Collaborative content outsourcing decisions?

#b2bcontentmarketing

I’m very much in favor of chief marketing officers and their teams talking with agency and content creation specialists about what and how to outsource. The data typically tells us that content strategy belongs under the corporate tent. That’s a broad but sound guideline.

Do you also want to consider getting input around the table from the professionals who manage and create content across an array of industry spaces and buyer journeys? I think I would.

Get the market’s perspective using outside talent to brainstorm. The fee is worth it even if it validates what you think you already know. Bring the buyer persona into play as you decide.

This is how and where you get more!

The decision to outsource a marketing function can be both strategic and tactical. Many companies have a philosophy of outsourcing any activity that is not core to their business. For example, developing a positioning strategy may be central to the company; writing a press release may not be.

Interestingly, very large and large companies are nearly as likely to outsource content development and design functions as midsize and small companies that may lack in-house resources (63% compared to 69%). There may be a number of reasons why, including the fact that external writers can often bring a fresh perspective to a topic.

This is important: 75% of B2B buyers rely more on content to research and make B2B purchasing decisions than they did a year ago.

In some cases, marketers outsource content development activities but nonetheless prefer to brand the content assets, whether a white paper, eBook or research report, with their company logo only. The content assets are essentially ghostwritten by outside subject matter experts who may receive no credit other than a paycheck. This is a savvy approach as you scale up and still have several targets (prospects, stakeholders and influencers) to engage short term.

At the tactical level, companies often find themselves strapped for marketing resources to respond to a rapid or unexpected change in the business or perhaps an increased volume of marketing campaigns.

What’s right for your organization?