What is the first thing you do after you wake up? 😪🪥☕📱✨
Even before brushing your teeth or drinking a cup of coffee, it is more common to start your day by reaching for your phone first. In fact, 7 out of 10 people use their smartphone before they get out of bed. We are checking out what's new and happening online, aren't we? We are in the era of digital-first, where content has become an integral part of our daily routine.
If you are a business owner, think of content as the friendly face that introduces your business or product to the world. Whether it’s a catchy blog post or a cool social media update, content is the key to grabbing attention from customers, keeping them interested, and connecting them to your brand.
Nowadays, businesses are always looking for ways to boost their online presence and connect with their audiences. One popular method is outsourcing content writing to specialized agencies. This means using experts to create content while businesses focus on their strategic initiatives and core operations.
However, like any business decision, outsourcing content writing comes with its own set of advantages and disadvantages. In this article, we’ll explore the upsides and downsides of outsourcing your content writing to an agency. By understanding both sides, you can decide if outsourcing is the right move for your business’s content needs or which aspects you need to be cautious of when using external content writers.
Let's take a closer look together! 👀🔍
The pros of outsourcing content writing
Firstly, we will delve deeper into the advantages, exploring how outsourcing content writing can help businesses achieve their marketing goals more effectively.
We simplify the pros into 4-S’s for you (because, you know, success starts with S):
- Specialization
- Scalability and flexibility
- Saving cost and time
- Selection of creativity
Let’s look at each of those pros.
1. Specialization
Instead of spending so much time on writing content, which is not your core focus… Outsourcing enables businesses to leverage a diverse pool of skilled writers specializing in various industries.
This allows you to access experts who:
✅ Are already proficient in content writing best practices
✅ Focus their efforts exclusively on crafting the content
✅ Ensure high-quality content that is well-researched and tailored to the target audience's interests and needs
Additionally, specialized writers bring a level of credibility to the content they produce. Their depth of expertise and research abilities instill confidence in readers, positioning the business as a trusted source of information within its industry. As a result, this helps businesses in delivering content that is accurate and valuable to audiences, effectively communicating and engaging with them.
2. Scalability & flexibility
Whether it's a small project or a large campaign, working with an agency means you can adapt more efficiently. 🤓
By outsourcing, you can easily scale up or down your content production based on your needs without the constraints of hiring or laying off staff. This means excellent flexibility in staffing by providing on-demand access to a diverse pool of external writers. You can scale down whenever their services are no longer needed.
Extending beyond just the volume of content produced, it also includes the ability to diversify content types and formats to meet evolving consumer preferences.
From blog posts to long-form articles, outsourcing content writing services offers businesses the versatility to create a variety of content tailored to different platforms and audiences, providing agility. This will enable businesses to respond promptly to market trends without compromising the quality or consistency of the content creation.
3. Saving cost and time
Maintaining an in-house writing team can be costly, particularly when you don't fully leverage the skills of each team member. 💸
That’s why outsourcing content writing can be your real lifesaver when it comes to managing your valuable resources.
By delegating content creation tasks to external professionals, businesses can focus on core activities while enjoying cost-effective solutions tailored to their specific goals and budgets. This approach eliminates the need for businesses to invest in hiring and training in-house content creators, which can be both time-consuming and expensive, diverting attention from your core business. It’s estimated that hiring and training an in-house marketing team can cost you over $250,000 per year while working with an agency can cost you around $20,000 to $200,000 per year depending on your needs. That’s a big difference if you ask me.
In terms of additional overhead costs, whether it's increasing content output during peak seasons or reducing it during slower periods, you can adjust your content strategy accordingly without worrying about the fixed costs associated with maintaining an in-house team.
4. Selection of creativity
A breath of fresh perspective is indeed required in content writing. 👃🍃
The last S is about the selection of creativity. Collaborating with external writers brings fresh viewpoints and new ideas to the table, fostering a rich diversity in creative inputs and outputs. This is because they benefit from different perspectives and approaches. On the other hand, in-house teams tend to follow and operate within a narrow framework, influenced by the company's culture and norms.
As a result of hiring an agency, businesses can explore new concepts, approaches, and angles, enriching their content strategy and expanding their storytelling capabilities. This leads to exciting new content for the market, enhancing the overall quality and creativity of your content initiatives. Additionally, it contributes to the development of engaging content that captivates the audience's attention and resonates with their interests. 🤩💌
In short, outsourcing writing has its perks: specialized content, scalability and flexibility in production, saving cost and time, and selection of creative choices. However, it's crucial to weigh the pros and cons.
The cons of outsourcing content writing
Next, let’s explore further the other side to help you consider and decide if outsourcing your content writing is the best answer for your business.
We summarize the cons into 4-Cs for you:
- Communication challenges
- Control of quality issues
- Collaborative dependency
- Confidentiality risks
Let’s see what these mean.
1. Communication challenges
When collaborating with external writers, businesses may encounter challenges in effective communication due to factors such as geographical distance, different time zones, and cultural differences. For instance, coordinating meetings or discussions may prove challenging due to conflicting time zones, resulting in delays in addressing project-related queries or providing timely feedback. 🌍🌎🌏
Cultural differences in communication styles may contribute to misunderstandings or misinterpretations of instructions or feedback. These communication hurdles can not only impede project progress but also result in duplicated efforts for both parties involved.
💡 Four tips to avoid this:
- Establish clear communication channels and protocols
- Utilize project management tools for real-time communication
- Provide detailed project briefs and conduct regular check-ins
- Hire an agency that operates in your time zone
2. Control of quality issues
Maintaining control over the quality of outsourced content writing also presents several challenges for businesses. One significant issue is the lack of direct supervision, which can make it difficult to ensure consistency and quality standards across all content produced. ✍️📜
Another challenge may arise from the diversity of writing styles among external writers. Each writer may have their own unique approach to crafting content, which can result in inconsistencies in tone, voice, and style across different pieces of content. This variation in writing styles can dilute the brand's identity and messaging, leading to a lack of cohesion in the overall content strategy.
💡 Four tips to avoid this:
- Provide clear guidelines (i.e. voice, tone, and style)
- Offer constructive feedback
- Actively monitor the writing process to ensure that the content aligns with your brand identity and objectives
- Hire an agency that has a track record of following briefs and guidelines
3. Collaborative dependency
This is just in case you rely too much on external writers. 🫠
Collaborative dependency refers to the situation where businesses become overly dependent on external partners for various aspects of content creation. This can lead to negative consequences that limit businesses' flexibility and control over their content strategy.
Additionally, dependency on external partners may introduce bottlenecks in content production. Businesses may need to wait for external writers to become available or prioritize their projects, leading to delays in content delivery. This can impede agility and responsiveness in content creation, particularly in fast-paced industries or during time-sensitive campaigns.
💡 Four tips to avoid this:
- Clearly communicate your expectations and requirements upfront
- Set clear project timelines and monitor them closely
- Consider diversifying or expanding your pool of writers
- Check reviews and testimonials of the agencies you want to work with
4. Confidentiality risks
Lastly, you can encounter confidentiality risks when outsourcing your content needs to an agency.
Think of it like steering your own ship—you know every detail and can navigate safely. But, when you hand over the helm to an agency, their ship might not be as watertight, and leaks in their security could compromise your sensitive information.
Here are some of the confidentiality issues you might encounter:
- Data security: sensitive information such as proprietary data, marketing strategies, and customer details may be exposed if the agency lacks robust cybersecurity measures or uses insecure communication and storage methods
- Intellectual property concerns: ambiguities around content ownership and the potential for the agency to reuse or repurpose content for other clients can lead to disputes and breaches of confidentiality
- Employee turnover and background checks: high turnover rates and insufficient background checks at agencies can increase the risk of confidential information being mishandled or misused by former employees
- Regulatory compliance: ensuring that the agency complies with data protection laws (such as GDPR or HIPAA) is crucial. Non-compliance can result in legal penalties and fines, exposing the business to significant risks.
💡Three tips to avoid this:
- When choosing an agency ensure you’re asking about security practices and data protection policies—ask that you store everything within your own cloud storage solution and give them two-step authentication access and limited admin rights
- Check the agency’s reputation and ensure you have contract clauses clearly aligning on intellectual property, even if your work agreement ends
- Ensure you have Non-Disclosure Agreements that protect you and your client’s information
Until now, we've seen that outsourcing content writing may bring some potential drawbacks such as communication challenges, control of quality issues, collaborative dependency, and confidentiality risks. However, businesses can maximize the advantages while minimizing these disadvantages.
So, let your life be easier. Seize the opportunity to drive your business growth and connect with your audiences through outsourcing content writing!
Want to outsource your content writing to dslx?
dslx is a hand-picked hub of creative, talented, and specialized writers helping in-house content teams achieve growth with quality content. We have helped brands significantly improve their results by boosting reads, leads, and revenue. Don't miss out on the opportunity to turn good reads into great revenue with dslx!
▶️ What's it like working with dslx? By working with dslx, you’ll get a monstrously good experience with quality content writing that drives results:
👉 From 0 to 500K+ unique page views in just 10 months
👉 Up to 87% page views increase and top-ranking positions in five target countries
👉 15+ top-performing articles ranking and over 2K organic page views per month
With dslx, you only interact with one dedicated point of contact: your account manager, regardless of the number of writers working on your briefs. This ensures the delivery of high-quality content with clear and consistent communication, eliminating the need for businesses to juggle multiple contacts. Additionally, your account manager ensures that all your content reads as if it was written by the same talented person.
Check out dslx today, and get in touch to learn more. Let's craft the story to elevate your business together! ✍️
