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If you want to dip your toes in content marketing but don’t have the time or expertise to create your own content, outsourcing your content creation is an easy and effective way to reap the benefits without all the work.

In fact, content marketing can be greatly profitable: CMI reports that over 70% of brands now hire someone to manage their content creation and distribution to make sure it’s professionally executed.

Not convinced? Let’s take a more in-depth look at why it makes sense to outsource your content marketing.

1. You’ll have more time to work on strategy and other business activities

One of the main reasons for outsourcing content creation is simply that you don’t have time to do it yourself. Researching, writing, and publishing content for regular blog posts can be a full-time job in itself. And that’s before you even consider other necessary tasks in content marketing such as promoting on social media and search engine optimization.

We all have a limited number of hours a day and it’s important for you to concentrate on your core activities to make the most of them. This might mean working on strategy if you’re a marketer, or dealing with other vital tasks if you’re a business owner.

The point is that you can outsource the writing or creating of content while still having as much input as you wish. You’re then free to work on other areas of the business.

While it may seem an easier or cheaper option to produce content yourself, this strategy is rarely the one that makes the most business sense. Stick to the business activities where your strengths are the strongest and leave content production to a professional. You’ll not only end up with higher quality content but you’ll gain back way more than your initial investment.

2. You can publish more content on a more frequent schedule

Even if you were working full-time on content marketing, there’s a limit to how much one person can write in one day, week, or month.

Putting together high-quality content takes time. Sure if you’re going to throw up a 500-word post off the top of your head, you can probably carve enough time out of your daily schedule to do so.

But this type of content is unlikely to have any impact on your audience or bring you any benefit as part of your content marketing strategy.

In fact, Google is even starting to penalize superficial content.

Good content takes time to research, create, and publicize. If you want to put out blog posts that are well-researched and comprehensive, it may not be practical to expect even a full-time writer to manage more than one post a week. Zazzle Media’s State of Content Marketing survey, 60% of businesses find it a challenge to produce content consistently.

If you want to publish content more frequently without dropping the level of quality, you’ll need more writers. This is where outsourcing can really help you to scale up as you can simply outsource as much content as you need, or that your budget will allow.

3. Outsourcing your content creation is cheaper than hiring a full-time writer

When you outsource content creation, you have more time to focus on strategy, ideation, marketing, and experimentation. It also nets you a higher content marketing ROI!

Outsourcing can be a very cost-effective way of producing content. If you employ a full-time writer, this will cost your business tens of thousands of dollars each year.

The average salary for a full-time content writer in the USA is around $65,000. If this writer is an on-site member of staff you also have to factor in IT and other equipment costs, training, and all the overheads that come with an extra employee.

When you outsource, you’re simply paying for the content you order and nothing else. You don’t have to worry about providing medical insurance or replacing your writer’s laptop if it breaks.

Outsourced content is written by self-employed individuals or agencies that factor these costs into their overall rates, making it a much more affordable option for most businesses.

4. Outsourcing is a more flexible option

Having a full-time writer as part of your marketing team has certain advantages. On the other hand, it means you’re stuck with this writer and can’t adapt to your changing content needs over time.

Outsourcing is a much more flexible option as you can hire more writers when you want to produce more content. If you feel like the quality has dipped from a particular writer, or you just want to try a different tone of voice, you can outsource to a different one.

With seasonal variations in your industry, there may be times of the year when it doesn’t make sense to invest in content, and other times when you want to go all out and produce as much as you can. Outsourcing offers you this flexibility so you can scale back when you need to and also scale up your production smoothly and easily as your business grows.

5. You can benefit from fresh ideas and varied viewpoints

You’ve probably got your own stories to tell and want to get your own viewpoint across in your content, and there’s nothing to stop you from doing this.

However, it can be extremely beneficial for your overall content marketing plan to introduce new talent and ideas with writers who can express concepts in a way you may have never considered.

Writers and other content producers are likely to have worked for several different clients and can bring the experience and knowledge they have gained from each to the table. They are also well aware of emerging content marketing trends or may be able to forecast trends in your industry, and come up with new content ideas when you’re stuck for topics.

It’s also easy to lose enthusiasm for your subject when you’re writing about it day in and day out, and this will come through in your writing. Using a pool of other writers means that you never lose this spark and you have a constantly refreshing source of new ideas and inspiration.

6. You can produce and publish content faster and more efficiently

Part of the beauty of outsourcing is how fast and efficient it is compared to trying to do everything yourself.

Good content marketing agencies are really on the ball and will have a team of qualified content producers at their disposal to produce content for you to even the tightest of deadlines.

So say there’s something topical and time-sensitive in your industry that you want to produce some commentary on. Instead of rushing to try and put something together internally while juggling with other important business tasks, you can outsource the job and have it back within a few hours.

Because freelance writers are paid per word or per article, it’s in their interests to work as quickly and efficiently as possible. A full-term salaried writer, on the other hand, has no real incentive to improve their efficiency as they’ll receive the same pay no matter how much content they produce.

7. You can hire industry experts on different topics

While you may be an expert in certain areas, you certainly can’t be an expert in everything.

Unless your content strategy involves writing about a very narrow range of topics, you’ll almost certainly benefit from outsourcing to other individuals with certain expertise.

Most content marketing agencies hire a number of content producers with a wide range of experience and specialties, so you’ll be able to specify an individual with expertise in the subject you need.

For example, let’s say that your business sells toys and you want to write a blog post about the importance of play for child development. You could request a writer with a psychology qualification or specific experience working in child education. This means that you’ll be able to explore the subject in a deeper way and present more accurate information than if you were writing based only on the information you’d found by searching on the internet.

8. You can reach a wider audience

When you outsource your content to professional writers, they can publicize the published piece on their own blog and networks too. This means you’ll reach a whole new audience that might have never discovered your brand otherwise.

If you outsource content via a specialist marketing agency, you might also be able to have them share content on their own social networks or even have a client feature or interview on the company blog.

Even if you’re hiring on a ghostwriting basis and publishing content under your own name, freelance content marketing professionals will be able to help you get your content in front of more eyes. They can research other blogs to guest post on and can generally come up with other new ways to publicize your content.

9. You can experiment with different types of content

When we think of content marketing, blog posts immediately spring to mind. Of course, there is a lot more to it than that and you can outsource all different types of content including social media posts, e-books, emails, and even videos.

Infographics can be a highly effective way at boosting your SEO as others use them and link back to your site. Don’t have the graphic skills to create one? They’re very easy and affordable to outsource to a professional.

Want to publish an e-book but find the idea of putting one together overwhelming? Hiring a writer can help you to pull your ideas together and come up with the finished product on a very short timescale.

When it comes to content creation, over 80% of marketing professionals say that video is the hardest to produce. And yet video offers amazing promise and results. Short videos are one of the most highly shared forms of content on social media and are fantastic for engagement and conversions.

Producing video content marketing can seem like an overwhelming task but it’s something easy to outsource. So if you’ve got a handle on producing your own written content but you’ve not experimented with video yet, it’s well worth exploring the world of outsourcing so you can start to experience its benefits for yourself.

10. You can prove the ROI of outsourcing

Not sure whether you’re getting enough out of your outsourced content to make it worth your investment? This is easy to track and measure. In most cases, you’ll find that outsourcing content production will boost your ROI. Some of the things you can measure include:

  • The number of views and subsequent conversions on a particular piece of content
  • Increase in your social media following, shares, and engagement.
  • Increase in your sales and/or business revenue following the implementation of your content marketing plan.

If you outsource to a content marketing agency, they’re experts in helping you produce content that will help you to meet your business goals. If you’re publishing high-quality optimized and targeted content on a regular basis, then increased leads, conversions, and engagement are sure to follow.

11. You can execute your marketing strategy and meet goals faster

Work with a content marketing agency or strategist and you’re not only ensuring you have a constant supply of content to publish, but you’re also benefiting from marketing expertise and experience that may be way beyond your own skill set.

When it comes to marketing, it’s usually the case that the more you put in, the more you’ll get out. So you can hire a standard content writer who will follow the instructions you provide or you can invest more into partnering with a content marketing expert, who will work with you to make sure your content marketing strategy aligns with your business goals.

There’s a lot more to successful content marketing than just writing. A content marketing agency will help you to define what exactly you want to achieve from content marketing and can offer the tools and experience to make sure you get there.

They’ll also make sure that your content production aligns with the rest of your marketing plan so you’re publishing content at the right time to boost your other campaigns and increasing engagement across the board.

The Benefits of Outsourcing Content Abound

Content marketing offers too many benefits to be ignored, but not everyone has the time or resources to be able to write and produce their own content in-house.

While there are some downsides to outsourcing, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Hiring a writer or the services of a content marketing agency like ours help you to produce higher quality content, save you time and money, and put you in a better position to achieve your business goals.

If you’re interested in getting more traffic and leads for your website, or documenting your content marketing strategy, check out our Content Builder Service. Setup a brief consultation and I’ll send you a free PDF version of my books!

The post 11 Benefits of Outsourcing Your Content Creation appeared first on Marketing Insider Group.

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digital call to action

Your content and online presence isn’t worth much without a strong digital call-to-action.

Let’s face it, a digital call-to-action is necessary if you want your audience to take the next step. Imagine a potential customer reaches your homepage while browsing solutions to their problems and has nothing to click on urging them further down the sales funnel…

Your call-to-action has a direct impact on your conversion rates. No matter what point in the sales funnel your audience might be at, there’s always a way to urge your viewers further along.

In this post we’ll dive into the digital call-to-action, how to perfect it and show some real-life examples of killer digital CTA’s.

Quick Takeaways: 

  • A strong digital call-to-action can directly affect your lead generation efforts and conversion rates. 
  • Follow key best practices when developing your digital CTA, like emotional language, formatting and creativity.
  • Always be sure to test different versions of your CTA, because Rome wasn’t built in a day!

Breaking Down the Call-To-Action (CTA)

You likely see a digital call-to-action every hour throughout your day. From your daily work to your social media life, CTAs are everywhere.

The basic premise of a call-to-action is encouraging users to take the next step and “Download now,” “Gain Access,” “Sign-up,” “Contact Us,” etc. It directly connects sales to marketing.

A good CTA has three things to accomplish:

  1. Provide clarity on your content
  2. Give your user or reader direction on what to do next (i.e. push them down that sales funnel!)
  3. Show results

If you want people to take the next step — and who doesn’t — you’ll need to optimize your digital call-to-action. Fear not, we have some insider tips to help.

Perfecting Your Digital CTA

First, go past what’s overdone and quit being boring. The market (and online world in general) is completely oversaturated, so if you want your content, product or service to stand out, you need to go the extra mile. Here are some steps to take to inspire your CTA’s.

1. Use strong language and evoke emotion

No, I don’t mean expletives – unless that’s the space you’re in!

Jokes aside, the language you include in your CTA makes a big difference. Replace vanilla phrases like ‘contact us’ with ‘contact us today for X limited time offer!’

FOMO is a real thing, and people in the professional world are not immune. Offer them something they can’t resist. The more urgent the better.

Amazon and other ecommerce and B2C companies do this really well (a little too well if you ask my bank account) when you have an item in your cart. They tell you just how many items they have in stock and, conveniently, how many more people have said-item in their cart.

create urgency with your cta

Image Source: Medium.com

2. Make your CTA stand out

Your CTA won’t accomplish anything if your potential customer doesn’t even notice it.

Make your CTA stand out by utilizing contrasting colors and white space on your website. We use a two column blog page with CTA’s on the right hand side here at MIG. Make your CTA a button so it’s loud and clear.

If you’re looking to include a call-to-action in your blog posts – and you should be – make sure it stands out from the rest of your text. You could choose a different font color, bold the text, italicize it or go crazy and do all three. (Spoiler alert: check out our final words for an example.)

3. Keep it brief

You’re trying to catch your viewers attention, and human attention spans have depleted to that of a goldfish, so don’t try to do too much. Short CTA’s are more likely to spark interest.

Short CTA’s also leave more for your viewer to wonder about. What is the limited time offer in the button? This is when the FOMO comes into play again and they just can’t help but click!

4. Personalize your CTA

Personalize your CTA’s where you can to maximize results. The most obvious example of this is within your emails.

When you have the data to use someone’s first name, job title, or industry, you should. You don’t have to include it every single time, and you shouldn’t. That would be kind of like going on a date where the person read online that using your first name in every sentence will make you like them more. It’s weird and annoying.

Personalized CTA’s are well worth it though. Research from HubSpot has shown that a personalized CTA’s perform 202% better than a basic one. This personalization can come in many forms. Use the data you have, from user location, to job title, to their place in the sales funnel.

5. Test, test, test!

You won’t perfect your CTA on your first try. One option is to go the traditional route and use A/B testing to analyze results from different CTA’s. Play around with different phrasing, offers and formats.

Artificial intelligence is also making its way onto the testing scene. Automation can take the uncertainty out of the old school A/B tactic. Plsu, you can test many more combinations of variables compared to traditional A/B.

Image Source: Evolv AI

No matter what tactic you take, a CTA is nothing without testing. You’ll never know the true potential of your call-to-action without trying a few different formats.

Best Call-To-Action Examples

To start, let’s look at landing pages with crazy-good CTAs.

Spotify

spotify call to action, bold and contrasting colors

Spotify literally uses five sentences (and short ones!) to describe what you’re signing up for.

Not only do they offer their premium service for free (first thing and boldly!) but they provide an easy button to get started, as well as more information about their plans and exactly what you’d be signing up for.

The enticing offer of one free month evokes emotion, because who wants to miss out on something that’s free?! The “get started” button design is bolder and darker than the ‘view plans’ option, which is no coincidence either. The contrasting colors draw your attention.

Netflix

netflix call to action

Netflix takes a similar approach. The copy is short, sweet, and addresses any potential issues. Watch anywhere. Cancel anytime.

The largest text on their site leaves more to the viewer’s imagination as well. What’s the ‘more’ in “and more”? Well, you won’t know until you sign up! They also use a standout red button with an arrow to depict action.

Dropbox

drop box dual call to action

Dropbox thinks a bit out of the box with their homepage CTA. And they give two options for their call-to-action.

Their homepage features a carousel CTA. The first of the two urges you to “get started” and entices you with solving your organizational and productivity problems. The next CTA in the carousel gives a bit more detail to what they do, in an aesthetically pleasing tautogram. The button at the bottom offers to give more explanation on their software, inching a potential viewer further down the sales funnel.

QuickBooks

QuickBooks is another case for a double call-to-action. Clearly, they’re using their sale of 50% for a “limited time” to spark a sense of urgency. (Spoiler alert: this offer has been in place for years!)

As a viewer, you also have the chance to try the software for free for 30 days, and we all love free stuff!

Underneath their CTA, the Quickbooks team offers more information on their platform and what they do, so even if a visitor scrolls, they’re being exposed to more information.

Slack

slack call to action

Slack is another company that hits you with a double-whammy. There’s the option to try their platform for free, but then there’s the brighter, higher contrast button that urges you to go straight for the sign up! Even better, their sign up button has the Google icon, something everyone will recognize.

VRBO

Are you looking for a new vacation home or are you looking for an escape? VRBO evokes emotion in their CTA, describing your next trip as an escape to discover.

For some people that might mean a beach vacation and for others it means a trip to the mountains. VRBO has it all, and that’s kind of the point.

DivvyHQ

divvyhq content calendar software

DivvyHQ is in a competitive space. Their content planning tool has a unique value: its personalization. That can be hard to put into words. To fix that? Divvy features a ‘request a demo’ CTA on their homepage. If you don’t have time for a demo, there’s a video you can watch instead.

This is a great CTA for visitors at the top of the sales funnel. Maybe they’re browsing different platforms, toying with the idea of committing to one. A demo offers a personalized experience with the company. If they aren’t quite that far in their journey, the video example will suffice.

Divvy also has a banner at the top of their page that’s ever-present while you scroll, featuring a ‘try it for free’ call to action in a bright, contrasting, orange button. So, they really hit all the marks.

Waterboy

Run by a group of 20-somethings in Austin, TX, Waterboy is one of the latest and greatest inventions in hangover cures. And in an industry that hitches itself on over-drinking, you can have a little fun.

Waterboy gets creative with their CTA, speaking directly to its largest market, other 20-somethings. Gen Z is all about the vibe, so their emotional pull is on point. Their action button says “shop the drop!”, a fun way to say ‘check out our latest inventory.’

The banner at the top of their page also offers a deal: free shipping on orders over $40. There’s that golden ticket word again!

Televerde

televerde call to action

Televerde gets tech savvy with their homepage CTA, placed underneath a live motion back laid image. Again, we see the banner at the top with a contact button, but more important is their ‘request a consultation’ high contrast, bright blue button.

This is another example of a company that offers highly personalized solutions. Televerde uses data, technology and people to provide improved demand generation across marketing, sales and customer experience. Because of all these moving pieces,  a consultation is the most effective way to snag a lead who’s browsing the market.

Intermedia

intermedia call center call to action

Intermedia specializes in cloud communications. Their claim to fame is their organization of many different types of communication on one platform to boost productivity. And they get that point across on their homepage with the large, high contrast, bright text.

Their CTA button stands out as well, urging viewers to learn more. This again is targeting those top of the funnel browsers who are considering a solution to a problem they’ve been facing.

Glossier

This relatively fresh-to-the-scene makeup brand, Glossier, also has some fun with their CTA. Their pop-up is the first thing you see when you go to their page and features an intriguing image (especially for make-up lovers, I mean look at that eyeshadow!) as well as symbols to keep the text interesting.

The play on words ‘let’s take this to your inbox’ is a fun way of getting a visitor’s email address. Plus the company entices you with an insider scoop when you sign up.

ActualTech Media

actualtech media content syndication call to action

ActualTech Media is taking the content syndication world by storm, redefining what it means to syndicate content for lead generation in the technology sector.

Their unique take on lead generation leaves a lot to be learned by potential customers. Their homepage CTA is aimed towards top of the funnel prospects who are going to want to get educated.

ActualTech places an emphasis on their homepage that they drive leads ‘that actually buy.’ Below are their top three areas of expertise in bright, contrasting buttons. Click on each to be taken to well-designed landing pages chock-full of easily digestible information.

Optimizely

Optimizely’s CTA has two goals: send prospective customers a free introduction video explaining their A/B testing software, and get their contact information.

The homepage gets straight to the point – check out their A/B testing software! The bright white column on the right simply asks, ‘where can we send a link to the free video?’ Optimizely kills two birds with one stone. They get to send top of the funnel prospects more information about their tool all while adding them to their contact list.

RevBoss

RevBoss is all about delivering outbound leads for their clients. Their homepage cuts straight to the point: “We’ll drive the leads. You close the deals.”

The next line features an interactive slogan where ‘RevBoss helps’ is followed by an array of different industries. They help growth start-ups, marketing agencies, SaaS companies and more.

Their call-to-action button for a consultation is their most prominent, promising a personalized experience. Viewers can also jump right to the point and ‘get started’ depending on where they’re at in their journey.

Contractlogix

contractlogix contract management software

The contract management software does not disappoint when it comes to homepage CTA design. Contractlogix emphasizes their main message: above all else they’re data driven. The graph to the right slides in to display the different aspects of their platform while two buttons at the bottom catch a viewer’s attention.

Prospective customers can learn more about the platform on their website or, if they’re a bit further down the funnel, they can request a demo. The demo request button is also ever-present in the top right corner of the page as your scroll in a bright orange box.

Practice Makes Perfect

In conclusion, the one surefire way to perfect your digital call-to-action (or any CTA) is to practice!

Do yourself a favor and start testing your CTAs. What language prompts users to take action? Which colors are more eye-catching? Are moving graphics helping or hurting your case?

Don’t forget, your call-to-action doesn’t only exist on your homepage or in a banner ad. If you’re utilizing content marketing (which you should be) each and every blog presents itself as another opportunity for a CTA. We’re about to hit you with one right now…

Digital CTA’s can make or break your lead generation and conversion efforts. And the more people that get sent to your page, the more opportunity you have to convert prospects and close deals.

The best way to get visitors to your website: optimize your blog for search! Having a strong content marketing strategy is the best way to get eyes on the digital CTA’s you just worked so hard to perfect.

Do you need help increasing traffic with your blog? Check out our SEO Blog Writing Services or schedule a free consultation to learn more about how we can help!

The post Perfecting Your Digital Call-To-Action (With Examples!) appeared first on Marketing Insider Group.

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