This post originally appeared on the Salesforce Marketing Cloud blog

Agencies can and should play a role in content marketing, according to the panel.

Advertising and PR can play a strong role in effective content marketing. In a Social Content Summit panel titled, "Agencies Meet the Content Challenge," Keith O'Brien, Director of Social Activations at Horizon Media, Chris Perry, President of Digital Communications at Weber Shandwick and Jonathan Sackett, Former Managing Director of Content for North America at Ogilvy discussed the role of the advertising and PR agency in content marketing.

Here are 10 tips from that session.

1. All brands must approach content creation as always on. Don't settle for a limited production schedule during the week.

2. Follow this pattern when it comes to content creation: Listen, speak, create, post, amplify.

3. Plan out your distribution strategy from the get-go. Lots of brands rush into the content game and then realize that you have to have a way to distribute it.

4. Take the time to think about what content you are going to publish. A content calendar will help.

5. Creating great content is half of the battle. Publisher outreach is the other half. Share innovative content with like-minded publishers on social media.

6. Paid media: amplify the content that is outperforming organic expectations by purchasing paid media around it.

7. Reach out to bloggers as part as your distribution strategy to gain additional eyeballs.

8. If you're going to tell a story, listen first.

9. Contextualize your content. Determine your audience's needs and craft your content around them.

10. Consider how agencies can help with your content production workflow. Responsibilities could include content production, community outreach, publisher/blogger outreach, content optimization, SEO optimization, and content analysis. Set clear expectations so that everyone is on the same page.

Has your brand worked with an agency on content marketing? If so, in what way?

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