Content marketing is here to stay in the long run, for it is massive right now. Even different researches conducted on the impact of good content over the business run show that smart content marketing is the reason why there are more leads, customers as well as web traffic for a specific business. More importantly, if you are a marketing agency creating content for your customers, then better content marketing will definitely serve your customers better.
Content marketing is secondary, while content creation is primary. Creating good content is not as easy as it may seem. In fact, if you do not have good content, what will be the point of marketing?
If your team does not give you the best kind of content as your business demands, then it is better to outsource content creation. Before discussing how to outsource content creation, it is important to know why should you outsource content creation. There are two primary reasons why content needs to be outsourced.
Content marketing is not only about promoting the content but also about various other aspects like editing, managing the community as well as social media, analyzing and many more. Sometimes, the group of people is not able to manage all the various parts of content marketing by themselves.
So, instead, the team ends up compromising on the content part itself and eventually somehow losing the race with the competitors. If you do not have enough people allocated for the different roles, then it is better to allocate it from outside.
Outsourcing can turn out to be a benefit eventually as you have a bigger pool of writers you can reach out to. And, thus that means you are increasing the talent pool at your place with better content.
A number of people – experts with new ideas – will definitely bring the change to content creation as it must.
Now, once you have realized why content creation must be outsourced for your business, it is time to understand how to outsource content creation.
Know your requirements and needs
Before you decide to hunt for the best content creator, you must know the requirements you have for the person. The requirements include what you expect from the person to write, what skills must he or she possesses, how his skills would be utilized by your company and many more.
This point is important because if you do not know what kind of skills you need, then you will start hiring people who will not even be able to fulfill your demands. Plus, the unneeded expense, both monetary as well as time, will definitely hurt you. So, start with brainstorming about what you require – what kind of content are you looking for.
Also, apart from the needs, you must keep in mind the budget you have. Don’t keep a fixated budget, but instead keep a flexible range. Summing these requirements, you should give a thought to in the following points:
Relevant skills for content creation
An important point you should be considering before you decide to outsource content creation. Do the writers have experience in the type of content and style you are seeking from them?
Do their styles and background match your criteria?
Subject matter knowledge and expertise
Are they knowledgeable enough about the content they are meant to write? How relevant are their skills to the time at present? Things will go really smoothly if the writer is relevant to time, and has the essential skills.
Adaptability
The writer should know how to adapt to every kind of condition that you could face in the content creation for the business. Even though the writer should have mastery of one style, but they should be thorough with the different styles of writing as well. Plus, they should be able to give enough time to multiple assignments and should be able to deal with the different audiences as well.
Accessibility
Will they be available for work at the earliest possible?
This point is important mostly for the people who live in different time zones. This is important if you are wanting to have an in-office meeting, and the time zones vary. So, the provisions must be made for effective communication.
Finding the ‘great’ candidates
Now, there are multiple ways you can get yourself the best candidates in the business. You may consider the following options.
Recommendations: This may not exactly be the most preferred means to get yourself the best writers, but sometimes professional networks can be a big help. Go on LinkedIn, and find a good one.
Post your assignment on job board or talent exchange
This is good and has become a mundane way in recent times to find yourself the best talent. Freelancer services like Upwork or LinkedIn Pro Finder can definitely do for you. There are some websites which are specific for writers only. These freelancer sites often work the best as there is a pool of writers you can choose from.
Make use of the staffing agency or the content marketing platform
Once you are done figuring out what you need from the content creator, you can decide on any content creation platform like Zerys for Agencies. Make sure you use the platform, understand how it works and continues experimenting. Repeat this process for multiple platforms. Also, do not forget to place some simple orders and sampling the writers. Once you are comfortable with the platform, you will be able to use its advanced features easily.
Research, and recruit
If you think you can do it easily without anyone’s help through researching online and can identify the good ones out of the numerous writers available, then you should recruit the writers directly. If you have a few names at the back of your mind, then don’t forget to check their profile on LinkedIn and then check in with them if they are interested in the work you are offering them. This will never hurt you, even if they refuse the offer. You could still ask for references, and hence you have the upper hand I if you choose to research and recruit.
Whichever method you choose out of the above, it is important for you to be professional. Professional writers are extremely skilled, and their skilled writing is what helps them earn money. If you are serious for professional relations i.e. with financial compensation, only then you should contact them.
Sampling Writers, and verification
Do not rely upon one writer, but instead go for numerous writers. You will definitely not find the best writer in one stroke. Take multiple chances, and find out which one of the numerous you choose who can make your business grow many folds. The biggest benefit of checking out different samples is that you will be able to understand your needs as well. And, do not just look at the past portfolio of the writer, but instead, try out working with them.
Give them some topic according to the requirement of the business, and then see whether what they write works for you or not. This is the best way to find a writer who can match your needs.
There are a few points that you must keep in mind when you are verifying their skills and assignments to see whether they cross the benchmark.
Relevant skills
The experience matters in the case of content creation. You need to see if they fulfill the criteria. And, you also need to check if they can write the content you want them to.
Adaptability
It is a needed skill for someone in the business. There can be many challenges and one needs to be prepared to adapt to them.
Be crystal clear with your instructions
This is a give-and-take job. If you want the writers to give you amazing write-ups, then you must give them amazing, crystal clear as well as sound instructions. And, it is difficult to maintain the balance. The instructions should be concise and comprehensive. This skill is really important to be mastered from your end – as the business.
This includes using metrics for the instructions. The measurable metrics will be the way of controlling the quality of the content. The metrics will ensure that the writers understand what you are saying, and hence comply with your instruction to eventually give content that your company desires.
So, when you are outsourcing the content creation, make sure you are answering the questions for the writers as follows:
- Length of the content
- Keywords that must be part of the content.
- Should images be part of the content?
- The tone of the content
- Links, if any. Quotations or not.
- If you tell them about all the parameters beforehand, you will be able to guide them better into writing good content for you.
Reward the writers
Obviously, you cannot expect the writers to give you the best result if you are not treating them right. Note that if you give them the best of your services, they will surely return the favor by giving you the best possible content. You can do this in many ways like giving a bonus or some incentives frequently. For example, if you are using the platform like Zerys, within a few clicks you can add the tip on the content approval screen.
Apart from the incentives, make sure you are professional, but also understanding. Just as an example, if someone who has worked with for you for a few months abruptly had an emergency due to which he or she is unable to send you, then you must understand their situation instead of flipping your lid. Though this may pretty obvious to you right now, once you are in such a situation, the most common reaction would be to flip out at the person. So, you definitely need to avoid this.
Invest in long term relationships
There are many tools online which will help you in finding the best writers, but eventually, content creation and development are all about people. For becoming successful in the long run, you should spend time in building long term relationships with different solid writers.
Once you are done with identifying the right writers for you, make sure that you give the deserved well-thought feedback as well. Appreciate them for the qualities and efforts they put in, but also guide them on the right way so that they know what they are doing. Eventually, they will continue working hard and soon enough will give you the best result.
Sign a contract
If you are doing it officially as a business, then it is good to make it legal. A contract is a protection cover for both of you: the writer and the company. This is a good way to ensure that neither can they back off nor can you. It is a good way to keep both the partners bound to the company.
Thus, these are the main steps or considerations which will help you when you decide to outsource content creation. For someone who has never outsourced content creators or for that matter any professional, this may seem an enormous thing. And, thus they would end up deciding on not doing it. But, in the long run, this will prove out to be a wrong decision when the content won’t be getting you anywhere.
Conclusions :
Content marketing is hard, especially when you do not have enough resources to fulfill the needs you have. So don’t choose to avoid outsourcing – this can really make your life easier. Maintaining the content quality is important, and by outsourcing the content creators, you are ensuring that to happen. The only important thing that you need to ensure from your end is that you know exactly what you require. If you know the requirements properly, then definitely communicate your needs in the most concise way. If you do this, everything will be at ease.