More than ever before, businesses are recognising that content creation is a critical part of building a successful brand strategy. This is because communicating and resonating with end-users, loyal customers, potential audiences and key stakeholders, be it with marketing materials, social media ads, articles or research studies, is essential for making conversions and establishing long-lasting credibility. However, it can be extremely taxing to meet all of your brand’s content needs in-house. Even with a full-time copywriter on hand, your team might not have expertise in a wide range of industries, or be able to cope with bandwidth demands to produce a steady stream of consistently good content – especially during peak times.
According to research from the Content Marketing Institute, 84% of B2B marketers are outsourcing their content creation, while 55% of B2C business owners are also choosing to brief out their content marketing needs to copywriters. This begs the question, if so many businesses are choosing to outsource their content, there must be something to it. Join Wordsmith, as we delve into 3 compelling reasons why your business should seek outside help from external copywriters.
Content has been, and always will be king. Studies have shown that key B2B decision-makers read an average of 13 pieces of content before considering doing business with you. And when it comes to customers, 70% are now demanding a personalised experience from brands, which means companies are producing increasing amount of content to meet their customers’ needs. With statistics like these, it’s pretty clear that content creation can no longer be put on the back burner. If you’re debating whether or not to hire yourself an award-winning copywriter, here are some key signs that you could use some help:
· Your business doesn’t currently have a professional copywriter on staff.
· Your in-house content team is struggling to turn around work on time or producing low quality, error-ridden work.
· Your brand has just entered a new market and your team isn’t quite sure how to communicate effectively with the new audience.
· You’ve just closed on a large content project or taken on a big client partnership, and you know your content needs are about to sky-rocket.
· Your brand is growing exponentially, and you need help from content experts to build a successful content strategy that supports brand messaging.
To compete with big brands in 2022, you need to have a sound content marketing strategy that involves a consistent supply of high-quality, error-free, search engine optimised content. More often than not, it involves some outside help.
1. It boosts your brand’s efficiency (and saves money in the long-term)
We’ve all been there – trying in vain to tackle a big house project, only to end up wasting weeks before hiring an expert who finishes it in a day. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that hiring a professional will bring you to the finish line more quickly – and the same applies when it comes to content creation. A skilled copywriter can take your initial brief and turn it into a well-written finished piece, allowing you to publish content faster and get it out to interested readers instead of wasting time having a staring competition with your blinking cursor on Microsoft Word.
Not only is hiring outside help more time-efficient, but it also helps you scale up your overall content production. Combining the efforts of your in-house content team with a professional freelance copywriter, you could transform your once-a-month, under-performing blog posts into must-read weekly articles and witty social ads that effectively lure potential clients to your site. And remember, in the time it takes your in-house team to research and create a single 1,000-word blog while juggling day-to-day duties, your outside expert could have created a full omnichannel communication effort.
Outsourcing content creation gives your team the time they need to focus on other important areas of your business. Outside copywriting agencies and professional freelance writers run on strict deadlines, so you’ll always know exactly when you’ll receive your content. Hiring an outside professional copywriter can also save you more money in the long run, as you don’t have to worry about the costs and overhead of another full-time employee.
2. It allows you to expand your expertise
Very few, if any, businesses can afford in-house experts to look after every aspect of the business. That why hiring an outside copywriting agency that has credible experience and expertise in your industry can help you bridge the “content gap”.
Copywriting agencies typically have a team of professional copywriters who specialise in specific industries such as finance, tech and healthcare, for example. Agencies that produce content for many different clients have a wealth of diverse experience to pull from. As subject matter experts, agency copywriters are versed in producing high-quality well-researched content that is not only informative, but is written from the point-of-view of someone who knows the specific terminology, jargon and key topics of interest inside out. They can also advise you to take advantage of content opportunities you may have overlooked, or help you pivot with messaging when you’re going down the wrong path. Some may even suggest the best type of content strategy you should follow based on your company’s size.
New York journalist, Shane Snow, agrees, commenting that the best content creators in the business, “don’t do the same thing over and over again. They continuously tap into different types of talent so they can push the boundaries of their field… I’m convinced that creative people of the future will think of themselves like directors. Their job isn’t to do everything, to know everything. Their job will be to assemble the right teams to tell the best stories.”
Aside from their expertise, another benefit of working with an outside copywriting agency is that you can set the terms, and be flexible depending on your content production needs throughout the year, which may rise and fall seasonally. Hiring professional copywriters also opens up the floor to new points of view and a fresh voice, allowing you to test various tones of voice and perspectives to attract new audiences.
Donna Robinson, CEO of performance marketing company Collective Measures, explains that one key area brands need to work on is value-driven content and empathetic marketing. “Value-driven content will become the norm in 2022. Compared to before the pandemic, customers now expect brands to speak authentically and with empathy. This includes addressing sustainability, social responsibility, inclusivity and diversity. But leading with empathy also extends to more mundane but crucial communications, such as relaying shipping times and product shortages.” In today’s world, it's not only essential that you outsource copywriters who are knowledgeable in your industry, but they should also know how to win the hearts and minds of your customers.
3. It helps you gain bandwidth, consistency and visibility, fast
According to studies from the Content Marketing Institute, 32% of marketers think their content creation workflow is poor, while research from Zazzle Media reveals that 60% of people find it hard to produce content consistently. If you’ve worked tirelessly with your marketing team to come up with a robust content marketing strategy, but realise a couple of weeks down the line, your team is at maximum capacity and you’re struggling to turn around your set deadlines, what are your options? Instead of pushing your team to create more content at the expense of quality, a copywriting agency can help lighten the load and produce consistently great content when you don’t have the bandwidth in-house.
If you want your brand to be successful, you must make content creation a habit, not a one-off strategy. Creating consistency with the amount of content you publish is key. From social media posts and blogging to responding on customer review portals and replying to emails, each piece of content needs to maintain a consistent voice, tone and style at all times. Creating content doesn’t have to be an arduous process, but it does need to be consistent and resonate with your audience – which is why outside help is invaluable.
Solomon Thimothy, CEO of inbound marketing company OneIMS, explains that successful brands are making a significant shift towards using a hybrid agency model. “In 2022, there’s going to be a focus on the hybrid agency model. This is a way of doing business in which agencies can delegate a part of their fulfilment work to a partner who actually understands it better and can provide much better service in less time. It’s extremely effective, as it allows agencies to still focus on their core responsibilities while filling in their weak spots.”
Consistency may be key, but another important consideration is SEO. Bernard May, CEO of marketing agency, National Positions, discusses the importance of hiring copywriters who have a key understanding of SEO, so the content they produce gets the nod of approval from the Google Bots and increases brand visibility in the right places. “Brands need to take every Google algorithm update and success indicator focusing on user experience to heart when it comes to their content marketing as well. Every piece of content is either going to help users convert or drive them into the arms of your competition. Businesses need to stop focusing solely on the volume of their content and focus on usability and conversion prowess.”
Some ways agencies could help you get your content in front of the right audiences is by incorporating backlinks into your articles or suggesting how you can share and schedule content at prime times across your social media channels. If you’re looking for ways to keep your content top of mind, bot and algorithm, click here.
How To Find A Copywriter For Your Brand?
Finding the perfect content creator for your brand is not a one-size-fits-all solution. However, there are agencies out there that have teams of copywriters who specialise in nearly every industry and every type of communication – like Wordsmith. Our professional copywriters have worked with some of the world’s biggest brands and each one possesses the incredible skill of making words dance.
As you know, communication is at the heart of any brand’s success, so don’t be afraid to outsource your content creation to copywriting experts who can help you meet your goals more efficiently, with less stress and better results. Most of us mere mortals don't have the time to slowly churn out content day-in-day-out until we're competitors with the world’s leading brands. To truly accelerate your brand’s success, outsourcing your content creation is your best bet.