Content marketing can be very effective. 

However, to be successful, you need a regular flow of interesting and engaging articles, and content production at scale. That requires writers. 

While it may be tempting to hire an in-house team of content producers, outsourcing this function offers many advantages, not the least of which is cost savings.

Pros and cons of outsourcing writers

Saving money isn’t the only advantage of outsourcing your content creation. 

Flexibility is another major advantage. 

With freelancers, you can easily match your expenditure on content to your needs. Your writers will be there when you need them, but you don’t have to pay them during your slow periods.

The main disadvantage of outsourcing is giving up some degree of control. 

When your writer is an employee, you have more recourse than you do with a freelancer if they miss a deadline or turn in poor work. 

However, by working with a digital marketing platform like WriterAccess that vets its writers, you can depend on quality work. Many platforms, including WriterAccess, guarantee you’ll be satisfied.

The three most common outsourcing mistakes

It’s wise to learn from other people’s mistakes and not commit these four common outsourcing errors.

1. Not communicating clearly with your writer.

Giving vague guidelines or (worse) no guidelines at all can be frustrating for all concerned. You may have an idea of what you want your article to look like, but if you don’t share that with your writer, your finished article could be something else entirely.

Clarity goes a long way, really. Sometimes, just a quick Zoom call, a few notes in a shared doc, or even a fast back-and-forth by email can save everyone a ton of disappointment. The tiniest details—preferred formatting, sources you love (or hate), even the intended audience’s mood—can shape the whole piece. Sure, it takes a little more time at the start, but it almost always beats having to rewrite half the thing after you realize you and your writer were picturing totally different end results. In any case, over-communicating beats leaving people guessing.

2. Not reviewing a prospective writer’s portfolio

Not all writers are alike. Each has his or her own voice, experience, and expertise. 

To get a feel for a writer’s talent, it’s important to review samples of the writer’s work. Most writers will be happy to share samples or point you toward articles they have published online.

Sometimes you’ll even come across a writer with a surprisingly fitting specialty you hadn’t thought to look for. Maybe they’ve covered your exact niche, or something close enough to make onboarding a breeze. Of course, nobody’s going to be a mind reader, but seeing how people approach different topics—their rhythm, reliability with facts, general vibe—does more than any resume ever could. Don’t skip this step; it’s a free peek at what you might expect before you spend a dime.

3. Not understanding your budget.

Not knowing what outsourcing is going to cost you can also be frustrating. 

You might find a great writer who fits your needs, have them write an article or two, and then have to pull the plug on the project because you don’t have the money to keep them writing for you.

Should you outsource content writing?

Outsourcing your content writing can be a great advantage. 

Not only will it likely save you money and time in the long run, but it gives you different voices and can ramp up your content marketing efforts much more quickly than if you tried to write dozens and dozens of articles with the same one or two staff writers.

According to “Forbes” magazine, 84 percent of business-to-business marketers outsource their content creation and 55 percent of business-to-consumer marketers do. 

The magazine lists flexibility, cost, and different voices as the advantages most commonly given for using outsourcing.

Outsourcing your content marketing with WriterAccess

WriterAccess makes it easy to find qualified, experienced writers with a skill set that matches your writing needs. 

We have a talent pool of more than 15,000 writers and editors with expertise that ranges from real estate and law to e-commerce and digital marketing. Most writers on the platform have detailed profiles with samples of their work, so you can get a feel for the type of content they produce. 

We rank writers from three stars to six stars, at corresponding price points.

When you work with a digital marketing platform like WriterAccess, you don’t have to worry about vetting the writers. We’ve already done that. 

You also can be assured that your writer will turn in compelling content. Not only do we guarantee it, but we have a 99.97 success rate over more than two million projects in our 10+ years in business.

In addition to making it easy to outsource content writing, WriterAccess also offers content managers who make sure that your content is well-optimized for search engines, so it can be easily found by your customers and potential customers.

We invite you to browse our writer profiles and see how easy it is to work with our talent pool.