Content marketing is an effective tool for small businesses because it is cost-effective, builds customer trust, and increases organic visibility in search and AI. But why do so many businesses struggle with content? For one-thing, it can be incredibly time-consuming if you do not have the right skillset. Small businesses can therefore choose to outsource content marketing, but only if it makes sense.
Reasons Why a Small Business Should Outsource Content Marketing
Outsourcing content marketing means contracting an agency or freelancer partner to publish content on your website and social media pages. The right partner brings a level of knowledge, expertise, and scalability to maximize your content’s effectiveness in organic and AI search.
Save Time and Focus for Core Business Operations
The main disadvantage of content marketing is that it takes significant time and effort. Writing a blog, even if it is about a topic in which you are an expert, can be a long process. And on top of the writing, you need to do keyword research, audience analysis, AI search optimization, and publishing, among other things. Outsourcing content marketing to a partner means that you can avoid all this time and effort.
Access Content Marketing Knowledge and Expertise
While there are many content marketing tips that small businesses can follow, outsourcing content certainly helps you maximize performance. Agencies and freelancers, because they work on so many projects, have the knowledge to take your content to the next level. They are experts at SEO, writing, editing, design, analytics, and AI optimization.
Reduce Costs of Hiring an In-House Team
Content marketing is cost efficient for most small businesses, unless you need to hire an in-house team to handle it. Outsourcing content marketing is almost always less expensive than an in-house team. Typically, you pay a manageable monthly fee to your agency or freelance partner. You need not worry about benefits or office and supply costs.
Maintain Content Marketing Consistency and Scheduling
To really get the most of your content marketing, you need to consistently publish new content on your website and social media pages. This may be difficult as a small business owner because you are constantly being pulled in different directions. Agencies and freelancers will make sure that your content strategy stays on schedule. In fact, any signed contract will include a calendar or schedule of content deliverables.
Scale Content Marketing Efforts
Content marketing plans often start slow and steady but then ramp up over time. As such, even if you can manage your content in the short-term, long-term content production can be difficult. Outsourcing your content makes it easier to scale your content effort so you can achieve something close to maximum visibility.
Gain a New Perspective on Your Small Business
When you work at a small business, you are so close to the products and services that it is sometimes difficult to get in the mind of a customer. As a result, your content may be too technical or complex to resonate. Agency and freelancer partners who do not live inside your small business can write closer to how customers actually search and talk. These partners can also provide you with a fresh perspective about your business.
Reasons Why a Small Business Should Not Outsource Content Marketing
Choosing not to outsource content marketing means keeping it in-house and relying on you or your team to manage your website and social media pages. This is more time-consuming and sometimes costly, but your content will better-reflect your small business.
Loss of Authentic Brand Voice and Depth
Agency and freelancer partners may tell you that they are extensions of your marketing team, but no matter what, they are outsiders. They do not interact with customers, attend sales meetings, or do any of the other things that your employees do. Outsourced content marketing may sound generic or slightly inaccurate. You may review an outsourced blog article and say, “This is fine, but it is not us.”
Lack of Subject Matter Expertise in Industry
Related to the loss of authentic brand voice is the lack of subject matter expertise. Agency and freelance partners do not understand your products and services as well as you do. This means that they will not be able to demonstrate the level of expertise that is now required for AI search visibility.
Disconnection from Real Customers
Agency and freelance partners, as outsiders, may better understand how customers search and talk. However, they do not actually connect with real customers, so outsourced content may not be as customer-centric. These partners can research customer questions and trends, but they will not have the customer insights that you do.
Slower Response Times to Industry Trends
Small businesses are typically lean enough to quickly adapt to industry trends. In fact, this is an important advantage that small businesses have over large businesses. Outsourcing your content marketing may mean that you give up this level of adaptability. Agency and freelancer partners simply cannot keep up with your industry (unless they are specialized and only work in one industry).
Hybrid Gameplan for Outsourced Content Marketing
The truth is that most small businesses should rely on a hybrid plan that combines outsourced and in-house content marketing. This helps you take advantage of marketing experts while sticking to your brand voice and expertise.
Easy-to-follow gameplan: Outsource volume and production heavy content while keeping high-stakes and technical stories in-house.
Best Types of Outsourced Content Marketing
The best types of outsourced content marketing for small businesses are:
- Blogs
- How-to articles
- Comparison pages
- Infographics
- Videos
Best Types of In-House Content Marketing
The best types of in-house content marketing for small businesses are:
- Thought leadership articles
- Product and service pages
- Product and service guides
- Social media posts
CORE Search and Content Marketing
Are you looking to outsource at least part of your content marketing? CORE Search offers content marketing services that are designed to meet your needs. We are experts at blog and local content on your website, as well as social media content.