You started your business blog thinking it would be the answer to achieving all of your sales goals, but now you’ve realized you don’t have the time to write the content or come up with enough ideas to make the blog work for your business. But you’re not ready to give up just yet. You know that business blogging still works.
Or, maybe your company blog is humming along, creating high-value leads and boosting your sales, but one of your best writers has left the company and it’s going to take several weeks to replace them – or worse, your VP of marketing has informed you that you won’t be able to replace them at all.
These are just two situations in which you might begin thinking it’s time to buy blog content. And depending on your specific needs, there’s likely a solution for you out there in the marketplace. You could buy blog content from a copywriting agency that lets you buy articles piecemeal or à la carte. You might hire freelance writers, paying them by the word, piece or project. Or, you might decide to invest in your strategy and content by hiring a company that delivers both content development and content writing services – a company that specializes in content marketing.
What Do You Get When You Buy Blog Content À La Carte?
If you need a blog post as soon as possible to fill in a sudden gap in your content calendar and you’re not overly concerned with making sure the unique voice of your business is captured in the post, buying content à la carte can be a cheap and quick solution.
There are plenty of copywriting companies that offer convenient online content shops where you can choose from a large menu of options. Without a long-term contract to sign, companies offering piecemeal content can be a good option when you have a short-term need.
The turnaround is generally quick, you can order as much as you need and you can do it all without ever speaking to another person. But don’t expect this blog content to be the best you’ve ever published on your site. Many copywriting agencies that sell piecemeal content rely on freelancers who aren’t vetted in any meaningful way.
When you buy content à la carte, you’re rolling the dice when it comes to quality, and you’ll have to do your own editing, manage the content from start to finish and come up with all of the blog topics.
À la carte content services can be an economical choice when you have a short-term need. But, it’s prudent to keep an eye on your shopping cart. Many content writing services that provide an à la carte menu will try to lure you in with claims of low, low prices. Just $15 for a blog post? That sounds great until you get to the order form and realize that $15 only gets you a basic 150-word post. No photos, no editing, no strategy. Editing and other quality control measures are sometimes offered as extra services that you can pay for.
In general, you get what you pay for – content written by a freelance writer working through an agency that provides few, if any, quality control measures and no guarantee that the freelance writer has any working knowledge of content marketing best practices.
What Do You Get When You Buy Blog Content From A Freelancer?
When you hire freelance writers, you get the benefit of not having to pay for a lot of overhead costs, like healthcare and other benefits. While the cost of hiring freelance writers will likely be lower than hiring your own in-house content writing team, you’ll still have to manage both your content and potentially several different relationships over the course of your content creation needs.
Once you find a great freelance writer to work with, which will likely take some time and effort, using this system can work well if you have the time to manage the content and your deadlines and the time to generate your own blog topics.
It can also work well if you’re prepared to find another freelance writer if the one you’ve hired decides to drop you as one of their clients – something that can happen frequently since freelance writers tend to get into freelancing for the flexibility.
Also, if you use a system of hiring multiple freelance writers, it can be hard to maintain a consistent voice for your brand. The task of getting your pool of freelance writers to adhere to your business’ tone, voice and style requirements will fall on you as you manage multiple relationships.
What Do You Get When You Buy Bog Content From A Company That Offers Content Development Services?
Hiring a content marketing agency that delivers strategic content development services, editorial services and high-quality writing from trained, in-house content writers is a good choice when you really want to make the power of inbound marketing work for your business.
If you go with a content marketing agency that offers turnkey blogging services, you’ll have to make a commitment to the long-term growth of your business. You’ll often sign a contract or pay a monthly rate in order to get strategic and SEO expertise, professional consultation, blog topic generation, management of a content calendar, editorial and proofreading services and high-quality blog content.
With an agency that offers comprehensive content creation services, you’ll get a team of people that know how to help your blog and website rise to the top of the search engine results page (SERP), and they can help keep your pages there over time.
A team of content creators who are trained in the best practices of inbound and content marketing will understand what it takes to give you positive return on your investment in your business blog. They’ll know the value of using data-backed customer profiles to help target the right message to the right audience at the right time though the right channels.
Plus, you’ll enjoy the benefit of a fully managed service and a relationship that’s more likely to grow into a solid partnership over time. That’s because a full-service content agency will take the time to understand your business and industry and will work to give you the competitive edge.
Choosing The Right Content Writing Services For Your Needs
Freelance writers and copywriting agencies that offer blog content à la carte may be great choices for emergency and other short-term needs, but if your goal is to maintain a consistent publishing schedule with high-quality content that fuels a strategic content marketing campaign, you’re probably better off hiring a content marketing agency.
They’ll offer you both content development services provided by client-focused content strategists and great content written by expert writers who are trained to dive deep into your industry, your business and your customer profiles.
Choosing a content marketing firm over the freelance or à la carte options is an investment in the future of your business, and as such shouldn’t be considered lightly. Click here for a list of some of the most common objections to outsourcing content creation.
Or, you can download our free ebook, Outsourcing Content Creation: 6 Essential Questions for Choosing the Right Partner, to see if hiring a content writing service is right for your company.
