Sometimes, business owners just don’t have time to write for social media or blogs, and it can seem problematic when marketers are constantly telling companies how important it is that they have one. However, that’s no reason to get frustrated—there are plenty of options available, and one such option growing in popularity is content outsourcing, where you hire content creation experts to write your content for you.
There are many applicable situations where outsourcing works really well, but in order to have an effective strategy, you need to be well-rounded in your understanding of the benefits and pitfalls of outsourcing your content.
What Are The Pros?
Industry Expertise
If you don’t write well or have an exceptional understanding of your industry, outsourcing can be a great solution. This obviously depends on who you outsource, but finding someone who writes specifically for your industry could pay dividends in the long run. Their writing will be succinct, and that much easier for your audience to internalize since they spend most of their time within that industry. Leveraging their expertise can also help to supplement your own.
Cost Savings
This, again, depends entirely on the quality of the outsourcer, but outsourcing can help cut down on costs, especially when you’re considering hiring someone for the purpose of content creation—especially when you get into benefits, full-time hours, specialized training, and peak business periods. It also means you’ll have more money and more flexibility throughout the year, giving you breathing room you can use toward other projects and initiatives.
Best Practices
Full-time writers are usually well aware of best practices when it comes to blogging and content production, but that doesn’t mean you are. If writing isn’t your thing, it’s not likely your keeping up with the industry norms. Most outsourcers are professional and understand how crucial proper writing etiquette is to your company, image, and reputation.
Increased Exposure
Usually, if you’re a professional content creator and you outsource your work, you’ve built your own following of avid readers. If that’s the case, companies that use you for their outsourced work benefit to increased exposure through your own followings, and that of social media. The more effective the content is and the easier it is to get shared, and the more people your word will reach. So now, your goal as a business, is to find these writers and leverage their experience and audience to the benefit of your brand.
Outsourcing, like we said above, works well—when it’s working well. But for some businesses, outsourcing can be disadvantageous.
What Are The Cons?
Lacking Quality or Closeness
For some industries, being separated from the business can be a difficult hurdle to overcome for outsourcers. Your business is your business, and sometimes the same things that work for a similar company won’t do yours justice. The quality of content might lack, or be too “high level,” ignoring why the reader is there. In addition, sometimes being separated from the everyday-ness of your office can cause a disconnect between how you write about yourself, and how you’re perceived through the eyes of others.
Less Control
When you have a blogger for your business, you generally have easy access to them. They work with you, after all. But when you outsource, you don’t have control over the person whose writing for you. Maybe there’s a time difference, or their too busy to talk with you when you need it most. With your own blogger, you can have personal contact with them, and understand where they’re coming from.
Less Rounded
When you hire an outsourcer, you also don’t have an understanding of their history, and how well they understand the complete process. Writing skills are obviously imperative, but how are they with social media? Keywords and SEO? What about sharing? These are all vital skills that supplement your blogging strategies. After all, just because you write it doesn’t mean they’ll read it. It needs to get found first.
When deciding whether or not you should work with a content outsourcing company, it’s best to weigh all the options. For some, outsourcing is well worth the price. For others, it makes more sense to use someone internally to give your brand a closer voice.
