Why Outsource Blogging – And How 4 Famous B2B Brands Do It

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You might be surprised to learn that many well-known B2B brands outsource blogging. That’s because they do it so seamlessly that you don’t even notice.

But why would some of the biggest B2B brands outsource their blog content in the first place, when they presumably have big budgets and can hire their own full-time writers?

In this article, we’ll cover some of the reasons that brands outsource blog writing and take a look at some big blogs that do it. We’ll also call out key points to help you tap into the same benefits.

Why outsource blogging?

Content creation is one task that many brands are very comfortable outsourcing. 2020 figures show that 81% of marketing teams outsource some or all of their content writing.

The most compelling reasons to outsource blogging are:

It gets the job done. Content is too often sacrificed when other urgent tasks crop up for the marketing team. Even many bigger brands operate with a lean marketing team, often just a handful of people.
It costs less. Hiring full-time writing talent is expensive! And one human can only produce a limited amount of content before burning out. (See how UserPilot discovered this – and their solution.)
It’s easily scalable. Outsourcing to a content agency lets you ramp up production as your needs grow, because they can assign multiple writers to your account.

In other words, outsourcing writing for the company blog lets a marketing team publish more consistently and more efficiently. And by keeping the blog on track, they can see results faster.

Why not outsource blogging?

The biggest objection to outsourcing blogging comes down to the fact that external writers have a greater distance from the product and audience. Because content agency writers are not as familiar with the company’s products as an internal writer would be, there’s a fear that they will not be able to create content that’s useful to readers.

Yet many companies have found ways to overcome the challenges of outsourcing writers. Let’s see how four well-known B2B brands outsource their blog content while keeping a seamless experience for their readers.

4 well-known B2B brands that outsource blogging

Outsourcing blog content has played an important role in the content strategy for the following companies. As you take a look at each of their blogs, take note of the following points.

Named authors - Sometimes the author is named. Often these articles have been ghostwritten by an outside partner but reviewed by the listed author.
Top-of-funnel blog content - you’ll see a heavy focus on the kind of content that captures new readers, which doesn’t normally require close product knowledge.
Selection of topics - tight categorization of content helps keep these blogs deeply focused on their niche.
Editorial standards - the content “feels” like the brand thanks to a consistent format, style, layout, and image regardless of who the author is.

Their approaches are effective. You would never guess that some, if not all of their blog posts are ghostwritten by content agencies. And each of them is a leader in their respective industries.

Zendesk

Zendesk is a customer service software provider with over $1billion in revenue. The

Zendesk blog has a huge library of content and offers a mixture of guides, resources and blog posts.

Zendesk blog homepage — Zendesk is proof you can outsource blogging and build a strong brand.

With a Domain Authority (DA) score of 93, Zendesk content carries a lot of clout!

Domain Authority: 93
Keywords: 665.1k
Linking domains: 522.4k

Zendesk does a great job of establishing itself as an authority in its industry. You can see that many posts provide value for the reader without requiring close product knowledge. All articles, whether produced in-house or by contributing authors, are well researched and include expert sources that add an authoritative tone to the content.

Take for example the blog post How to write a sales email: 6 sales email examples that work. It ranks for nearly 2,000 keywords alone, clearly making it an asset for building awareness and bringing new readers to the Zendesk site. This type of blog post is an excellent example of a blog format that can be effectively outsourced at a high ROI.

Wistia

Wistia is a video marketing platform that’s been around since 2006. Over 500,000 businesses across 50 countries depend on their product.

Earning a DA of 82, the Wistia blog is firmly entrenched as a content leader.

Domain Authority: 82
Keywords: 86.8k
Linking root domains: 12k

Wistia’s blog contains a lot of insightful content. Despite delving into a lot of different categories including shop news, marketing, and production, the Wistia team does a fantastic job of pulling all of the content together – outsourced and in-sourced – to create a cohesive, branded blog.

While the blog categories that highlight product updates and company culture would likely be written in-house, many of the blog posts that bring in new traffic are prime examples of content it makes sense to outsource.

Take for example the blog post What is Aspect Ratio?, which brings in traffic from over 1,400 keywords. Articles that present simple definitions can be very effective at building authority for your site – they naturally accumulate external links. Moreover, an outsourced blogger can easily help you produce this kind of content.

Note that Wistia has also added video explanations to much of its content, which may be added in-house or outsourced, too.

AdEspresso

AdEspresso is a tool for optimizing ads on social media channels, acquired by Hootsuite in 2017. The AdEspresso blog focuses on educating readers about Facebook, Instagram, and Google Ads.

The AdEspresso blog has built a lot of link-worthy content to amass links from nearly 19,000 other websites.

Domain Authority: 73
Keywords: 31.5k
Linking root domains: 18.9k

Most content in the AdEspresso blog is not tied to proprietary knowledge. Rather, you’ll see how-to guides like How to Create an Effective Instagram Bio, which teach the reader how to do something. Blog posts like these can provide a great way to call out your product, but they usually don’t require intimate knowledge of how it works. Instead, the focus is on best practices, leaving the writer feeling that your blog is a dependable source of information.

How-to articles are ideal for outsourcing blogging – they are a great way to lean on the research and legwork that agency writers can bring. The company’s strict editorial guidelines and their consistent branded cover photos give the blog a strong brand identity.

ProfitWell

ProfitWell offers pricing and retention tools for subscription-based businesses, with 30K+ clients across 100+ countries.

ProfitWell has built a solid foundation for SEO in a very specific niche, even though its numbers are not as high as the other blogs featured here.

Domain Authority: 52
Keywords: 17.9k
Linking root domains: 6.6k

The depth of analysis on the ProfitWell blog has made it a go-to resource for many SaaS founders. The company incorporates multiple sources for its content. They accept guest contributors, and it’s clear some of the topics are produced by experts in-house.

However, you can also find plenty of posts in long-form guide format. These blog posts, like the Complete Guide to Psychological Pricing, would be typically outsourced to a content agency.

The content published under the byline of the CEO helps to build a strong brand identity and make the company more personable for readers. Yet, as we know, the cost of content marketing for founders and CEOs to research and write these posts themselves is too high to justify. Enter the content agency as a behind-the-scenes partner.

Keys to outsourcing your blog effectively

Want to explore how you can outsource blogging, too? Here are a few keys as you get started.

Figure out what your readers want to learn from you and how that realm of topics relates to your product.
Determine how you want your blog to look and sound, and write it down (with examples), to guide your blogging agency.
As you start working together, make sure content fits with your vision. Communicate well and often with blog writers, and provide feedback as you review articles.
Maintain a document with product knowledge that you can share with writers, especially if you don’t have extensive product guides available on your website.

By working with a content agency like SaaSpirin, you can ensure that your blog posts support your content vision without a lot of time and effort. And you can do this for a reasonable monthly cost.

Want to learn more? Get in touch today!