy, development and marketing.

Keep in mind that smaller companies may want to test the waters before investing in a more expensive package. For this reason, you may even want to create DIY packages so small businesses can take advantage of your expertise without a huge financial risk.

Some of the services you could consider offering include:

• Content creation and promotion
• Training of in-house content marketing staff
• Social media marketing
• Email marketing
• Web analytics setup and tracking
• Web design and SEO (some companies prefer to hire one agency to do it all)

3. Consider taking the consulting path

If you prefer strategy over the day-to-day tasks of content marketing, consulting may be the right choice for you. While most content marketing agencies tend to be more hands-on, consultants focus largely on giving recommendations, planning and strategizing.

Being a consultant will mean you don’t have to be involved in specific tasks related to content creation, promotion and distribution. Instead, you can advise companies on content marketing best practices, and on helping them create a strategy that will set them apart from their competitors.