What the best LinkedIn content agencies do differently

Sell in Public → B2B LinkedIn content agency → LinkedIn content agencies

The scorecard

The first six rows cover how an agency makes content; the last two cover how it treats you as a buyer, and no agency wins those by default.

Use the scorecard on your intro calls with agencies. Most will say they do everything listed, so the "Ask them" questions matter most.

How to score an agency

Give each row 0, 1 or 2 points:

• 2: they described the practice before you asked and explained how it runs week to week.
• 1: they do it, but only came up with details when you pushed.
• 0: they don't do it, or the answer was vague.

That gives a score out of 16. Treat a 0 on voice, measurement or exit terms as a serious concern, whatever the total. Those three are the hardest to fix once you've signed.

The content practices, in more detail

1. Ideas come from your business

Generic posts are easy to produce and easy to ignore. The best agencies treat your company as the source. Sales calls show which questions buyers ask. Customer stories show what changed for someone. Lost deals show where your pitch falls short. Arguments inside your leadership team often make the most interesting posts of all.

A good agency asks for access to that material early. If an agency proposes a content calendar before it has heard any of it, the calendar came from somewhere else.

2. Each person sounds like themselves

Voice is learned, mostly by listening. Good agencies interview each person, study their past writing, voice notes and emails, and pay close attention to edits. When someone keeps changing "customers" to "teams" or deletes every exclamation mark, that becomes a rule.

You'll know it's working when people stop rewriting drafts and start making small cuts instead. If your head of engineering's posts read like your CEO's, the agency is writing in its own voice.

3. People stay in the comments

Comments are where conversations with buyers happen. The best agencies reply to commenters thoughtfully and leave useful comments on posts by prospects and peers, written by someone who has read the post. Engagement pods (groups that like and comment on each other's posts on request) and auto-generated comments inflate the numbers and put off the very people you want to reach.

4. Sales hears what content is picking up

A content agency sees things your sales team doesn't: which prospects keep reacting, who sent a thoughtful DM, which competitor's posts your buyers are engaging with. The best ones pass that along quickly. In the other direction, sales tells the writers which objections came up this week, and next week's posts answer them.

5. Measurement is honest

Impressions and followers are easy to count and hard to connect to revenue. Better measures are tracked links, deals in your CRM that a post touched, and what buyers say on calls ("I've been following your CTO's posts about migrations"). Be wary of any report that credits content with every deal.

6. Several voices stay distinct

Once more than one person posts, coordination matters. The best agencies keep one plan across the team so the founder, a sales leader and a product manager cover different ground. They handle approvals person by person, so nobody waits on anybody else.

The customer-side rows

Price you can see. Some agencies publish a price list. Others quote after a call. Either can be fine, but a quote should list exactly what's included: how many people, how many posts, whether comments, design and reporting are in the fee. If you can't compare two quotes line by line, ask until you can.

Terms if you leave. Read the notice period and the minimum term before you sign. Ask what you get back if you stop: drafts in progress, the content calendar, any interview notes, and the removal of any access you granted to your profiles.

Using the scorecard well

• Ask for process examples instead of client names. Many ghostwriting clients keep their arrangement private. An agency can still walk you through how a recent month worked, with names removed. Sell in Public doesn't publish client names either, so ask it for the same walkthrough.
• Score right after each call. Impressions blur when three agencies give similar pitches.
• Have your head of sales sit in on one call. They'll notice quickly whether the agency understands how your deals get done.