How to be a winner at outsourcing content

Is it time for you to consider outsourcing content creation for your business?

Are you struggling to write enough content for your website and social media when your  attention is needed on so many other things?

Does planning and writing online content that will help you reach your goals fill you with dread?

You might be concerned that outsourcing will lead to a loss of control and a dilution of your online message. Done effectively, outsourcing your content might be just the solution you need.

Do you need to look at outsourcing content?

You understand that getting high-quality content consistently seen by your customers and prospects can lead to better visibility, warm leads and higher sales.

You have seen that planning, creating and promoting your content can be a time-consuming distraction that can be difficult to prioritise.

You fear that creating this content is a drain on your in-house resources.

Producing enough targeted, high-quality, engaging content that prompts action and loyalty in your readers is one of the biggest challenges for content marketing today, and can be the case regardless of the size of your organisation. Click To Tweet

Engaging outside expertise that works with you to determine your strategy, plan out your content and consistently deliver your messages to your target audience allows you a combination of flexibility and control that will help your business soar.

What are the advantages of outsourcing content?

Using a freelancer or an agency to create your content can be cost-effective, but although there are many wholesale cheap providers available, with content creation as with everything else – you get what you pay for.

Outsourcing content activities such as planning, creation and promotion can give you several advantages around cost, flexibility, expertise and fresh perspectives. Click To Tweet

You will only have to pay a provider for the work they do for you. Costs will be lower than for a full-time employee and you will get a higher level of skill for the same amount.

You can manage fluctuations in demand, whether that be seasonal or due to budget constraints.

The whole of online marketing is constantly in flux, with changes to platforms, new research and technical changes breaking every week, and with recommendations about best practice continually changing an external expert can be relied on to keep up with these changes and apply them directly to your business.

How to outsource content effectively

According to the  Content Marketing Institute’s research, around 50% of marketers outsource some aspect of content creation, with writing top of the list. Smaller companies outsource more of their content creation than larger ones, although this arrangement can work well for any size of company.

If you want to outsource well and stay in control, do the following:

Be explicit about your involvement

While you may want the work done externally, you shouldn’t expect to lose control. This is your business and you know your audience best. A good provider will work with you to set up processes and systems that will allow you to have maximum input to the things that matter to you, such as setting the strategy, direction and voice of the content, while taking care of the hard work that will follow.

Be specific

Be specific about the skills you need and the work you need to be done. If you aren’t clear on this, a good provider will help work through what your actual needs are and how you can look to fill them.

Establish good working practices

Work out the best ways for you to work together. A good provider will have established content creation processes and systems that will lighten your load and simplify your input while still getting the best results. The time you will save on not reinventing the wheel will be worth it to you.

Adopt a virtuous circle of continual assessment

Set clear and measurable goals for your working relationship, as well as for the content that is being created. This will allow you to track and review progress, and to maintain a level of control that will make you more confident about your outsourcing decision. Be specific, but not too controlling – this is meant to free your time, not replace one burden with another.

Choose well

Before you choose someone to outsource to, take time to make sure they are the right fit for you, and someone that you can develop a rapport with. Open and honest communication is critical to making a success of outsourcing content. With content marketing, this is a long-term relationship, so it needs to be right from the start.

Look closely at any provider you are considering. Do they have the relevant experience, testimonials, their own website and active social media accounts, in their pricing do they include a round of revisions? Can they provide samples of their writing that will show how they can make magic with your content?

How will you spend your time if you are not creating content? Focus on the value you can add elsewhere if you can make a positive handover of your content creation.

And finally…

Creating content is hard. Outsourcing with control is a great solution. And this is one of the ways I can support you.

Some companies set out their content strategy and then look for a content creator to support that strategy. If you are very clear on what you want to do, this can work and I am happy to work that way with you.

If articulating your content strategy in the first place is challenging you, then I can also support you through this process, from assessing your content opportunities through to creating content for your website and to support your social media channels.

Get in touch to see if we could work well together – email me at info@marketingondemand.co.uk, or directly schedule a 30 minute discovery call.