The capacity for great leadership is within everyone’s grasp, whether heading a corporation, small company or staff of 10 people.

One essential to becoming a dynamic leader is learning to delegate effectively. For some leaders, this is a difficult concept to grasp. As a business grows, so too does its daily onslaught of tasks. Therefore, leadership teams must entrust certain assignments to outside experts.

Generating highly effective content is one task that most leadership teams desire to improve. However, a lingering question that often stands in the way of making a decision is who will do the work? Highly effective business leaders realize that they have little time to write content. Additionally, they may be uncertain what to write about or are not achieving desired results from current content.

These leaders have little time to train or leverage existing staff. And this existing staff also may not have time to create engaging and targeted content for the company. Outsourcing content is an effective and efficient solution for companies. The Content Marketing Institute identified that 44 percent of B2B marketers now outsource content creation, and 57 percent of B2B technology marketers outsource content.

Issues around using employees to produce content

Some companies are still unsure of the long-lasting benefits of outsourcing content marketing. Company leaders may feel a staff member is capable of writing website copy, posting to social media, creating a company-wide brand message or writing a blog or e-newsletter. However, writing is a skill that takes time to cultivate. Although a staff member may be a good writer, few are outstanding writers.

Outstanding writers can regularly generate leads, increase customer loyalty and solidify a company’s reputation as a top-of-mind resource. Also, many in-house writers are not knowledgeable in all areas of content generation. They may understand search engine optimization (SEO) but not the use of keywords. They may also be less diverse in their writing style or unsure about what is most important to communicate.

The benefits of outsourced content

It’s true that in-house staff may have industry experience and a good grasp of company policy and products. However, the cost and time to train and manage a staff writer may not be worth the effort. After all, a great writer will have up-to-date results in keyword targeting, SEO, proper formatting and calls to action. Other benefits of using outsourced content include:

• Account management– By outsourcing talent to a content marketing firm, companies reap the benefits of account managers who train, give feedback, edit and manage a team of skilled writers. This saves company leaders time, allowing them to focus on other business at hand.

• With experience comes speed – In-house writers may know the product, service and industry; however, to formulate copy that is SEO- and keyword-rich takes training. Outsourcing content, particularly extensive or time-consuming projects or promotions, can save companies valuable time. The leadership provides direction and the outsourced professionals create informative and engaging content, targeting to a company’s audience.

• Outsourced content providers know what works– Many in-house writers are biased, which can lead to content becoming too promotional and salesy. Outsourced content providers provide a broad knowledge base and skilled writing for specific markets. By distributing content consistently, they can provide targeted content that drives a higher level of engagement. They also understand the need for fresh content that is relevant and boosts search rankings.

• Specialty writers– While an in-house writer may not have a grasp of SEO or calls to actions, content providers usually have access to a network of specialty writers with expertise in all content creation.

• Quality is essential– Excellent writing skills are learned over time. Companies don’t always have the time or resources to train in-house writers. Content writers create content that communicates a desired benefit, frames a big idea, entertains or educates. Professional writers’ years of experience can make useful content readable, engaging, persuasive or technical.

• Content that is too narrow-minded– Many companies, and tech company owners in particular, often produce content that is far too esoteric. It is true that they know the inner-workings of their company far better than an outsider. However, this often leads them to create content that is narrow in scope or difficult to read. Outsourcing content ensures tech companies’ material is straightforward and clear as well as interesting to their audience and potential customers.

• Tools and software– Outsourcing content creation helps companies gain access to a provider’s leading-edge tools, which saves time and money compared to using general software that may be out-of-date.

Why increasing content can boost ROI

Generally known goals for most companies include generating sales, improving operating efficiencies, creating brand awareness and acquiring leads. However, senior management may be unsure how increasing content can actually boost return on investment. A good place to start may be looking at the competition and what they are doing regarding content creation.

According to HubSpot, business-to-business (B2B) companies that posted 11 or more company blog entries per month had almost three times more traffic than companies who published less than one monthly blog item. Of course, the amount of content a company distributes may depend on objectives and goals but companies that post new and fresh content see increased leads and traffic to their websites.

Costs of outsourcing content creation

Outsourcing content creation makes sense from a time-management perspective as well as from a financial one. Companies should consider the differences of cost for in-house compared to outsourcing. They must consider in-house costs associated with payroll taxes, benefits, salary, training and what value they place on company leadership’s time.

When outsourcing content providers, companies must analyze outsourced content pricing structures. One question to consider is whether to charge per hour, per article or per word. Companies must also consider the fact that outsourcing content provides other benefits as well. It saves time and money on account management, takes the burden off in-house staff, is always SEO- and keyword-rich, engages the audience, educates and drives traffic to the website.

Content marketing is a full-time job. By partnering with a content marketing team, companies hire skilled and professional writers and up-to-date technology. These features help make publishing and analyzing content easier and less time-consuming.

Tempesta Media delivers expert content, provides a full-service solution that is cost-effective for agencies, companies, tech companies and B2B entities. Tempesta Media values honesty and clarity. They are direct, trustworthy partners and consultants who help businesses grow and prosper by providing expert content marketing and results that matter.