Last updated on December 4th, 2023
Table of Contents
The content marketing industry is expected to reach $72 billion in 2023 and $107 billion by 2026. And why not? Content marketing generates thrice the leads as traditional marketing while costing 62% less.
With these statistics, it is clear why companies value this revolutionary approach. However, did you know that many organizations prefer to outsource their content marketing? In fact, 57% of B2B of top-performing content marketers outsource content marketing.
This statistic should come as no surprise because outsourcing has many benefits you shouldn’t miss out on.
That’s why we have compiled five easy steps to outsource content marketing and presented an overview of its benefits.
But first, let us clarify the usual confusion: the difference between outsourcing content marketing and outsourcing content creation.
Outsource Content Marketing vs. Outsourcing Content Creation
Let us assume you run a small online clothing store, and you want to promote it online. Here are two possible scenarios:
Scenario 1: You hire a freelance writer to write high-quality product descriptions for your new clothing line.
Scenario 2: You hire a freelancer or an agency to develop a more comprehensive strategy to attract customers. You ask them to define your target audience, develop a content strategy, and use analytics tools to check performance.
Notice the difference? The first scenario is an example of outsourcing content creation, while the second is an example of outsourcing content marketing.
Here is a more comprehensive difference between the two:
| Outsourcing Content Marketing | Outsourcing Content Creation |
| Outsourcing content marketing involves entrusting an external team with developing, executing, and managing all aspects of your content strategy. | Outsourcing content creation focuses explicitly on generating the actual content, such as blogs, videos, social media posts, and infographics. |
| Content marketing agencies specialise in developing strategic plans tailored to your business objectives. They provide valuable insights, market research, and industry knowledge. | Content marketing agencies specialize in developing strategic plans tailored to your business objectives. They provide valuable insights, market research, and industry knowledge. |
| Outsourcing content marketing is typically a long-term partnership. | This can be short-term, project-based, or long-term. |
| It allows you to use the expertise and resources of an experienced team without hiring experts internally. | You can use the skills of experienced content writers, designers, or videomakers. |
| Outsourcing content marketing ensures you get a consistent flow of high-quality content and your brand’s voice and style are maintained across all platforms. | Content creators help create individual pieces of content (sometimes more) while maintaining a consistent tone and style. |
| Due to its broad scope, it is more expensive than outsourcing content creation. | It is less expensive than outsourcing content marketing. |
Tired of spending hours on content creation?
Outsource your content writing to Wittypen and free up your time to focus on other important tasks.
We’ll deliver high-quality content that meets your specific needs and requirements.
Why Outsource Content Marketing?
Outsourcing content marketing has many benefits, including but not limited to reduced costs. Wondering how?
If you were to create an in-house team of content marketers, you would have to pay their salaries, office expenses, taxes, recruitment costs, etc. You will also have to invest in the required marketing tools and software to ensure your content marketing is up to the mark.
By outsourcing content marketing, you do not have to worry about any of these costs. You can find an agency according to your budget and save time.
Additionally, a written content strategy yields better results. However, developing a strategy is no easy task. It requires experience, expertise, and a sound understanding of the industry, which is perhaps why only 40% of B2B marketers have documented strategy. Outsourcing gives you access to the expert knowledge and perspective of seasoned marketers.
Let us explore more benefits of outsourcing content marketing in the next section.
Top 10 Benefits of Outsourcing Content
Outsourcing content marketing has many benefits, from a fresh perspective to improving content visibility.
1. You Will Get an Expert Opinion
Austrian-American consultant and educator Peter Drucker said, “Do what you do best and outsource the rest.”
You’re best at managing your business’s core needs and services. So why juggle countless tasks when you can channel your expertise into what you excel at while allowing content marketing specialists to manage your marketing needs?
Outsourcing content marketing allows you to access a wider talent pool and get expert inputs from experienced marketers. They will ensure your content strategy represents your unique brand tone and style.
Moreover, they will employ subject matter experts to create your content, ensuring you achieve your goals while creating a lasting impression in your customers’ eyes.
2. It Is Cost-Effective
Did you know that 70% of companies outsource to cut costs? Outsourcing content marketing can reduce your expenses significantly.
As mentioned previously, creating an in-house marketing team requires significant costs, from initial recruitment (which can be as high as $4,425 per employee) to investment in tools. Moreover, you must consistently publish high-quality content to maintain a social media presence. And creating high-quality content takes a fair bit of time and money.
However, you can save these costs and more by outsourcing your marketing. You can eliminate all hidden costs associated with onboarding new employees, training, and other overheads. You simply have to pay the experts to do their magic.
3. Achieve Better Results
Outsourcing content marketing can be a game-changer for your business. You may ask, how? Here’s how it can help you achieve better results:
- Experienced marketers conduct in-depth research to understand your audience, their preferences, pain points, and behaviors and craft a strategy that resonates with them.
- They know which content format works best for different purposes.
- They help maintain a consistent flow of high-quality content that aligns with your brand’s style and voice.
- Using analytics tools, they track the performance of your content strategy and adjust it as and when required.
Through these steps, a content marketing agency takes your content performance to another level.
4. It Is Scalable
As your business grows, your marketing efforts will also grow. This means you must ramp up your content creation quickly to use new opportunities best. However, it will require a lot of resources and time. This is where outsourcing comes to the rescue.
When you outsource content marketing, you can scale your content production up or down based on your needs. This will allow you to respond quickly to market shifts, emerging trends, and sudden opportunities.
5. It Improves Efficiency
Without outsourcing, your teams may feel overworked and overwhelmed. This can significantly reduce their efficiency. Outsourcing also allows your marketing team to focus on other aspects. They can manage new projects more efficiently and boost overall productivity.
6. You Get Quality Content
44% of organizations have said that improving content quality and value has led to increased success.
Good content is not just limited to one with no typos and grammatical errors. It is way more than that. It is about relaying highly technical information in an easy-to-read language without talking down to readers. It considers factors like E-E-A-T to improve SEO rankings. But most of all, it is about helping you achieve your goals while not looking like a sales pitch (unless you want a sales pitch).
The goal of any good content is to be helpful to readers. Outsourcing can help you achieve all this and more. They will work with your team to ensure your content is valuable and well-written. With helpful content, search engines will naturally find your website more appealing and help increase organic traffic.
7. You Can Achieve Consistent Content Creation
55% of companies today focus on creating and posting content frequently and consistently. Consistency is the key to staying relevant. As a small business, budget constraints might hinder you from posting value-rich content regularly. And if you are a large business, you may have more critical matters to focus on.
With outsourcing, you can embrace consistency. Your agency will ensure rich, informative content is published regularly. They’ll be able to juggle multiple deadlines and effortlessly stick to a consistent schedule.
Consistency also extends to achieving a consistent tone, style, and voice. A professional agency will ensure your content across all platforms has a harmonious and recognizable identity.
8. It Gives a New Perspective
Believing that someone outside your company or industry can share valuable perspectives can be challenging. However, this is precisely why their point of view can be eye-opening.
If you’ve been working on your strategy for a long time, it is natural to struggle with finding new opportunities and developing ideas. Professional content marketers have an eye for identifying new connections. They can develop unique ideas to help you stand out from the competition.
Moreover, they can identify blind spots in your company’s strategy and find ways to overcome them. A fresh perspective is especially essential if you want to expand your reach and cater to a more diverse audience.
9. Focus on Core Business
One of the more significant benefits of hiring an outside agency for your content marketing needs is that you get to focus on what you do best. Outsourcing can enhance efficiency and productivity, whether your core business activity is product development, customer service, or innovation.
It ensures you have the mental space and valuable time to strategize and drive the growth of your business. Moreover, you can stay ahead of industry trends and technological advancements, not just in your business but also in content marketing.
10. Improves Content Visibility
The ultimate aim of content marketing is to drive organic traffic and attract new customers. And to achieve this aim, your content should have a high visibility.
A content marketing agency employs many experts who can create content that appeals to a diverse audience. Semrush’s State of Content Marketing 2023 report states these are the best-performing content formats.
They use SEO tools to research keywords and ensure your content ranks high on search engines. But that’s not all. The agency ensures you maintain a presence on social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook by posting eye-catching and relevant content.
Bonus: Experiment With Different Content Types
Experimentation is at the heart of innovation. Formulating a viable content strategy requires much experimentation, especially if you are new to the field. You will have to research, try, and test to determine what works and what doesn’t. However, you may not have the relevant experience or time to do so as a business owner.
Outsourcing content marketing ensures your agency is responsible for developing and managing your content marketing. With their years of experience, they will take less time to develop excellent strategies.
Additionally, they will have sufficient time to experiment with different types of content, from blog posts and social media posts to videos and audio content, and find the ones that suit you the best.
How to Outsource Content Marketing in 5 Steps
Here’s how you can outsource content marketing in five simple steps:
1. Determine Your Needs
The first and foremost step of outsourcing content marketing is determining your needs. What is it that you want to outsource? Which type of services aligns with your goals? And for that matter, what are your goals? Is it to generate more leads, to be seen as an authority figure, or something else entirely?
In 2022, 47% of marketing professionals outsourced graphic design, while 37% outsourced content creation.
In addition, identify what challenges you are facing currently. Is it a lack of technical skills and relevant content or generating quality leads? Assessing your own skills will help you determine which aspects you need to outsource.
Content marketing has different areas, and knowing which ones you need help with can narrow down your scope of search.
2. Decide Your Budget
After determining your needs, the next step is to decide your budget. With a fixed budget, you can narrow the list of potential outsourcing agencies or freelancers.
According to the Content Marketing Institute, B2C companies spent the following percentage of their total marketing budgets on content marketing in 2023. You can refer to this while deciding your own budget.
Remember that a higher price tag doesn’t always equate to high quality, just as cheaper doesn’t always equate to low quality. What matters is to find an agency or freelancer that fits your requirements the best.
Another part of this is to assess the ROI of your content marketing strategy. If you want to outsource only some of the content marketing, outsource the low-ROI parts. With this, the tasks that took a lot of time will be done quickly by experts.
3. Freelancer or an Agency?
When outsourcing content marketing needs, one of the most significant decisions is to decide between an agency or a freelancer.
Both options have their pros and cons. A freelancer is just one person who will manage all your marketing needs. Conversely, an agency has specialized teams that develop and manage your strategy and hire freelancers to create content.
So, the choice depends on how much work you are outsourcing and how many people you need to complete it. If you have a huge volume of work, it’d be best to choose an agency as they have a skilled team capable of managing all your requirements.
However, if you have a limited amount of work and are working on a limited budget, it is best to hire a freelancer.
4. Assess Past Work
Whether you hire an agency or freelancers, conducting thorough research about them is crucial. One way of doing this is to look for reviews. You can find them on Google, Facebook, Fiverr, and Upwork.
Another way is to assess their portfolio and past samples. You can also ask for industry-specific portfolios for better understanding. Check whether they suit your needs.
In addition, to assess their expertise, go ahead and ask relevant questions. Ask them about their content process, timelines, SEO experience, and whether they’ve worked in your industry. Ultimately, the idea is to ensure complete transparency and open communication.
5. Provide Detailed Instructions
Take a look at Baker Amy’s style guide. Notice how they’ve included details of their logo, preferred fonts, and color palette? Wondering why?
Communicating your expectations, goals, and needs is essential no matter who you hire. A style guide encapsulates your business philosophy, voice, and tone. Ensure that it covers things like your brand story, color palette, types of visuals, and fonts.
If you create content like blogs, you should also include structure, grammar, and tone instructions. This will ensure consistency in your content across all platforms. For example, here’s Dove Healthcare’s style guide:
Another aspect of providing in-depth instructions is to share all the relevant information content marketers will require to formulate your strategy and content. This includes files or photos that are not accessible publicly. Lastly, do not forget to share your ideal timeline, too.
Outsourcing Content Marketing is a Game-Changer
Content marketing is no longer about selling but storytelling, trust-building, and long-term success. The more challenging the marketing realm becomes, the more intimidating it can look to companies. The good thing, however, is that you do not have to do it alone.
You can outsource content marketing to more experienced and skilled marketers in the industry. A key aspect of this strategy is outsourcing your content writing needs from the right place.
Wittypen’s content writing services complement every content strategy in place. With our hand-picked writers and highly skilled team, you can rest assured by outsourcing all your content writing needs to us.
FAQs
What are the benefits of outsourcing content marketing?
There are many benefits of outsourcing content marketing. These include reaching a wider audience, reducing costs, saving time, and improving content visibility and scalability. It also helps you achieve your marketing goals quickly.
How do I find the right content marketing agency?
To find the right content marketing agency, consider factors like communication, pricing, track record, industry expertise, and portfolio. Most of all, ensure their services align with your goals.
What are the key steps to successfully outsource content marketing?
The key steps to successfully outsource content marketing are as follows:
- Know your needs
- Establish your budget and assess ROI
- Choose an agency
- Provide detailed guidelines
- Establish a collaborative relationship
What challenges can arise when outsourcing content marketing?
Some of the challenges of outsourcing include lack of industry expertise, communication issues, misalignment of goals, and quality control. To avoid these issues, it is best to communicate well with your agency beforehand.
Is outsourcing content marketing worth it for small and medium-sized businesses?
Outsourcing can provide small and mid-sized businesses with expertise, scalability, and cost efficiency. It will also allow them to focus solely on developing their business.
