Understanding Content Marketing Outsourcing: Because Your Team Probably Has Too Much to Do

Picture this: You’re sitting at your desk, staring at your content calendar. It’s as empty as your coffee cup, and your to-do list is longer than a CVS receipt. You know content marketing is important—necessary, even—but your team (if you even have one) is already stretched thin.

Content marketing outsourcing is your solution.

What is Content Marketing Outsourcing?

Content marketing outsourcing is the process of hiring an external agency or individual to create and manage your content marketing efforts. It’s like having a ghost writer, except they’re very much alive and ready to handle any part of the process, including:

• Content strategy development and planning
• Content creation across multiple formats
• Content editing and quality assurance
• Content distribution and promotion
• Performance tracking and optimization
• SEO implementation and monitoring

The final product remains yours, created on your brand’s behalf, while saving you time, money, and other resources that you can redirect toward your core business functions. At its best, outsourcing content creation also improves the quality of your content, helping you put your best foot forward as you look to leverage this powerful marketing tool.

Why Outsource Content Creation?

Let’s be honest: Content marketing is hard. Really hard. According to the Content Marketing Institute, only 29% of businesses have a content marketing strategy they consider more than “moderately effective.” That means 71% of businesses are just kind of…winging it.

If that’s you, here’s why outsourcing might be your new best friend:

Time is money, and you’re probably wasting both

Creating quality content takes time—time you could spend doing literally anything else that actually makes your business money. (Unless you’re a content marketing agency, in which case, why are you reading this? Go check out everything we do for agencies, right now.) Consider the hours spent researching topics, writing drafts, editing content, and managing the publication process. Now multiply that by the number of content pieces you need each month. Scary, isn’t it?

Expertise without the overhead

Hiring a full-time content team means benefits, office space, and having to remember more birthdays. Outsourcing gives you access to specialized skills without having to worry whether Fred brought fish for lunch again. These specialized skills often include:

• SEO expertise
• Industry-specific knowledge
• Content strategy development
• Editorial excellence
• Distribution channel mastery
• Analytics and reporting capabilities

Scale without the fail

When your business grows (which it will, because you’re reading this), your content needs will grow, too. Outsourcing lets you scale up or down without having to hire or fire anyone, and without sacrificing quality. This flexibility becomes particularly valuable when:

• Entering new markets
• Launching new products
• Expanding content formats
• Increasing publication frequency
• Responding to seasonal demands
• Managing special projects

Outsourcing also increases your chances of consistently creating high-quality content that resonates with your target audience, ultimately turning attention into leads, sales, and loyal customers. When it comes to content, consistency is crucial. (And alliteration is awesome.)

Choosing the Right Outsourcing Partner

Of course, working with an external entity to create content is not a guarantee of success. When choosing your potential partner, you need to ensure alignment with your needs, goals, and priorities.

Evaluating Candidates and Proposals

Here’s what to look for when choosing to outsource your content marketing efforts:

Experience That Actually Matters

How much experience does your potential outsourcing partner have in your specific area? Look for partners with a proven track record in your industry or with similar audiences.

Also, focus specifically on the expertise that you are looking for within the broader content marketing realm. A freelancer who can create content may be sufficient if you have a strong content marketing strategy in place, but not enough if you need an external partner to help you start from scratch.

Quality Samples and Case Studies

Sure, they might have written 1,000 blog posts—but were any of them good? Ask for samples. Read them. If you fall asleep halfway through, keep looking.

Content samples and case studies should back up the promises a partner makes in your conversations and on their website. Judge them as if they were your own. Don’t be afraid to ask for references from current clients who can speak to their experience, too. 

Understanding Your Brand Voice

Your outsourcing partner should get your brand like your best friend gets your jokes. If they don’t understand what makes your company tick, you’ll end up with content that sounds as authentic as a teenager’s fake ID. (“My middle name? Uh… Bob?”)

In their samples and in your interactions with them, look for evidence of:

• Brand voice adaptation abilities
• Tone flexibility
• Industry terminology mastery
• Target audience understanding
• Cultural awareness
• Value proposition alignment

A Process That Doesn’t Make You Want to Cry

Some content agencies have more red tape than a government office. Others are so loose with deadlines, they might as well be using a sundial. Look for partners with clear processes that align with your workflow:

• How are their timelines structured?
• How will you communicate with them — email, phone calls, Slack? Will there be an established cadence like bi-weekly check-ins, or an as-needed basis?
• What measures do they have in place for quality control?
• How do they handle reviews and revisions? Do they offer rounds of edits?
• How will they deliver content: in a Google Doc, via email, directly to your CMS…?

The Money Talk

Let’s talk about everyone’s favorite subject: pricing. Good content isn’t cheap, and cheap content isn’t good. But that doesn’t mean you need to refinance your house to afford it. Look for partners who are transparent about their pricing and don’t try to sell you services you don’t need.

Other considerations: Will they be able to help you prove ROI? This is especially important if you’ll be justifying your content spend to your boss. Also, what are their payment terms? How scalable can they be if your content needs go up or down?

Creating a Successful Content Partnership

Even with the best partner on your side, a successful working relationship isn’t automatic. It starts at the beginning by defining the scope of work and expectations you have for your content. The more clear this baseline is to all parties involved, the better.

Set Clear Expectations

Write down everything you want. No, really—everything, from tone of voice to Oxford comma preferences. The more specific you are upfront, the less likely you are to end up with content that makes you question all your life choices.

Document your content goals, your brand voice and style guidelines, target audience profiles, publication requirements, quality standards, success metrics, timeline expectations, technical specs, and anything else you care about.

Communicate Like Your Content Depends on It (Because It Does)

Regular check-ins aren’t just for helicopter parents. Schedule consistent meetings to:

• Review content performance
• Discuss upcoming topics
• Address any concerns
• Share industry updates
• Maintain alignment on strategy and goals
• Adjust content calendars
• Review analytics and insights
• Discuss market trends
• Plan content improvements
• Celebrate successes

Give Them What They Need to Succeed

Be proactive in helping your outsourcing partner be successful. Great content can only happen if they have access to all necessary resources and information. That includes basics like your editorial guidelines and buyer personas, as well as nuances like your current messaging on other channels to create consistency, and industry updates that may impact your content approach.

Managing the Outsourcing Process

As with any process, managing your content outsourcing means one thing above all: establishing a clear project plan. Make sure it includes these five components to set the stage for sustainable content marketing success:

1. A Clear Project Timeline

Your project timeline should begin the moment the contract is signed and extend through the life of the agreement. If that agreement is not time-bound, establish a quarterly or annual timeline to stay on track. Milestones like an initial draft of the strategy matter just as much as the cadence at which content will be published.

2. Defined Roles and Responsibilities

The second part of the plan should be a clear outline of who does what—on both sides of the equation. Where do responsibilities get divvied up, and how does that impact the daily workflow? Each role, from editorial strategy to content writing, editing, and publishing should be within the responsibility of a specific team member.

3. Key Metrics and Tracking Approach

Setting goals is only the beginning. Your project plan should also include an outline of how to track progress toward those goals and measure results. That includes both the specific metrics to track, the ways to track them, and the timeframe of check-ins and reports on those metrics.

4. Check-In Meeting and Communication Schedule

Speaking of check-ins: At its best, a project plan leaves nothing to chance. That includes making sure everyone stays involved through regular meetings and virtual check-ins. It’s the best way to ensure that the project remains on track, even months down the road.

5. Contingency options

Finally, use the plan to outline how you can adjust the plan if needed. What steps can you take if the metrics suggest a need to improve performance? What about a team member leaving and responsibilities shifting? Static plans tend to fail, and building that agility into the plan can go a long way toward a successful partnership and outcome.

Measuring the Success of Outsourced Content

Time to dive more deeply into those measuring sticks you can use to track the success of your outsourcing partnership. Common success metrics for content marketing include:

• Website traffic and engagement, both as a trend and compared to the period before the project plan execution
• Social media engagement and reach, particularly if your content marketing includes a strong social media component
• Lead generation and conversion rates, providing more tangible results as a direct outcome of the content
• Return on investment (ROI), usually measured as the revenue gained directly from content marketing compared to the investment you made in outsourcing

You can use a variety of analytics tools to track your progress. Google Analytics is the most common, but your outsourcing partner may also have other standardized ways of tracking success. Regular reports on these metrics allow you to make quick adjustments as needed.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Even with the best of intentions, plenty of things can still go wrong when looking to outsource your content marketing efforts. We’ve seen our share of projects succeed and fail, and please, for the sake of everyone involved, don’t be one of these people:

The Micromanager: If you’re going to review every comma, you might as well write it yourself. (Feel free to sing along to “Hi, I’m the bottleneck, it’s me” as you do.)

The Ghost: Disappearing for weeks and then wondering why your content doesn’t align with your latest pivot? Classic.

The Penny Pincher: We know it’s a hard pill to swallow, but you can’t expect Pulitzer-worthy content at content mill prices.

The Vague Visionary: “Make it pop” is not useful feedback. Neither is “I’ll know it when I see it.”

Here are a few other common mistakes we see marketers make when outsourcing their content:

• Not properly vetting your partner. Everyone can have a shiny website promising the moon. What you need is a partner who can back up those promises through its samples and references.
• Not clearly defining your expectations. Scope creep is the biggest reason why projects of any type fail. Avoid it by defining and outlining your expectations and anticipated scope before agreeing to a partnership.
• Not establishing clear lines of communication. Everyone involved should understand from the beginning how communication will be handled, from check-in meetings to more open channels like Slack or email. 
• Not providing resources needed for success. Without the necessary information, your content marketing partner cannot write effectively. That includes anything from topics to editorial guidelines and more. (Pro tip: Triple check you’ve given them access to the right docs.)
• Not accounting for potential changes. Static content marketing strategies are typically doomed to fail. Make sure that your partnership can adjust as needed to account for results, business changes, and the external environment.
• Not measuring metrics and results. Without tracking your progress toward business goals, you’ll never know if the partnership is successful. A clear reporting plan can help to track those metrics efficiently.

Best Practices for Outsourcing Content Marketing

Naturally, most best practices for outsourcing content marketing are specifically designed to account for common mistakes and the foundation of a good partnership. It all starts with establishing clear goals and objectives, which enable both sides to work toward a common goal. From there, be sure to define the scope of work in a written document that accounts for all necessary nuances.

For example, could part of your content marketing strategy benefit from leveraging generative AI, or are you intentionally avoiding the technology? Knowing those expectations to begin with can be immensely helpful.

Another example concerns the scope of publishing content. Is your outsourcing partner responsible for publishing on your website and potentially your social media channels? If so, what does that mean in terms of access to your owned digital channels and approval processes?

We’ve already extolled the virtues of a clear communication plan. At the foundation of that effort is an ‘information dump’ at the beginning of the project that gives your partner everything they need to know about your brand, editorial style, target audience, and more. But they’ll likely need information throughout the project as well, so establishing those lines of communication early can reap rewards down the road.

Finally, get on the same page as your partner about which metrics to track, and how those results will be shared. That way, you can establish a clear path for monitoring progress toward the goals you both share and making adjustments to the partnership with full transparency and based on data rather than hunches.

Getting Started with Outsourcing Content Marketing

So far, so theoretical. Let’s make it real, with these six steps to start successfully outsourcing your content marketing efforts:

1. Define your content marketing goals and objectives. Establish whether you are looking to drive brand awareness or engage more potential customers, or whether you want to leverage content to build customer retention and brand loyalty. Clarity in the beginning improves the output on the backend of the process.
2. Identify your target audience and their content needs. Basic demographic definitions are a great start. Even better are buyer personas that dive more deeply into the motivations of your ideal audience segments. That more in-depth definition makes your target audience feel more real for anyone looking to write content to satisfy those needs.
3. Determine the type of content needed to achieve your goals. Your content marketing strategy changes drastically whether your audience prefers written content or video, published on social media or your website. While the answer may include more than one type of content, defining exactly what you need can help you find a partner who offers just that.
4. Research and evaluate potential outsourcing partners. If you’re new to content marketing outsourcing, it helps to cast a wide net. You can then hone in on potentially ideal partners through the scope of help you need and the industries they serve.
5. Establish a clear scope of work based on your available resources. You might already have some resources devoted toward the effort, like SEO or social media publishing help. Or you might need the entire thing, from creation all the way to the different channels on which the content will get in front of your audience.
6. Begin creating high-quality content that resonates with your audience. The final step is also the most fulfilling: it’s when the content exits the planning stage and starts to make an impact on your business. Of course, you can still do additional work here by tracking its success and working with your partner to make tweaks where needed.

Just like that, you’ve arrived at a project plan that helps you reach your business objectives and improves the quality of your content within your available resources and intended scope.

Outsource Your Way to Content Marketing Success

Outsourcing your content marketing isn’t just about delegating tasks—it’s about strategically leveraging expertise to achieve your business goals. When done right, it can transform your marketing efforts from a constant struggle to a streamlined success story.

The key to success lies in careful partner selection, clear communication, and consistent monitoring and adjustment of your strategy. Remember that quality content marketing is an investment in your brand’s future, not just an expense to minimize.

With the right partner and approach, you can create compelling content that resonates with your audience, drives business results, and frees your team to focus on what they do best. The journey may seem daunting, but the rewards of successful content marketing outsourcing—increased engagement, better leads, and stronger customer relationships—make it well worth the effort.

Your content marketing success story begins with taking that first step toward finding the right outsourcing partner. Your future self (and your sanity) will thank you for making this strategic investment in your business’s growth and success.