It can be surprising how many myths you discover when you look into the workings of a business, especially surrounding content generation. There is an illusion surrounding content, which is that only the company has the expertise write about the company and its products. Basically, people are reluctant to relinquish their control over content written.
It seems some companies are missing a beat, however, as outsourcing content often produces a better quality result and significantly benefits the company. Agencies are a popular choice for companies to outsource their content to, as they provide a fresh, and sometimes much-needed distinct approach to the content, which can inspire new and different ideas.
Negative perceptions often surround the notion of outsourcing content, as many companies believe that no one else will know their brand or products as well as they do. It is also viewed as a costly thing to do, as companies believe there is no need to outsource, when their own employees have the skills and information to write the content themselves.
To me, it seems companies are struggling to understand their priorities, and are failing to take advantage of opportunities which are thrown at their feet. Outsourcing provides a new creative stream of ideas, as well as providing a new perspective on products, that the company would never have been able to deliver. Cost is not a problem either, as I can guarantee is it not as expensive as expected, and really, who can be worried about the price when you are receiving outstanding, and inspired content from your source. Added to this, the opportunity cost of having someone who doesn’t often write take time out of their day job to create an article of white paper is usually much higher than the cost of outsourcing to a specialist.
Finally, in-house content is often written for an in-house audience. If you’re an engineer developing a product, you spend a lot of your time talking to the sales team, other internal engineers and applications, and much less time talking to customers. This can mean that the content is written from your perspective, rather than that of your customers. Getting an outside view is much more likely to produce content that engages and resonates with the customers who you really want to buy the product.
Why Companies Should …
This is one of a series of three blogs written by Napier intern Hannah Kelly asking why companies should undertake different marketing activities. Read the other posts in the series: