Hiring a Content Agency vs Your Own Writer

3 Key Reasons to Hire a Content Agency Instead of Your Own Writer

It’s no secret: Brands that have enjoyed phenomenal growth in recent years have done so on the tailwinds of content marketing. In fact, 91% of B2B brands use content as part of their marketing strategies.

Yet, one of the biggest marketing challenges many brands have is creating great content consistently. And yes, every brand needs to create content to succeed in this digital era.

To outsource blogging, you have two options: Work with a content agency or hire your own writer.

So, which is better? Below we’ll outline the key reasons why hiring a content agency makes more sense than hiring a writer for growing your SaaS company.

1. The value of one-on-one interaction with a dedicated writer is a myth

Many brands who opt for a dedicated writer believe the writer will have a more meaningful interaction with the brand.

Great as that sounds, is it beneficial?

Not really, when you stop to consider that a dedicated writer is more likely to succumb to:

Tunnel vision. Because they’re focusing on creating content for your brand, they may miss out on other tangent topics relevant to your content strategy.
Writer’s block. A common problem dedicated writers face is running out of topics to write about.
Burnout. This is another challenge writers without a support structure face. This usually leads to poor content or the writer quitting altogether.

One of our clients has worked with five freelance copywriters in the past. He says it’s been hard to find writers who provide real value:

Some were hyper-specialized in their clients' industries but didn’t understand the software world (or their client’s pain points) so their content didn’t convert.
Others were hyper-generalists, writing basic stuff ("5 tips to use an LMS").

Yes, one-on-one interaction with a dedicated writer can help you create content. But it falls short of creating content that meets your business goals. It takes teamwork to do that.

2. The content value chain requires more than writing

Creating content that moves your marketing needle involves many processes and stages that an individual can’t effectively handle on their own. In fact, those clients who come to us dubious of the value of content marketing are more likely to have worked one-on-one with their own writer previously.

In fact, one had worked with an in-team copywriter for two years before turning to us for help. He and the copywriter both ran out of topic ideas before the blog started producing results—neither of them were specialists in SaaS blogs that convert.

So what goes into creating content that converts?

Planning

Developing a content asset takes a lot of planning, requiring an expert content strategist for:

Researching the topic
Keyword research
Competitor analysis

Producing

This involves writing the content, editing it, and creating accompanying visuals. Because of the important role an editor plays in this process, it’s best to outsource your content needs to a content agency.

Publishing

This phase involves uploading content to your content management system. This is a time-consuming process that not all writers are comfortable undertaking. A content agency can help you with this in order to streamline your process as much as possible.

3. A lower price doesn't translate to better value

Another reason many small businesses and startups choose a dedicated writer is that it’s cheaper. While this is true, you get what you pay for—you miss out on the value a content agency brings. Unlike a solitary writer, a content agency’s team members work together to increase your content’s value and impact.

With an agency like SaaSpirin, each blog post goes through many hands to ensure:

It’s grammatically and factually correct.
It meets or surpasses industry quality standards.
It incorporates best practices to support your goals.

As a result, your readers will enjoy your content while you enjoy the increase in conversions.

Content agency vs. writer: Lessons from those who’ve worked with both

Some of the businesses who come to us have worked with both content agencies and writers directly. In fact, before founding SaaSpirin, Nicolas Jacobeus worked with two content agencies and a freelance writer to blog for his firm, Belighted. The key takeaways echo the sentiments we hear time and again:

An agency provides a cohesive strategy for delivering leads; a writer usually only writes what you tell them to.
Even with the best dedicated writer, there’s a risk that you’ll run out of ideas and end up with a collection of blog posts with no direction or common thread.
With an agency, you have access to a team, including a content strategist, solid writers, and an editor. This ensures you have a steady flow of relevant, high-quality content.
There’s no need to train someone and integrate them into the team if you hire an agency.

It’s these observations that led to the birth of SaaSpirin: a solution that takes the headache out of your content marketing.

Let a content agency deliver the results you’re looking for

If you’re serious about your content marketing, an agency is the answer. On top of stellar content, you’ll get peace of mind knowing that a reputable brand is taking care of your content needs.

Need awesome content for your blog (or just want to understand our process better)? Get in touch to learn more about our end-to-end solution for planning, producing, and publishing content.

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