Posted by Creating content with the intent to convert leads into sales can be difficult without the proper know-how which is why many companies opt for outsourcing. According to published data, while 69% of marketers have documented marketing strategies, 84% of them choose to outsource content creation and focus on business management.
While hiring a freelance copywriter or graphic designer may be tempting, it’s also important to properly communicate your needs to the professional for content creation. Let’s discuss the intricacies of content creation outsourcing and how you can benefit from it in 2021 and achieve content success.
The Practical Advantages of Outsourcing Content Creation
Why should you focus your efforts on content creation outsourcing instead of simply creating marketing content in-house? Judging by recent reports, 80% of people prefer learning about a company through custom content such as blog posts, infographics, and testimonials. If your company is focused on services such as eCommerce, IT, or SaaS, odds are that you won’t have a professional writer or designer onboard.
Instead of outright hiring a full-time employee for content creation, you can work with freelancers or websites that write papers for you for outsourcing purposes. This would allow you to focus on customer servicing and business development while leaving the minutia of creating appealing, SEO-friendly content for a professional. The benefits you can look forward to if you opt for content outsourcing instead of in-house creation include:
● Saving resources on employee costs and upkeep
● Faster content turnaround time of higher quality
● Access to a wide range of on-demand content creation experts
● More diverse and creative pool of content types for your customers
● Avoid stress, burnout, and anxiety of content creation for your employees
● Long-term cooperation opportunities with creators you are satisfied with
How to Outsource Content Creation Properly and Achieve Success
1. Assess the Financial Viability of Outsourcing
While outsourcing your content creation is far cheaper than outright hiring a copywriter or graphic designer, it still costs some money. Before you commit to outsourcing, make sure that your finances are in order and that you can afford a good content creator.
Naturally, the more experienced a content creator or agency may be, the more they will charge for their services. Check out platforms such as Upwork and 99 Designs to get a good up-to-date sense of the price range of written and visual content. You can also look for the best online writing service if you need articles or case studies written for online publishing at a good price. Don’t go into content outsourcing without a good financial foothold and the results of your initiative will be that much better for it.
2. Settle on the Content Types to Outsource
Depending on what services or products you offer to customers, some content types will be more viable for your brand than others. As such, you should settle on the kinds of content you want to publish in the future before you hire an outside content creator.
To do this, you can create SMART goals on “what” you want to achieve in the future and then derive different content types from that. Brainstorming and mind-mapping can also prove useful for setting good goals for your marketing strategy before hiring a content creator. The content types associated with outsourcing include:
● Blog posts
● Social media content
● PDFs and eBooks
● Email content
● Webinar videos and presentations
There are no limits to the number of content types you can pursue in order to market your brand to potential customers. However, focusing on a select few will allow you to specialize in certain areas and help customers identify your brand with those content types.
3. Create a Brand Style Guide for Reference
In order for your content outsourcing to breed representative content, you should provide your professional with as much brand image information as possible. The best way to do that is to create a visual style guide for your company based on existing colours, fonts, and visuals.
A good example of a professional style guide can be found in Coca-Cola Zero, a sub-brand of Coca-Cola Company. It’s also smart to use the best research paper writing service for copywriting and editing of written content in your style guide and content briefs. You can use this document as a point of reference to write your own style guide which content outsourcing professionals can refer to while working.
4. Write Clear Instructions for Outsourced Creation
Following your style guide, each content outsourcing project you come up with should come with its own set of technical instructions. Whether you outsource writing, design, animation, or video creation, the professional you work with will need detailed information on your deliverables. Some of the points you should aim to cover in your instructions, depending on the content type, include:
● Written content – content length, keywords, tone of voice, internal/external links included
● Visual content – dimensions, document format, and art style (photo, vector, etc.)
● Video content – length and art style (animation, tutorial, etc.)
To make the content creation smoother and quicker, you can provide your professional with stock resources such as images, writing, or links to include. This will further enable them to shape the content they work on to better fit with your brand’s philosophy.
5. Communicate with the Creators throughout the Process
Once you’ve successfully outsourced your content creation, the process of actually creating said content will begin. In order for the creator to create the best content possible based on your instructions and within budget, you should communicate and offer feedback.
Don’t be afraid to ask the creator how their work is going, whether they need additional information or whether your instructions were clear. This can help avoid last-minute revisions and poor content which can result from a general lack of communication. Be proactive and available to your content creators but don’t try to micromanage their work. Once they are satisfied with their work, they will present you with rough drafts for the final editing of their own accord.
6. Review & Reformat the Content before Publishing
Finally, after you’ve received the content from your professional of choice, you should take a closer look at their work before publishing it. Take the time to compare their work to your instructions and see if you can spot any discrepancies or omissions.
You can also add additional links, stock images, and other materials to the work yourself if you find it lacking in any department. Of course, friendly creators or those who seek long-term cooperation will also be open to revisions or editing if you ask them to do so. You only get the chance to make the first impression on your audience with content marketing once – make sure that the content is properly created.
Outsourcing as a Viable Content Marketing Strategy (Conclusion)
Outsourcing content creation may seem counterintuitive to you at first – why trust someone else with your marketing content? However, if you can’t create content in-house, you have to learn how to work with expert freelancers and on-demand professionals with marketing know-how.
Focus on setting realistic goals for your brand and writing clear, actionable briefs for your content creation before looking for viable candidates. Once you find the right person to work with, they will inherently become an outside content consultant for your company, contributing to its brand image.
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