The Battle Between In-House vs. Outsourced Content Marketing: What Is Best For Your Business?

Written by Vineet Sethi

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In-house marketing teams and agencies have pros and cons in the content marketing world. The decision of which is best for your business depends on several factors. This includes the scope of your content marketing strategy, budget and team capacity.

In-house content marketing programs may be suitable when a company has a marketing team with relevant skills. If the team is experience and knowledgeable, they can create content that will attract customers and drive sales. 

However, outsourced content marketing strategies are beneficial in most other situations. 

Read on to find out the advantages and disadvantages of each, so you can determine which one is right for you.

In-House Content Marketing

As the name suggests, in-house content marketing is when a company creates and manages its content marketing strategy. It is an ideal approach when your company has the resources, skills, and capacity to create content for marketing. 

A marketing team with experience in creating compelling content for campaigns can generate high-quality content for your business by leveraging their expertise and understanding of your industry. 

However, it comes with challenges, including finding the time for your marketing team to create content when there are other responsibilities. Additionally, your in-house marketing team must have relevant skills conducive to creating content that will drive sales and customer interest.

Outsourced Content Marketing

Outsourced content marketing is when a company hires a third party to create and manage its content. Agencies may be employed to provide content marketing services, or freelancers can provide content on a contract basis. In-house teams may outsource content marketing when there is a busy schedule or lack of necessary skills or tools. Outsourcing content marketing can also be a wise choice when you want to focus on other aspects of your business that are more critical. As a third party, agencies or freelancers will access the proper tools for creating the correct type of content for your business. In addition, agencies and freelancers have the advantage of having multiple team members creating content, which can help ramp up your content creation process. 

What to consider when deciding between in-house and outsourcing

• Scalability – In-house content marketing is great when you have the resources to create content, but what happens if the demand is higher than your team can handle? Outsourcing some or all of your content creation can help scale your program and meet the needs of your business. 

• Budget – It is essential to consider your budget when deciding the best approach for your business. An in-house content marketing program will likely cost less than outsourcing your content creation to an agency. However, other factors, such as your team’s time and skill level, may affect the overall budget. 

• Team capacity – Is there enough capacity in your team to manage the content creation process? If your team does not have the time, or capability, to create relevant content, outsourcing your content marketing to a third party may be a better option. 

• Team skill level – Is your team skilled at creating content that will attract customers and drive sales? In-house content marketing requires marketers experienced in creating content for your business to drive sales and generate leads. In addition to writing skills, this requires time to remain abreast with the latest trends on social media and other marketing channels. In most cases, companies have limited resources or lack relevant skills to create this type of content. 

Advantages of In-House Content Marketing

• Control over content – When you create content in-house, you have complete control over the creatives and content used to engage your customers. Your team can create highly tailored content based on what your customers want to read and see.

• Cost efficiency – In-house content marketing can be effective and cost-efficient when done correctly. However, it is essential to account for the time and resources used to create the content. You also want to ensure that your team generates enough leads and sales through their efforts. 

• Reduce lead time – Because you are creating the content in-house, the process of creating content and distributing it may be shorter. You may also be able to create content at faster speeds due to your team’s experience.

Disadvantages of In-House Content Marketing

• Inexperience – Unless your team members are experienced in creating content that will drive sales, you may end up with ineffective or unhelpful content. It can be challenging to determine what type of content your business should be creating without the experience necessary to create that content. 

• Lack of freshness – Content created by your team will likely be stale and predictable. If you make the same types of content repeatedly, it will fail to generate interest from your customers. 

• Lack of scalability – If demand for your content increases beyond your team’s capacity, increasing production to meet your customers’ needs can be challenging. Outsourcing some or all of your content creation can help scale your program and meet the needs of your business. 

Advantages of Outsourced Content Marketing

• Expertise – An agency or freelancer experienced in creating content for your business will generate a better range than a team member unfamiliar with the process. 

• Freshness – An agency or freelancer will likely create different types of content for your business. This may help make a more fresh approach to your campaigns and help to generate more leads and sales. 

• Scalability – If demand for your content increases beyond your team’s capacity, increasing production to meet your customers’ needs can be challenging. Outsourcing some or all of your content creation can help scale your program and meet the needs of your business. 

• Budget – Depending on the type of agency or freelancer you work with, you may be able to save money on your content marketing strategy. An agency may charge a monthly fee for content creation, or you may be able to negotiate a pay-per-article price.

Disadvantages of Outsourced Content Marketing

• Lack of control – You do not have complete control over the content created for your business, which may lead to issues with the message being delivered. 

• Lack of ownership – It can be difficult to take ownership of the content when your team does not create it. You may struggle to engage with customers and generate leads with content that does not come from your business. 

• Lack of expertise – You may miss out on valuable insights and recommendations your team can provide when an outside party creates the content. 

• Disengaged team members – When your team is not involved in creating content, they may become less interested in your business’s marketing efforts and overall success.

Which Is Best For Your Business?

When deciding between in-house content marketing and outsourcing, it is crucial to consider your team’s skill level, capacity, and budget for creating content for your business. In-house content marketing will likely be more cost-efficient than outsourcing, but the quality of content may be affected. 

When outsourcing, you can be sure that experts will create your content. Warren Buffet once said, “Never ask a barber if you need a professional haircut.”

(Picture credits: Pixabay)

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At Beyond The Panorama, we work with businesses to develop their digital brand presence; a big part is content writing for various channels. If you want help to organize this business function, we would love to have a conversation and set it up!

Reach out to us at hello@beyondthepanorama.com on our social media channels.

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