Content marketing is at the heart of any inbound marketing program. Content does not appear automatically, though; it must be created, edited, optimized and posted online. 
Many companies produce their own content, but there are also content creation companies who specialize in making content for others. The content they produce, from blog posts to infographics to videos, are posted to your company's site just as if you had created them yourself.
It is a common practice, and is no different from advertising agencies creating commercials for their clients or a web design company creating your company's website. But is outsourcing your content--in a way, your company's very voice--a good idea?
Advantages of Outsourcing Content Creation
There is no universal, black-and-white answer to the question of whether you should outsource your website's content. But there are some definite advantages to having an outside specialist create content for you.
- Time. One of the main reasons cited for outsourcing content creation is the amount of time it can save you. For many small business owners, writing website content falls directly on their shoulders, or into the hands of trusted managers. Unfortunately, such people rarely have much free time for creating content; they are too busy running the business. Content marketing therefore often gets neglected, or becomes an unwelcome chore. Outsourcing content creation solves this problem.
- Knowledge. There is a lot to know about the specifics of content creation, from researching and properly using keywords to the techniques used to generate more backlinks and social media shares. Someone who specializes in creating website content will know all of the ins and outs, and will help you avoid common content marketing mistakes.
- Skill. You are probably really good at what you do every day. Odds are, though, what you do every day does not include creating website illustrations or writing and formatting eBooks. By outsourcing the creation of such content, you get to utilize the professional skills of people who do specialize in those tasks.
- Equipment. Most companies are not going to own the expensive equipment needed to produce professional video content, or the expensive software used for creating illustrations. Instead of buying or renting such resources, outsourcing content allows you to essentially share the cost with the rest of the agency's clients.
- Ideas. An outside content producer can brainstorm additional content ideas to add to your own, making it less likely that you will run out of topics for your blog.
- Promotion. Having more people working on your content marketing program means you have additional help in promoting and sharing your content online, potentially leading to more clicks and a higher page ranking.
- Money. Outsourcing your website's content does come with a price tag. However, that cost is often less than it would be if you did the work yourself. Hiring someone to create content in-house, for example, can be more expensive overall, especially if you don't require enough content to keep an employee busy full-time. And trying to get "free" content by having existing employees work on it part-time is actually quite expensive, especially if it means you are paying a high-dollar manager or engineer to do creative work that normally would not pay that well.
- Results. What you are really looking for from your content marketing is results. You want your content marketing to grow your business. You want it to attract website visitors and gain leads which you can turn into sales. Often, an outside agency which specializes in content marketing can do a better job of producing the results you want.
Outsourcing your website's content may not always be necessary, but for most companies it is a good idea that is worth considering.
*Image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net
