Who is best suited to handle content creation for your company? This is a question many marketing professionals ask themselves every day. Should everything be handled in-house or outsourced to an external service provider?
In this blog post, we’ll discuss the pros and cons of both options to help you make your decision. First, we’ll address two general questions.
What is content creation?
Content creation involves producing content, particularly for a company’s online activities. This includes, among other things:
Texts
Blog posts, product descriptions, landing pages, email campaigns, etc.
Pictures
Photos, infographics, illustrations, etc.
Videos
Product demos, tutorials, company presentations, etc.
Graphs
Tables, charts, maps, etc.
Posts on social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.
Audio
Podcasts, music, audiobooks, etc.
What is important in content creation?
Please follow these 3 important steps:
- Get to know your personas and their pain points before you start writing content.
- Develop a comprehensive strategy.
- After content creation is before content creation—Measure success using defined metrics.
Good content can do a lot for you. It boosts brand awareness. It increases website traffic. It builds customer relationships and generates leads.
But who is best suited to accomplish this for your company?
In-House Content Creation
In general, you can handle content creation in-house. The most important requirements are time and expertise. What does that mean? There should be a marketing department or at least one person responsible for marketing.
However, marketing activities should not be carried out haphazardly; rather, they should be embedded in an overall strategy. When creating content, always focus on the needs and pain points of your personas. This way, you can convey the right messages to your customers in a targeted manner. You’ll pique their interest, capture their attention, and inspire them.
Advantages
Cost Savings: If your company is still in the early stages of growth, the costs of external service providers play a significant role. It’s important to weigh your options carefully in this situation.
Quick response time: You have the ability to respond quickly to current events without having to go through numerous steps or contact multiple people. This is because the decisions rest with you or your direct supervisor. This can prove to be a major competitive advantage.
Expertise: You know your company best. External copywriters will always rely on your input.
Disadvantages
Time Commitment: Content creation can be time-consuming and distract from other important tasks. This can lead to high costs, even if they aren’t immediately apparent in the form of an invoice.
Lack of Skills: Do you have little or no experience writing content, producing videos, or optimizing a website? If so, the result may look unprofessional and damage your brand.
Lack of an Outside Perspective: Since you’re right in the thick of your business, you may lack the necessary distance. This makes it difficult to take a critical look at things.
Perseverance: It’s possible that you’ll lose the necessary perseverance over time. After all, sustainable content marketing requires patience. It takes weeks to see the results of your efforts. If you give up too quickly, you’ll be wasting your potential.
Outsource Content Creation
At first glance, writing texts, running ads, or posting on social media seems simple. However, professional content creation encompasses the following key areas:
- Featured Snippets
- Metadata
- Old Texts
- Long-tail Keywords
- White Space on Websites
No? That’s not unusual! After all, each field involves in-depth knowledge.
Outsourcing gives you access to this relevant expertise. As a result, you’ll need less capital—in the sense of building your own knowledge hub—and you’ll be able to achieve success more effectively.
Advantages
Professional Quality: External service providers typically have extensive experience in content creation. You can therefore expect to receive high-quality content.
An outside perspective: You benefit from having some distance from your company. This gives you an objective viewpoint and fresh ideas.
Resources: Each department has its own expert who is highly knowledgeable about a specific aspect of content creation.
Long-term vision: Agencies—and consultants in particular—do more than just help you create individual pieces of content. You can recognize a good service provider by the fact that all of its activities are based on a single foundation.
Disadvantages
Costs: Hiring help can be more expensive than creating content yourself. But don’t be fooled. Expensive agencies with a lot of flash don’t necessarily mean .
Loss of control: You may feel as though you’re giving up control. So be sure to shop around. A good advisor will work with you to develop a strategy and won’t make decisions over your head.
Coordination Effort: Working with a content creator can be time-consuming. Many details need to be coordinated with you and require multiple rounds of feedback and revisions.
Conclusion: Many roads lead to Rome. The only question is, should the journey be adventurous or safe?
There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this. It always depends on individual needs and resources.
If you have the skills and the time, in-house content creation is the right option. When producing content, however, always keep your personas and your overall strategy in mind.
If you need professional-quality results and have the budget for it, then an external partner is the better option. When making your selection, pay close attention to the external service provider’s strategic experience and professionalism. With a flexible consultant, you’ll also be able to find a way to take on parts of the content creation tasks yourself—specifically those areas where you have expertise and don’t have to stretch yourself too thin.
We'll help you with content creation
Are you looking for support with content creation for your company? Or would you like more information on what a partnership might look like?
We’d be happy to advise you. With our Leadengine Flex plan, we can tailor our services to your specific needs. Together, we’ll find the ideal content mix to generate more leads and ensure success across the board.
