The B2B agency that hired a content coordinator - and finally shipped on cadence
A 22-person B2B marketing agency ran content for six clients. Every client contract promised weekly publishing. In practice, three of six were 4+ weeks behind, and the head of content spent half her week chasing writers, editing rush drafts, and apologising to clients.
No editorial calendar. Briefs went out inconsistently. Writers were freelance and often overcommitted. Approval loops with clients took 5–9 days. Publishing slipped, then slipped again - and clients started asking questions.
Hired a content coordinator at £34K, remote. Not a writer, not an editor - a coordinator. Someone who owns the calendar, the briefs, and the approval loop.
First 90 days
- Week 1–2
Editorial calendars built for all 6 clients - 12 weeks out. Brief template standardised (one page: audience, angle, keywords, examples).
- Week 3–4
Writer roster consolidated. Availability tracked weekly. Client approval SLAs agreed (48 hours max).
- Week 5–8
First on-cadence month across all 6 clients. Editing time drops 40% because briefs are clearer.
- Week 9–13
Two additional clients onboarded to the same system. Head of content back to strategy work, not fire-fighting.
Outcomes (benchmark-based)
Before vs after
| Metric | Before | After | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|
| Head-of-content firefighting time | 22 hrs/week | 6 hrs/week | -16 hrs/week |
| Client cadence adherence | 50% | 100% | +50 pts |
| Approval turnaround | 5–9 days | 48 hours | -70% |
% of clients hitting weekly publishing cadence
% of client roster on-cadence
Stack used in this story
Honest trade-offs
How I'd run this for you
Content coordination and creative operations support is part of my scope - brief writing, calendar management, writer coordination, client approvals. Not the writing itself; the operational rhythm around the writing.
- Editorial calendars, brief templates, and writer coordination - the coordinator layer without a full-time hire.
- Client approval loops with agreed SLAs - 48-hour turnarounds, not 5-day drift.
- Weekly publishing status reports so leadership sees cadence at a glance.
FAQs
Is this a real agency?
No - composite story. Publishing-cadence figures reflect typical agency operations before and after documented editorial workflows.
Do you write the content too?
No - I coordinate the operation. Writing stays with your writers. My scope is briefs, calendars, approvals, and reporting.
Can you run this alongside our existing head of content?
That's the ideal setup - head of content stays strategic, I run the operational layer. Same model as sales-ops sitting under a sales manager.
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Your situation isn't this exact story - let's map yours
30-minute diagnostic call. I'll tell you whether the fix is a hire, a fractional operator, or a small workflow change - and give you the honest math either way.