The Benefits of Outsourcing Content Creation

Leah Champagne on January 21, 2022

I’m working on myself. Particularly on trusting others to help me with things I usually do on my own. See, like most people, I have all these little processes for how I accomplish tasks around the house. Everything from folding laundry to arranging the dish rack falls into a meticulously developed system. When it all runs smoothly, let me tell you…it’s a beautiful thing.

The problem is, things don’t always go smoothly. Heck, they don’t even usually go smoothly. That’s just life. Clean laundry sits in baskets on my living room floor and dishes pile up in the sink because the dish rack has become a veritable jenga game of stacked items that my husband truly seems not to notice. And I’m just one little person working in my office thirty feet away from utter dishevelment.

So now I’m in a tough spot. I can ask my husband to help and trust that he’s just as capable even if he uses a different method, or I can keep feeling overwhelmed and spend my days catching dishes that make a leap for the floor from Mt. Dish Rack. Both options make me more than a little nervous.

Outsourcing content is kind of like asking your spouse to do the dishes. You like the way you do it, and you’d rather be the person stacking the dish rack to a reasonable height. But when it comes to your business, settling for feeling overwhelmed and putting off tasks can be much more detrimental than a sink full of dirty dishes.

Partnering with an experienced content writer not only takes backlogged work off your plate, it can also be more cost effective and generate a greater return than creating content in-house. But don’t take my word for it just yet. Let’s look at exactly how outsourcing content creation can benefit your business.

Content Marketing 101

Content marketing is easy to overlook. It takes longer to generate returns and isn’t a direct route to sales. Some people misinterpret this as “content marketing isn’t important.” I will offer a rebuttal in the Cajun vernacular: Mais, no. Dat’s not right.

Content marketing is the cornerstone of brand awareness. It puts you on the map, drives your SEO and creates organic channels to reach your target audience. It’s an opportunity for you to establish yourself as an expert on industry subject matter. And who doesn’t want to work with an expert?

The hurdle most brands bang their shins on is that content writing is time consuming. Sparing sales team members to write a blog isn’t practical, hiring a full-time copywriter is an extra overhead cost and working with freelancers can be frustrating. That leaves you with a sparsely populated website and no time or resources to do anything about it.

How do you solve this Rubix Cube of a problem? By outsourcing your content creation to a marketing agency. 

Benefits of Outsourcing Content Creation

Before I get into the benefits, I want to address the bag of squirrels I may have just let loose in your stomach. There’s no reason to feel nervous. Throughout the entire partnership, you’re the boss! You’re the person with the know-how who instructs the writer on your brand’s voice, tone and industry specific topics. You’ll provide feedback throughout the content production process and offer suggestions or tweaks as you see fit. It’s not a boomerang arrangement. You’re not throwing away your content and hoping it comes back. You have a stake in every part of the process. 

Okay, boss, let’s keep going. 

There are a number of benefits to outsourcing content creation. Some are obvious, like you don’t have to write things anymore. But others are more covert, like silently driving more traffic to your website and climbing up the SERP rankings like James Bond covertly scaling a fortress wall. All because you’ve published pieces of content that people are eager to engage with.

To give you a better picture than my frivolous similes can, I’ve pulled out what I think are the three most impactful benefits of outsourcing your content needs.

Build a Strategy

Unless you’re in the digital marketing industry, the cost of content marketing tools will likely be difficult to justify because you’re only writing for your brand. The problem is that without those tools, creating high-quality content or an effective content strategy is incredibly difficult.

When you outsource to a marketing agency, you have access to some of the powerful marketing tools out there, all for the cost of your contract. Now, a writer isn’t just putting words on a page, they’re checking search engine rankings, evaluating keyword possibilities and performing competitor analysis.

Our content creation process starts with research. We use tools like Ahrefs to look at how your competitors are doing and what keywords they’re ranking best for, and we check your website to see where you’re thriving and where there’s room for growth. Then we use those insights to build a list of target and related keywords in Clearscope that are relevant to and attainable for your brand. 

At the end of this process you have a comprehensive content marketing strategy that either your marketing team or ours can implement in your business.

Access to a Professional Team

You wouldn’t hire your cousin’s son to fix your plumbing just because the kid got a tool set for Christmas. No, you want a professional to handle the job because it’s important to the integrity of your home.

Content is the same way. There are plenty of freelance writers who can string sentences together, but professional content creators know how to appeal to an audience, format different types of content for SEO and set up pieces to convert. Usually all at once.

For example, when I write blog posts for clients, I’m not only writing engaging text. I’m including relevant keywords throughout the post, I’m carefully naming section headers to appeal to SEO and I always have a call to action that links back to their website. Why do I go through all this trouble? Because as a professional writer, I don’t want to just make great content. I want to make successful content.

I’m not the only person over here at Lone Fir Creative, though. We have an amazing team of marketing ninjas that specialize in all kinds of cool strategies. That’s an added bonus of paying for writing services with a marketing agency—access to the whole team. If and when you decide you’d like help with more than just content, you can discuss other options with your point of contact and find ways to leverage what you’ve created in other marketing channels. 

Save Time While Boosting Production

Fair warning, this benefit is a two-sided coin.

I love the fantasy genre, specifically anything with magic. This often leaves me wishing I had access to magic in my personal life for things like washing dishes, cooking or keeping cat hair off of every surface in my home. 

Lots of business owners think outsourcing content creation is like magic. They just send their list of demands stapled to a style guide into the ether and a week later the void will spit out three perfectly crafted blogs. Conversions will soar and metrics will improve and they’ll wonder why they didn’t do this sooner.

There are some truth kernels in that fantasy, but let me assure you that things don’t work exactly that way. 

  • Yes, you’ll send off content to be written by someone else. 
  • Yes, it frees up your staff to focus on building your sales pipeline and closing.
  • Yes, it allows your staff to be more productive overall.
  • Yes, content comes back pretty and optimized so you can regularly populate your website without sparing your own man power.

But none of this happens by magic, and if you disappear after sending something to a writer, odds are you won’t get back what you wanted. The key to successful outsourcing is to be present. Work with your new writer or content team and field their fresh perspectives until you see something you like. 

Being available to provide feedback and answer questions ensures everyone is on the same page. After working with a writer for a while, they’ll start to notice your preferences and be better at predicting what you want to see. At the beginning, however, it’s critical to treat the relationship as a back-and-forth and not a one-way mail slot.

Things to Consider

If all of this sounds like the answer to your prayers, then I’m glad! Hopefully, I’ve demystified some of the aspects of outsourcing that were giving you pause. Before you dive in head-first, though, I just wanted to remind you of three key things to keep in mind when outsourcing content creation.

  • Outsourcing is a partnership.
    Just because you're sending things off to be created elsewhere doesn’t mean you can ignore them. Working with a contractor or an agency is a partnership, and you’ll still need to be involved in the direction of projects. Give your insights about what topics you think would be valuable, what your brand tone is and any particular content formats you want to create. 
  • You are the knowledge expert.
    It can be scary to send your content to someone who isn’t in your industry. You might not believe they could ever get the appropriate nuance for your topics. This is where a little bit of trust and a lot of working together can be incredibly beneficial. Remember that you’re the knowledge expert in your industry and if there’s certain nuances that need to be included, it’s up to you to communicate that to your writer. This might be through an interview, a quick Zoom call, or even sending over helpful resources like white pages or infographics. Trust that the writing process will give you plenty of opportunities for feedback so you can get things just right before anything is published.
  • Feedback is key.
    As your writer creates outlines and blogs and sends them over, don’t be afraid to give detailed feedback. The back and forth can help them learn your preferences and start tailoring things specifically to your liking. Add as many comments, suggestions and notes as you need to get a piece of content exactly how you want it to be on your site. Revisions are part of the process and that’s how you ensure you’re getting the best quality for your brand.

The Sink Is Full

If you have trouble letting go, I know how you feel. But your sink is full of dishes, the laundry is piling up and you’re just one person. Don’t be too nervous to ask for a little help.

I even recorded a quick video for you so you don't have to ask for help from a stranger. 

At Lone Fir Creative, we offer a range of content services to match your needs. From a full-blown blog content strategy and content creation to a single keyword-based outline, we’re here to help. Contact us today and we’ll have our dish gloves ready.

Leah Champagne
Leah Champagne
Leah is a professional content specialist with three years of experience writing for a wide array of industries. She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism, then pivoted her writing skills to a career in marketing content. Now she is also well versed in completing keyword research and content strategy for our clients. Leah is known for her consistency, creativity and ability to work with clients to create the perfect piece of content.

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