Have you found yourself umming and ahing about whether or not you should outsource your content writing?

Tricky decision, isn’t it? On the one hand, if you were to outsource, then you wouldn’t have to worry so much about your content. You’d have a dedicated content resource you could use as little or as much as you like.

But then on the other hand, you’d have to trust an external supplier with your content, which can be rather daunting, particularly if you’ve not outsourced it before. Will they be trustworthy? Can you depend on them to deliver within your timescales? And will they provide you with what you had in mind?

It’s a real gamble, but it’s one that’s worth taking because it can really pay off (I should know, having worked on both sides of the fence for the last 19 years! When I was agency-side, I outsourced work and now that I’m freelance, individuals, agencies and other businesses outsource their work to me).

Still undecided? Take a look at these signs, if any of them sound familiar to you, then it’s about time you outsourced your content writing:

SIGN 1: You’re struggling to stay on top of it

Content is king these days. I’m not just saying that because I’m a content writer, I’m saying it because it’s true. Businesses of all sizes are increasingly seeing the power of content creation in getting themselves noticed, particularly online.

In fact, according to HubSpot:

• 60 per cent of marketers say blog content creation is their top marketing priority
• Companies that publish 16+ blogs a month get 3.5 times more traffic
• 96% of B2B buyers want content with more input from industry thought leaders

These three figures are just a tiny snapshot of the masses of stats out there that illustrate how pretty much everybody is ramping up their content efforts these days, and reaping the widespread benefits of it too.

But if you’re planning to up your content output, then you’ve got to have the dedicated resource in place to make it happen. Doing it yourself when you get a spare minute in between other jobs won’t provide you with the steady stream of copy you need to keep your website regularly updated, populate your social media channels, educate your prospects and inform your customers.

Generating a constant flow of relevant and engaging content takes time, which is why so many businesses chose to outsource it to copywriters, who are all geared up to write copy day in, day out, all day long.

SIGN 2: You’re not a writer!

Producing content that really resonates with your target audience, depending on where they are in their buyer journey, takes real skill.

Outsourcing your content doesn’t just mean that you’re guaranteed to get great copy back that hits the mark first time around, you’ll also save yourself stacks of time in the process.

For instance, because I’m a former journalist, who’s used to having to produce news articles within extremely tight deadlines, I’m trained to turn copy around really quickly. But if writing isn’t your strength, then chances are it’ll most probably take you double the time to research and write a blog than if you outsourced it to somebody like me.

SIGN 3: Your content needs a new lease of life

It can be easy to fall into the trap of producing content that sounds samey, especially if you’ve set yourself the target of writing one to two blog posts every week. Producing fresh, new content is a real commitment and one that you should ideally stick to, so that you steadily build up awareness, as well as a dedicated following over time.

Making sure your content still sounds fresh (even if you’re still communicating the same key messages to similar personas) isn’t easy, which is why enlisting the expertise of an external pair of eyes can prove really useful.

A – you’ll get an objective viewpoint on your copy, which you’re most probably too close to, to clearly identify what needs to stay and what needs to go, and B – most experienced copywriters don’t just simply write, they’re also trained to get the full potential from all pieces of content and instinctively know how to revive and repurpose existing content.

Knowing when to outsource your content writing isn’t easy, but it’s signs like these that can help gauge the best time for you to go down the outsourced writing route. Got any questions or want to find out more about outsourcing your content? Contact me on sanina@skcopyco.com or by completing the contact form.