Should you outsource content marketing? 3 things to consider

With the shrinking of full-time marketing staff and the rise of platforms like Upwork and Fiverr, outsourced marketing roles are becoming commonplace on small marketing teams. Bringing on specialized freelancers is a great way to stretch your marketing capabilities without committing to another full-time team member. 

One specialty that is outsourced increasingly more often in the past several years is content marketing. You may be in the position where you want to kick off a great content strategy and are wondering whether you should outsource content marketing on your team.

Let’s go over the top 3 considerations to decide whether hiring a freelance content marketer is the right decision for you. 

What kind of budget do you have? 

Content marketing is a highly specialized skill that takes a deep knowledge of both creative and strategic tactics to see results. So hiring someone full-time to take on this role often comes with a hefty price tag. From offering a competitive salary to providing ample benefits, some companies, especially solopreneurs and small startups, are just not able to squeeze this amount out of their budget.

Hiring a freelancer can help you dip your toes in the content marketing pool without sacrificing a large portion of your total marketing budget. 

Many professionals that you can outsource content marketing to either offer an hourly rate or package rates that allow you to pay for only the services you need. The hourly rate can vary based on experience but typically ranges from $40-70/hour. 

This hourly or package-based pricing can help you take advantage of any spare time or capabilities you already have on your team, and supplement them with your content marketing pro’s work. 

2. How much of your existing marketing strategy do you have built out? 

While content marketing is a highly profitable branch of content marketing, if you dive in too quickly before getting the rest of your marketing foundation in place, you may be putting the wagon before the horse. 

You may prefer to make your first full-time hire in the marketing department a generalist, rather than a specialist. This gives your marketing strategy the ability to be more flexible. Hiring a full-time specialist like a content marketer may not be the best use of your likely already tight budget. 

At this point in a small company’s lifespan, hiring freelancers can help fill gaps in your marketing leader’s knowledge as well as expand the hours your marketing team has to get things done – without breaking the bank. 

If you’re just kicking off your marketing strategy, I recommend that you outsource content marketing for things like: keyword research, auditing your website for SEO health, planning your content calendar, and writing content to make the most of this foundational period.

3. How thinly stretched is your team right now? 

I’ve been on several small marketing teams (I’m talking 2-5 people), so if anyone understands the chaos and stress of it all, it’s me. You feel like sometimes there just aren’t enough hours in the day. And honestly, it may be because there aren’t.

The ability to hire someone full-time is a luxury you’re typically not afforded often on small teams. And this forces you to divvy up a little of everything onto everyone’s plates. However, this may end up costing you even more than it would if you hire a freelancer.

When team members are overworked or have to take on projects that they have minimal knowledge on, incredible results will likely not follow. Especially when it comes to work that requires as much deep strategic thinking as content marketing does. 

Bringing on someone on a project-by-project basis or through hourly consultations to pick their brain will often have an ROI that far outweighs the price you’re paying them (if you hire the right person).

Not only are your team members getting the hours back that they previously spent on things like aimlessly researching keywords, drafting blogs whose topics may have been pulled out of thin air or writing eBooks that very few people ever download – you’re filling those hours with work based on proven experience and expertise. And the person signing off on your budget for freelancers can’t argue with positive ROI. 

Do you fit the criteria to outsource content marketing on your team? 

I’d love to chat! Whether you’re just looking for a little guidance, want more full-support content strategy and creation, or somewhere in between, I have a package that’s perfect for you. 

And most importantly, as a content marketer experienced in working on small teams and as a solopreneur, I understand the quirks that you may have with budgets, team dynamics and reporting ROI on everything you do. I can help you fit content marketing seamlessly into your processes to make your job easier and give you impressive results to present to your boss. 

Ready to take it to the next step? Book a free 30-minute consultation!

Prefer to browse more? Check out my available services or peep my portfolio to see what I’ve accomplished in other companies.