Content Writing Outsourcing: Your Complete Guide
Content writing outsourcing is the practice of hiring someone outside of your organization to write various types of content including:
Social media posts and captions
Blog posts, case studies, and digital reports
White papers, pitch decks, and company narratives
It's a common practice in today's remote-first world since content writing outsourcing offers various benefits. Most notably, it can be significantly cheaper to outsource content creation projects than to pay full-time employees.
However, it's not all bells and whistles. Content outsourcing isn't as simple and easy as finding a professional writer, paying them, and getting stellar work.
It often requires front-loading work like creating content plans or content briefs, and teaching your freelance writers about the nuances of your goals, business, and industry.
In today's post, we'll go over why you should consider content outsourcing, its benefits and drawbacks, and how to outsource your content projects.
Let's get started.
Why is content writing outsourcing effective
Content writing outsourcing is effective because it enables business owners, content marketing teams, and organizations alike to increase their content creation output without increasing costs too much.
Here's why content writing outsourcing is so effective:
Speed: If you're in a rush to get a piece of content written, it may not be possible to wait the often-long times it takes to hire an in-house content writer or content marketer. Instead, you can outsource your work quickly, and achieve your goals faster.
Scalability: If you find yourself brainstorming or working on a large content marketing project, you may ultimately realize that you don't have enough resources to get it across the goal posts. And that's okay, because you can always consider outsourcing.
Cost-effectiveness: Whether you're looking for speed, scalability, or simply a fresh perspective from outside counsel is up to you. Regardless, you get to enjoy the cost-effectiveness of outsourcing work for much cheaper than it would be to hire in-house employees.
There are additional benefits to content writing outsourcing including mixing in diverse perspectives, improving your content quality, and connecting with niche-specific experts to support your content marketing needs.
What are the drawbacks of content writing outsourcing
The drawbacks of content writing outsourcing include potentially high costs, unpredictable output, and a lack of institutional knowledge since you're depending on freelance content writers instead of in-house employees.
Here are the drawbacks of content writing outsourcing:
High costs: Earlier we wrote about how cost-effective it is to outsource content writing. And it is. But whenever done smartly. You've got to take the time to scope out your total needs, costs, and trade-offs when considering outsourcing to make an informed decision.
Unpredictable output: When you've got in-house employees creating content for you, you're in much better control of their output. However, when you're dependent on freelance content creators, it's a lot more challenging to know how responsive or productive they may be.
Lack of institutional knowledge: This may be the hardest drawback to quantify. But it's so important. Although an in-house employee can cost more than freelancers, they have something freelancers may not have: context about your business, which means less enabling prior to creating.
Of course, the are more drawbacks to outsourcing your content writing including content quality fluctuations, on-boarding time and effort, and the costs associated with searching for freelancers.
That brings us to the next major question: when should you consider content writing outsourcing?
How to outsource content writing projects
There are two ways to outsource your content writing projects: hiring freelancers or hiring a content marketing agency.
Your first option is to hire freelancers.
This is a fairly straightforward process thanks to many online resources that are available today. All you have to do is know where to look, and you will easily find talented content writers.
You can outsource your content writing projects to freelancers from websites like:
These type of websites make it easy for anyone to hire experienced writers.
But it leaves all the work to you. In other words, you aren't just going to magically find an expert writer on your first try. It'll take work.
When hiring individual freelancers, it'll be your responsibility to sift through hundreds of profiles, contact them, negotiate pricing and scope of work, brief them on your project, goals, and business, and hold them accountable.
If that sounds like too much work for you, then you might want to consider your second option: hiring a content marketing agency.
Hiring a content marketing agency will cost significantly more than hiring a freelance content creator here and there. But you gain additional benefits like saving time, developing consistency, and training a specific group on your niche.
You can outsource your content writing projects to agencies like:
Again, content marketing agencies are a great option to outsource your content writing projects.
When compared to freelancers, a content agency is going to offer more robust content production services, and most likely produce high-quality content more consistently than freelance content writers.
Either way, prior to outsourcing content, you should take the time to prepare.
Before you source content writing services, you must collect your:
Writing style and voice guides
Content strategy, tactics, and goals
Search engine optimization best practices
That way you can prepare potential writers to execute your content marketing strategy effectively.
It doesn't matter whether you're hiring the world's most skilled writers, talented writers, or qualified writers. Or whether you're seeking support in writing a single blog article or an entire company narrative.
You must prepare all appropriate content marketing strategy materials prior to hiring freelancers or content agencies. Because without doing so, even the most incredible freelance writers will fall short.
In closing
Content writing outsourcing is a great alternative to hiring additional full-time employees.
There are several benefits, drawbacks, and things to consider prior to choosing to use content creation services.
However, it is worth noting that more and more business owners, content marketing teams, and organizations are recognizing the value of content writing outsourcing as part of their content creation process.
In just a few clicks, you may discover a wide range of talented content writers ready to take your content marketing activities to the next level.
We hope this content writing outsourcing guide empowers you to make the best decision for you and your business.
Not a subscriber? Join hundreds of Content Captains readers now.