by News Cred. You know great content when you see it—but the process of creating a high quality e-book or guide is easier said than done. The growing content marketing ecosystem has amplified demand for top writers. When you’re creating content and distributing at scale, you need all the great hands that you can find. And you need them fast. This guide will help you find great creative talent and build a structured brand newsroom to fill your content pipeline. Thanks for downloading, enjoy the read!

1. The
Ultimate Guide
to Branded
Content
© 2014 NewsCred NewsCred.com l (212) 989-4100 l sales@newscred.com

2. © 2014 NewsCred 2
Content marketing
is more than
great storytelling.
It’s a relationship-building tool that empowers
consumers to make educated and informed
decisions about your brand. It’s a way for
organizations to add value to their customers’
lives in a way that fuels happiness and
trust. It’s a powerful tool for generating
engagement, providing entertainment, and
inspiring brand affinity.
You know great content when you see it—but
the process of creating a high quality e-book
or guide is easier said than done. The growing
content marketing ecosystem has amplified
demand for top writers. When you’re creating
content and distributing at scale, you need all
the great hands that you can find. And you
need them fast.
This guide will help you master the art of:
» Crafting an operational framework
that grows with your company
» Cultivating a team of star freelancers
who are experts in their field
» Building a scalable brand newsroom that
can handle high-volume content
production with ease
» Pinpointing the right content software
and tools
» Measuring the ROI of your original and
licensed content

3. © 2014 NewsCred 3
Measuring Content Performance
Brand Journalism: Working With Freelancers
Yahoo! Tech’s “Original” Take on Solar-Powered Cars
How to Create a Brand Newsroom
Original Content & the Marketing Ecosystem
Table of Contents
01
02
03
04
05

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01 Original Content & the Marketing Ecosystem
Original Content
& the Marketing
Ecosystem.
It’s an understatement to say that content has
become the heart and soul of marketing. The
idea revolves around a fundamental trend
in consumer behavior — as Dell’s Rishi Dave
explained at the Content Marketing Summit
2013, today’s buyers are highly self-directed
and research-driven. By the time that they
reach out to your organization’s sales team,
they’ve likely made a decision about whether
or not to do business with your brand.
The end result of content marketing is clear
ROI for your business. When executed
correctly, content becomes a brand asset —
generating a steady stream of leads, sales,
and revenue. Evergreen content has an infinite
shelf-life. Unlike paid channel advertisements
or social media posts that lose relevancy within
a few seconds, content lives on the internet
forever and has the potential to generate leads
for years.
Write one amazing article, and it will appreciate
in value by gaining momentum through search
engine rankings and incremental exposure
through social channels — as audiences
discover great content, they’ll feel inclined to
share it for years to come.
The Content Marketing Institute recently
conducted a study about how B2B brands think
about content marketing. It’s no surprise that:
» 93 percent of marketers use content
marketing.
» Brands are 36 percent more confident about
the ROI on content marketing in 2013 than
they were in 2012.
» 58 percent of content marketers plan to
increase their budgets to create more
content over the next year.
» 73 percent of marketers were producing
more content at the end of 2013 than they
were the year prior.

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Yahoo! Tech’s “Original”
Take on Solar-Powered Cars
Yahoo uses a mix of original content to power its new
technology thought leadership portal, Yahoo! Tech. In
addition to original content, Yahoo is leveraging the
power of sponsored content to fill its content pipeline
and engage new audiences.
Yahoo worked with Ford and NewsCred’s NewsRoom
writer James Raia to publish an original piece covering
the intersection of the technology and automotive
industries. By leveraging Raia’s experience as a
syndicated automotive writer, Yahoo! Tech published a
special on solar-powered cars, which showcases both
the Ford and Yahoo brands.
01 Original Content & the Marketing Ecosystem

6. Creating Content for
Audiences: Quality a Must
Content creation is a major pain point for many
brands. Organizations will frequently delegate
writing tasks to entry-level employees or team
members who aren’t professional writers.
Businesses think that they are making a wise,
cost-effective decision.
But here’s the thing. You wouldn’t hire a lawyer
to be your engineer, and you wouldn’t hire
an engineer to be your CPA. Writing, just like
any discipline, is a specialty that requires both
talent and genuine interest. Audiences, on a
sometimes subliminal level, can easily tell the
difference between great writing, mediocre
writing, and terrible writing.
Great content can help your brand
accomplish the following goals:
1. Tell a unique and compelling story
2. Demonstrate subject matter expertise
3. Entertain and educate audiences at scale
Hiring an intern just isn’t going to cut it. In a
few years, these star performers may become
amazing writers, but when they’re just starting
out, they’re not going to have the subject
matter expertise that your brand’s audiences
crave. Paying an overseas content creator
$10 a blog post isn’t going to cut it either.
Forcing your data crunchers to take time out
of their days to blog definitely won’t cut it, and
will only present a distraction from core job
responsibilities.
When it comes to content creation, quality
is a must. Online audiences are bombarded
with information — and the competition for
consumer eyeballs is fierce. Studies on web
use have shown that humans have an attention
span of about eight seconds. A pet goldfish? Its
attention span is approximately nine seconds.
To stand out, inspire audiences, and add
value for your brand, your content needs to be
awesome. “Good enough” won’t be enough.
By creating lackluster content — for the sake
of creating a high volume of content — brands
actually waste money. Create amazing content,
however, and your brand will lay the foundation
for a high-value lead pipeline.
Where Original Content Fits In
Brands have several options for creating
original content. The three of the most
common methods are shown on the next page.
High-performing content strategies require
a mix of licensed, community curated, and
original content. Licensed content provides a
powerful way to connect audiences with high
quality information at scale and in real-time.
Contributed community content provides an
opportunity for your brand’s best advocates to
share their unique and authentic perspectives.
Original content will take your marketing
to the next level. By creating an asset that
doesn’t exist anywhere else on the web,
you’ll distinguish your brand as a thought
leader. Not to mention, you’ll develop instant
credibility, new audiences, and advocates
by working with writers who are established
industry experts.
01 Original Content & the Marketing Ecosystem
© 2014 NewsCred 6
Attention span of
a human? 8 seconds.
A goldfish? 9 seconds.

7. © 2014 NewsCred 7
StrengthsType of Content Drawbacks Where NewsCred Fits In
License
content from
publishers
Ask your
community
(customers,
influencers,
employees)
for article
submissions
1. High value content from top
publishers is readily available, at
scale, for virtually any topic
2. Highly cost effective
3. Vetted content that has
undergone multiple layers of editorial
review
4. Some of the best content that you’ll
find on the Internet -- that already
has a track record for audience
engagement
1. Extremely low-cost content channel
— it’s usually free
2. Employees are typically available
and enthusiastic about helping
3. In-house content can help build a
passionate brand culture
4. Builds engagement with existing
stakeholders
5. Some contributed articles may
be extremely compelling and high
quality
1. The brand owns the rights to republish licensed
content but doesn’t own the content outright
2. Brands have to renew licensing on a semi-
regular basis, even for evergreen content
3. Brands cannot directly incorporate their own
thought leadership and voice into the content
that they’re licensing
1. NewsCred offers content from more
than 4,000 premium, licensed sources
2. NewsCred provides access to millions
of full-text articles, images, and video
3. NewsCred ensures that content is
safe and legally compliant for licensing
purposes
1. Content quality and pipeline are extremely
unreliable
2. Brands have limited control over editorial
direction
3. Brands may need to tell their audiences “no”
to publishing a piece of content (which is likely to
upset them)
4. ROI is typically limited from articles that aren’t
professionally created
5. Editorial queues can be extremely challenging
to plan
6. Employees may be distracted from their core
strengths and everyday responsibilities when
tasked with creating blog
1. NewsCred has developed a
library of resources that explains
how to incorporate community
engagement into a holistic content
strategy
01 Original Content & the Marketing Ecosystem
* Continued on next page

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StrengthsType of Content Drawbacks Where NewsCred Fits In
01 Original Content & the Marketing Ecosystem
Create original
content
1. Requires dedicated resources and strategic
planning
2. Workflow can take time to fully develop
3. The process of sourcing writers can be a
challenge (they’re typically paid extremely well
and high in demand)
1. NewsCred is the resource on content
marketing, and we’ve vetted and found the
best freelancers for your original content.
The best freelancers work with us because
we don’t take any fee on content - every
dollar you spend on original articles goes
directly to your freelance team. As the
world’s leading content marketing platform,
we’ve also partnered with some of the best
content producers in the world, including
Getty Images and Visually.
2. Additionally, our platform makes it easy
for you to manage your team of writers and
create real relationships with them. They
become an extension of your team and
brand.
3. Finally, freelancers love us. That’s
why we have the best. We’re taking care
of the difficult stuff like invoicing, tax
documentation, and payment processing.
You never have to worry about getting your
Accounts Payable department to pay your
freelancers - we take care of that for you.
4. NewsCred’s Content Marketing Cloud
provides tools for brands looking to source
writers, build workflows, and measure ROI
1. You will tap into the expertise of established,
high-demand content creators
2. You will have an inventory of dedicated,
branded content from writers with established
track records for inspiring audience engagement
3. These are professionals who know how to
integrate your brand perspective in all freelanced
content
4. Freelancers can help your organization build a
content production engine to create high-quality
pieces at scale
5. Technology is available to help streamline the
content production process
6. Freelancers are often influential, and are happy
to share your brand’s content with their own
networks

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02 Working with Freelancers
Working
with Freelancers.
When we think of freelancers, several
stereotypes come to mind:
1. They’re constantly hungry
(and desperate) for any work
2. They couldn’t cut it in the real world
3. They’re not invested in your brand,
and won’t take the time to understand
your goals
4. Their core talents are writing
and writing only
Marketing leaders who buy into these
stereotypes will face a shocking surprise.
Freelancers are in demand and are often
paid extremely well -- some earn more than
$1,000 per blog post. These professionals
left the workforce because they are subject
matter experts. They’re constantly recruited
for full-time roles, but will frequently turn
these opportunities down. They’re extremely
hardworking, client-focused professionals who
chose self-employment as a path to becoming
leaders at what they do.
When it comes to content marketing, your
freelance contributors will become invaluable
business partners. They’ll help you cultivate
your brand’s strategy and share insights about
what they’re seeing -- every day -- on the
playing field.
It’s in your company’s best interest to treat
these business partners with ultimate respect.
If you want great content, you need to pay
your writers well. You need to woo your writers
and build a strong rapport with them, because
ultimately, the demand for high quality content
is higher than it has ever been. Skilled content
creators know that clients (and amazing
opportunities) will always be there.

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Why Top Content Creators
Are Tough To Wrangle
Marketing managers may think that recruiting
freelancers is as easy as reaching out to
writers by email or through LinkedIn. You may
be surprised that this process is much tougher
and more time consuming than you think.
Freelancers are small business owners who
are responsible for all business operations
ranging from sales to accounting and client
services. In other words, they’re unbelievably
busy. They book their services several months
in advance, and they’re spending their days
doing more than just writing. They’re highly
focused on finding steady, high-quality work.
By building a reliable stream of revenue
with a client, freelancers can minimize the
administration necessary to manage their
customer relationships.
Brands can attract top freelancers by offering
competitive rates, being organized, and
communicating upcoming business plans.
Focus on building relationships, and get to
know your freelancers on an individual level.
The more you integrate them with your team,
the more empowered they will be to do great
work for your brand. Not to mention, you’ll have
consistent access to talented, subject matter
experts who will jump to work with you.
Brands also need to be strategic about their
recruiting. Freelancers have varying interests,
skill sets, and areas of expertise. If you’re
looking for a technology writer, make sure
that you’re recruiting for the right background.
Request to see their portfolio, and check if
they’ve freelanced for notable brands. The
more you can rely on your writers’ expertise,
the easier your job will be as a marketer, brand
editor, or program manager.
02 Working with Freelancers

11. © 2014 NewsCred 11
10 Best Practices to Embrace
Your freelancers have the potential to be
invaluable business partners for your brand.
Successful brand editors are skilled team
leaders who take the time to a) get to know
their freelancers on an individual level and
b) cultivate great ideas from their contributor
networks. Follow these ten best practices to
build the strongest relationship possible.
1. Share your brand strategy,
editorial guidelines, and goals
Content marketing is strategy-driven.
Your freelancers will be well-positioned to
deliver great content when they can wholly
understand the goals behind your marketing
campaign. The more they understand your
brand’s needs, the more empowered they’ll be
to recommend ideas and insights as well.
2. Work with a consistent team of
freelancers
Your freelancers are in it for the long haul.
They care about your brand and want to help
you succeed. These relationships take time to
fully cultivate. A consistent team of freelancers
will take the time to learn and care about your
company’s marketing goals.
3. Assess your freelancers’
strengths and passions
Top freelancers are in tune with their skillsets.
Give them the flexibility to create what makes
them passionate. This enthusiasm will take a
project from ‘good’ to ‘amazing.’
4. Pay freelancers immediately
Every freelancer -- at some point -- has
been burned by non-paying clients. Paying
freelancers immediately is invaluable for
building trust. While your freelancers may not
be starving, they are likely wondering whether
they’ll get paid. Independent contractors
don’t have the same legal safety nets of a big
brand. Paying freelancers upon submission
is a powerful sign that your brand values the
business relationship.
5. Set expectations
Failed business relationships are, more often
than not, the result of one major pain point:
failed communication. Brands need to keep
the dialogue open with freelancers. Let
them know ahead of time how much (and
when) they’ll be compensated, how well-
researched a piece needs to be, as well as the
formatting requirements and number of editing
cycles expected of the freelancer. Setting
expectations ahead of time will save time by
minimizing the revision process. If you fail to
plan, you are planning to fail.
6. Make freelancers a part of your
marketing team
Be as transparent as possible. Share planning
documents, editorial calendars, and content
performance. Freelancers work with multiple
clients and are valuable consultants for your
brand. They’re on your site and want to help
your company reach key performance goals.
7. Let them know how their work
performs
Freelancers care about your company and
will do everything in their power to help
your marketing initiatives succeed. Like you,
they are excited to test new ideas and add
maximum value with their work.
02 Working with Freelancers

12. © 2014 NewsCred 12
8. Provide constructive feedback
Not happy? Talk to your freelancers about it.
They’re human and open to learning. Work
together, grow together, and strive to improve
as a team. Your freelancers appreciate the
feedback and are always striving to become
better in their work.
9. Give freelancers beats and areas
of focus
Trusted freelancers can be given “beats,” much
like a newsroom, or other areas of creative
specialty. Trust your team to pitch stories in
their areas of interest and expertise. These
beats will make a brand editor’s job much
easier -- spend more time optimizing your
marketing program and less time brainstorming
ideas to write about.
10. Give credit to your freelancers
Your freelancers are proud of their work.
They’re excited to share bylined pieces with
their social media communities and other
clients. Freelancers depend on their track
records to secure new business and evolve
in their careers. Give credit by giving them
bylines and providing great testimonials.
Remember that a simple ‘thank you’ can
amplify the success of a business relationship.
02 Working with Freelancers

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03 Logistics
Logistics.
A successful content program requires both
right-brained and left-brained planning.
Success requires structure, which is easier said
than done. Many brand editors will manage
their freelancer relationships over the phone or
by email. That works if you’re managing three
freelancers. But when you’re working with 10
or 20? Back and forth communication becomes
a mess. Word documents will quickly become
your arch nemesis.
Remember that time is finite. You need to
spend your time brainstorming amazing
content and empowering writers to produce
great work. If you waste time chasing down
back-and-forth emails in your inbox, your
content program will suffer.
The breakdown of how today’s brand’s are
managing content programs is on the next
page.

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ProsMethod Cons
Excel
Spreadsheets
and Word
Docs
Google Docs
Editorial
Calendars
Content
Marketing
Software
1. Resources are easy to share with multiple writers and editors
2. Collaboration is possible in real-time
3. Cloud-based workflows are available from anywhere
4. Documents can be fully customized for a brand’s specific workflow
5. Drafts of all revisions are readily available and easy to access
6. Free
1. Workflows available offline
2. Completely customizable
3. Relatively inexpensive
4. Software is already available and widely used
within most organizations
5. Includes tracking history for edits
1. Limited automation, spreadsheets need to be
consistently updated
2. Customizations are limited to software features
3. Excel and Word were not designed for collaboration
with freelancers
4. Disconnected from payment systems -- payroll
needs to be managed separately
5. Track changes can quickly become a nightmare
6. Revisions can get lost
7. Integration with analytics resources is nearly
impossible without engineering resources
1. Google docs need to be updated manually
2. Workflows need to be built from the ground up, and
tracking spreadsheets require constant updates
3. Payment systems are disconnected
4. Google docs as a tracking system is impossible to
scale to accommodate multiple projects or just a few
writers
5. Virtually no automation
1. Plan your entire content marketing program
2. Commission the world’s best writers, designers,
and creatives from an exclusive network
3. Manage content teams of any size
4. Ideal solution for high-volume brand newsrooms
5. Designed specifically for content marketers with full
integration support for payments and analytics
6. Manage freelancers and content production from one central platform
7. License content from top tier publishers and niche industry publications
8. Integrate with all of your company’s brand publishing tools —
including social media accounts
1. Price may be too high for some content marketers
1. Limited integration features for payment systems
2. Few are designed with automation, analytics, and
performance in mind
3. Many editorial calendars are hosted on open source
WordPress platforms
4. Limited support features
5. Do not support workflows with multiple team
members
1. Manage content creation, editorial calendars, writer
assignments, and drafts in one place
2. Solutions are designed for planning
03 Logistics

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Creating a Brand Newsroom
Measuring Success: Key
Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Brand newsrooms are foundational to an
organization’s publishing efforts. Typically
these roles include a mix of strategists, editors,
writers, fact-checkers, analysts, strategists,
editors, writers, fact-checkers, analysts, and
freelancers. These roles require well-defined
workflows and feedback loops between
production, engineering, and analytical teams.
A mismanaged team leaves significant room
for error -- without the right tools and systems
in place, chaos will ensue. It’s easy to lose
track of content, misinterpret data, or overlook
crucial metrics for performance measurement.
That’s why software is such an invaluable
part of your company’s content strategy --
organizations with streamlined workflows are
in the best position to developing creative,
compelling, and growth-focused marketing
strategies.
Success in content marketing doesn’t happen
overnight. Content programs require testing,
iteration, and refinement. In other words -- test,
learn, measure, repeat.
Content marketing KPIs are a direct reflection
of your company’s conversion funnel. Metrics
should track a lead’s movement through the
funnel by answering the following questions:
» How effective is your content in exposing
new prospects to your brand?
» How effective is your content in building
interest and engagement with your brand?
» To what extent does your content inspire
customers to do business with you?
» Overall, how effective is your content
strategy in driving revenue?
Original and licensed content can all be
measured against these same benchmarks.
Organizations can choose to measure
success on a campaign, article, or writer-level.
Look for trends, identify opportunities, and
craft a story around your storytelling.
03 Logistics

16. © 2014 NewsCred 16
ConceptGoal Metrics
Reach, Brand
Awareness,
and Virality
Loyalty &
Engagement
Leads
Opportunity &
Mobility
Revenue
Do your customers trust you, and do they see you as a reliable
source of information? Are they sharing your content with their
networks? Are they valuing your brand’s content over your
competitors’ content?
Are you effectively boosting awareness about your brand? Is your
marketing generating an echo effect that inspires audiences to
share your content organically?
1. Growth in overall traffic to website across multiple
channels including email, SEO, and social media
2. Growth in traffic to blog, videos, e-books and other
resources across multiple channels including email,
SEO, and social media
3. Time spent on individual pieces of content
4. Pages consumed per visit
5. Backlinks to content
1. Return visits
2. Social media shares across channels including
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Pinterest
3. Subscriber count
Are prospects converting into customers? Are you connecting
with new audiences, or strengthening relationships with existing
customers? Where do you lose your leads?
What is the overall efficacy of your content program?
1. Proportion of consumers who make their
way to the next stage of the conversion funnel
2. Conversely, % drop-off
1. Deals closed
2. Monthly recurring revenue
3. Long-term value of all customers
4. Long-term value as a proportion of
customer acquisition cost
1. Subscriber count
2. Aggregate growth of leads
3. Visits to “contact us” page from articles,
videos, or webinars
Are your audiences interested in doing business with you? Is your
content successfully pulling your audience through the sales funnel?
03 Logistics
Metrics like brand awareness, page impressions, and search rankings need to sync up with bottom-line
concepts like costs, revenue, profits, and pipeline. The following framework will help you connect the dots:

17. © 2014 NewsCred 17
Creating great content is only half the battle. You need
the right software that can evolve and grow with your
organization — and you can’t waste time by relying on
disparate sources for freelancer recruitment, editorial
management, and analytics.
Your brand newsroom has the potential to be a powerful
revenue source for your business. This type of operation will
need to balance left-brain and right-brain power. With the
right software, analytical framework, content creators, and
marketing goals, your brand will shine.
NewsCred designed the Content Marketing Cloud to be the
brand marketer’s most comprehensive, go-to tool. With the
Content Marketing Cloud, you can streamline the chaos of
content marketing while getting the world’s best original
content paired with the largest marketplace for licensed
content.
Conclusion.

18. © 2014 NewsCred NewsCred.com l (212) 989-4100 l sales@newscred.com