In the modern world, in particular due to the Corona Virus pandemic, working from home is becoming not only more and more common but it’s actually becoming a necessity. Remote working can save you and your business a lot of money in the long run by saving you in areas such as: Electricity, food and beverages, IT costs, mental health of employees, and overall employee productivity.
One of area of your business that is perfect for outsourcing to remote workers is content marketing. As long as the content that is published reflects your brands voice, provides value, and is produced in a consistent and reliable way well then you could be on to a winner. The fact is, that it makes very little difference whether your employee creates the content in-house or creates it remotely.
Some old-fashioned employers like to see their employees inside in the office all day but this archaic and dumb thinking is a rapidly dieing mindset. With work laptops, you can monitor what your employees are doing, whether they are residing in Timbuktu or whether they are out in your office floor. Hiring employees to work remotely will also lead a far happier and healthier employee because allowing them to work remotely will save them a huge amount of time and money when it comes to travel costs and other associated costs.
Additionally, many content creators, writers, copywriters, artistic people are natural introverts and consequently the chances are they will find working in some stuffy office a living nightmare. The added stress of having to complete their work In a prison like environment will lead to a drop in productivity and output.
If you want to get the very best out of artistic people you should allow the opportunity to flourish in an environment that will help bring the best out of them. Commuting for 3 or 4 hours per day and then working the 9-5pm wont bring the best out in anyone, it will eventually suck the life clean out of you.
This blog will attempt to demonstrate why outsourcing your content marketing needs is the proper strategy for your business and why such a strategy will pay dividends in the long run.
1. Choose your writers wisely
Hiring the correct writer can sometimes be a difficult task. First of all, you’ll need to decide what kind of writer you want to hire? Will you be looking for an SEO copywriter or just a bog standard writer who has zero concept when it comes to creating articles to rank on Google?
If you’re planning on hiring writers you should always ask for samples from previous work that they have completed. This will allow you to gauge whether they have the skills that you need. If the writer has a vast array of material from a number of industries, sometimes this is evidence that he/she is willing to research and educate themselves when it comes to new industries any so they may be a good hire.
2. Provide clear guidelines
If you intend to outsource your content creation you’ll need to provide crystal clear guidelines and instructions in respect of what tone of voice, style, and type of branding that you need. One way you can accomplish this is to provide a style sheet/guide to any new writers or content creators. Another way you can accomplish this goal is to show your new content creators examples of previous content that was created at your company.
Just because you are outsourcing your content this does not mean that you take a brain lobotomy and outsource your brain to some third party. As the director/CEO of the company the onus will still be on you to come up with ideas and ensure that these ideas are implemented in a voice that aligns with your brands voice.
If you have a clear vision in respect of what you want to accomplish this will allow you to relay this vision to your content creators.
3. Consistency
You should aim for consistency in producing content. Regular content will allow you to build up a following that will increase your conversions in the long run. Of course, you’ll want grammar and minor things pretty much perfect but you shouldn’t agonise over minor details if these minor details begin to hold up your content production output. What I’m alluding to, is that your blog posts don’t have to literary masterpieces- as long as the content is informative and SEO optimised, this should be your paramount concern.
4. When it comes to content creation you get what you pay for
So you’re looking to hire writers and you come across some writers offering their services for only 10$ per blog post, or even less. You’re thinking “Wow, I could save a lot of cash here by hiring these cheap blog writers.” Believe me, whilst on the surface this strategy might sound great in the long run it is bound to fail. When it comes to hiring cheap content writers the fact is that many of these writers have atrocious writing skills.
Some of them wont even use English as their first language and so this will result in content that is created that sounds unnatural or robotic.
There is an old saying which states that, “If you pay peanuts, then you’ll get Monkeys” and this saying is very appropriate in relation to content creation. The content that you create is a cornerstone of your brand and you should ensure that you invest in content creators that are experts in their field.
5. Leverage your writers contacts
Many companies want writers to create content anonymously but this strategy can have its advantages and disadvantages. Why? Because sometimes writers produce their best content when their name and their headshot is included with the work. The fact is, every person, including writers, have some level of ego and you should play to this ego and attempt to exploit it for the benefit of your business.
Another advantage in allowing an outsourced content writer to promote themselves on your platform is that often top quality content creators will have a successful blog with a lot of followers, you can encourage them to share your content with their network. This quid pro quo works both ways and can result in both companies experiencing significant growth in traffic and online sales.
6. Analyse content creation the results
So you’re fixated that your content and branding should be produced in a particular manner but the results that you’re reaching don’t match up to your expectations. This might be the time to take stock and re-evaluate. When the results aren’t matching your expectations, you need to ask yourself whether the strategy you’re asking your outsourced content creators to employ is the proper strategy?
If the statistics are down maybe it could be the time for you to put your trust in the outsourced content creators that you’ve hired. Maybe these content creators could have vibrant, original, and exciting new ideas that have the potential to grow your business but you’ve ignore these ideas simply because you’re stuck in your ways! Believe me, being dogmatic and refusing to learn from your mistakes can be the killer heel to your business. Be open minded and ask your content creators what they think may work for your business. Ask them why you think the traffic isnt what it should be.
7. Get your outsourced content creators to employ market research
A crucial area that you should be able to utilise your content creators skills is in the area of market research. What is the point of you hiring a blog writer and the content thats being created doesn’t suit your target markets needs.
A good content creator should have developed persona’s in respect of his/her’s target market, this strategy will allow them to tailor make their content so that it suits your markets needs. For example, if you’re targeting a particular keyword that you want to rank for and this keyword doesn’t really feed into the target market well then you are wasting your time.
Overall
If you’re thinking of outsourcing your content creation to a third-party this can be a very effective way for you to grow your business. If you outsource your content creation in an effective and sensible manner this strategy has the potential to take your business to the next level.
Like I’ve already alluded to in the blog above there are a number of vital areas that you need to factor into the equation, areas such as: Choosing a writer, providing guidelines, consistency, not hiring cheap, analyse of results. All of these factors will have a significant impact in deciding whether the outsourced content creator that you hire is going to end up being the perfect one for you.
If you’re looking to outsource your content creation needs contact us here and we’ll be happy to provide you with a free quote.
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