DI-why-oh-why? Here we show you how in-house content writing could cost you more each year than simply outsourcing it – hey, you might even get better results.
Have you ever taken on a DIY project like a home renovation or making your own bread? You’ll know that, while you save money on raw materials, the cost of your time racks up quick. And the finished product? Well, it’s not as polished as it could be.
The same applies when it comes to writing blogs for your business. The time and resource you’ll spend in-house for producing high-quality content cost a lot more than you would think. Your staff can spend several hours researching, generating ideas, editing, proofing and making the content SEO friendly, all while on the clock. This time is taken away from core tasks and activities they’re actually good at – you know, the jobs you hired them for.
We’ve broken down a single scenario to help you understand the overall cost of in-house vs. outsourced content writing. We used industry averages and anecdotal data collected from our last 13 years in the copywriting industry.
We found that in-house content writing, including blogging and case studies, can take between 5-12 hours for an inexperienced staff member to write a single piece. Several Words for Breakfast clients have told us that managers and even CEOs are being pulled into the blogging process and can spend up to three hours making edits to the work. This time doesn’t cover the idea stage either, which can take just as long for some staff. Doesn’t seem like a wise way to spend their precious time.
Here’s how we’ve calculated the hard costs:
• Mid-weight marketer: $85k a year
• Manager: $150k a year
• Our per-blog cost, 1000-words: $493
Here’s what you’re really spending on that blog:
Marketer spends eight hours thinking of a topic and crafting a first draft, proofing and editing. Manager spends two hours reading and making changes, then hands it back to the marketer who spends two more hours implementing changes and proofing.
Total hard costs per blog: $589
Opportunity cost: 12 hours not spent on core business
Costs to have monthly blogs written externally
Marketer spends 10 minutes briefing writer, then 15 minutes reviewing and supplying feedback.
Total hard costs per blog: $511.10
Opportunity gain: 11.35 more hours spent on core business
See that? You’re saving a cool $77.90 a blog, which, multiplied over a couple of blogs a month, adds up to just under $2k a year. That’s not nothing, but perhaps most importantly, your people get back over 20 hours a month to work on things that add to your bottom line. That’s not even considering that the writing you’ll get from a contractor or copywriting agency will be premium content. It’ll do far more for your SEO, your content strategy and your conversions.
By outsourcing your blog writing you’ll get:
• High-quality and crafted content
When you pay someone to take care of work for you, the level of expected quality goes up. The same applies to content writing. It’ll be well-thought-out, easy to read and SEO friendly.
• Regular content schedule
Having regular content is crucial to keeping your SEO and brand relevant. By outsourcing, you’ll have an external motivator so your blog is always on-trend and up to date.
• More time for in-house work
By outsourcing your blogging tasks, you’ll free up your staff. Those 5-12 hours we mentioned earlier? You can redeploy them on things that will add to your bottom line.
Unless you’ve hired an in-house writer, the benefits of outsourcing blog writing are compelling. It improves the quality of work while freeing staff to get on with what they do best. You’ll even save a bit in hard costs.
So, have we convinced you? Nice. Get in touch to hear more about how we could help.
The lead copywriter and creative director at Words for Breakfast. She spends much of her time working with the copy writing team across a variety of projects.
