As a business owner, you can’t deny the impact of content on marketing, sales, and profitability. It’s a strategy you must apply if you’re interested in increasing website traffic, lead generation, and conversion.
According to a 2020 survey by Content Marketing Institute, 59 percent of marketers admit that content marketing return on investment (ROI) is excellent or very good. Top reasons include increasing sales and lead conversions, as well as building brand awareness.
However, here’s the thing. Content marketing is not a one-person job. That’s why many companies now outsource content writing services to teams and agencies.
How to Outsource Blog Writing: A Step-By-Step Guide
Your blog is like a mirror, reflecting what you want your audience to see. It’s the key to boosting your visibility and reaching a wider client base.
With that in mind, here’s our complete guide on how to outsource content marketing successfully.
I. Choose What to Outsource
The first step is to create a content marketing strategy. Doing so will help you identify your business needs and the skills to look for when hiring a team. Content marketing will vary, depending on the type of business.
Once you identify your content type, you’ll be in a better position to determine the skills you should look for in a writer. For example, your in-house team may be efficient in video creation or illustration but not so great at content creation.
That’s where outsourcing to a freelance writer or agency can be beneficial.
When you outsource, your team can focus on what they do best, while you can rely on your writer to deliver premium content.
Areas you can outsource include:
- Editing
- Blog posts
- eBooks/Guides
- Case studies
- Designing
- Link building
- Content writing
- Social media engagement
II. Specify Your Content Marketing Goals
What are you looking to gain through content marketing? Is it to drive more traffic, generate and convert more leads, or increase brand awareness? Perhaps, you want a combination of these goals?
Defining clear content marketing goals is essential before you outsource writing to an agency or freelancer. You need a strategic direction that your business will follow. These goals must be established by your internal team, highlighting the overall organization’s content goals.
III. Choose Between a Digital Marketing Agency and a Freelancer
Once you’ve determined what areas you need to outsource, and have documented your content marketing goals, you’ll have to decide between an agency or freelancer.
Why Choose a Digital Marketing Agency?
- Consistency in content creation. If one team member has an emergency and can’t work on your project, it will be reassigned to another writer.
- Wide range of skills. A digital agency gives you access to a group of experts with a wider skillset. This can result in better quality work.
- Quality assurance. A digital agency has a structure in place to manage issues like communication and service. Usually, there will be an agency manager tasked with picking the right team with skills that match your company content needs.
- Easier project management. An agency is likely to have more resources to manage your projects efficiently.
Why Choose a Freelancer?
- Expert services. You’ll be dealing with well-rounded professionals with experience in different fields. They’ll have a broader perspective that might prove useful to your business.
- Lower costs. While freelancers usually charge per hour or per word and may request a monthly retainer, they are more willing to negotiate their rates.
- More flexibility. Freelancers don’t usually embrace the 9-5 work structure. They can be available whenever you want, which is advantageous.
- Focused service. Freelancers have fewer projects, meaning they can prioritize your work and give better results.
IV. Monitor Project Progress
It’s not enough to hire qualified content creators. You must stay on top of the workflow and make sure everything is going according to plan. Apart from planning the content and providing keywords and clear instructions, you want the whole process to run seamlessly.
With globally distributed teams, you must invest in a time tracking app for employee management. Such an app makes managing projects more effective and simplifies task prioritization, based on team capacity.
What’s more, it enables you to keep track of the process by checking the project progress. Teams will have clear objectives on what they are supposed to do to meet company goals.
V. Provide all the Necessary Resources
The final strategy when outsourcing content is to ensure the content creator has all the materials they need to deliver. This includes:
- Content outlines
- Access to the company blog or website
- Access to internal information and documents
- Access to content marketing tools your company uses
Your content creators will work more efficiently when they have access to all the necessary resources. The best approach is to ask what they need to get the work done and discuss what you can provide.
VI. Request for a Test Piece
The only way to know if your contract worker is the right fit for the role is to ask for a test piece. You’ll learn so much about their tone, content approach, and research capabilities. You’ll also determine their work ethic and level of expertise on the subject. Moreover, this can be a great way to know if they can deliver on time.
When requesting the first test piece, choose something small rather than a long-form article. You simply want to get a feel of what they can accomplish. Note that it’s essential to pay for this test piece. So, agree on the fee, regardless of the outcome, and honor it.
In Conclusion…
There’s no doubt that content marketing is a crucial business element. The problem is, it’s not easy to find the right agency or freelancer to handle your content creation.
So, approach it more carefully and plan it well. The secret is to define clear content goals and determine what areas to outsource.
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