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Uploaded byJonathan Bingham
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Outsourcing Your Content vs. Hiring an In-House Writing Team

The document compares the costs and benefits of outsourcing content creation versus hiring an in-house writing team, highlighting that companies allocate around 30% of their marketing budgets to content. It provides detailed cost analyses for different business scenarios, revealing significant savings from outsourcing, especially for small to large enterprises. While in-house teams offer control and industry expertise, outsourcing provides scalability and convenience, often resulting in lower overall costs.

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Related topics:
Content Strategy• Content Marketing•Content Management Insights• Content Creation•
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Outsourcing Your Content vs. Hiring an In-House Writing Team A True Cost Comparison Jon Bingham Director of Marketing BKA Content
How Much Content Do You Need? 29% 26% Content Marketing as a % of Total Marketing Budget B2C B2B 29% 48% 15% % of Marketers Increasing Content Creation Significant Increase Increase No Change Decrease Based on Content Marketing Institute’s 2017 survey, companies are setting aside nearly 30% of their total marketing budget towards content marketing. Also, 77% of companies plan to increase their overall content production from the previous year. Companies that published 11 or more posts per month saw 3x the traffic of those that published 1 or 2 posts.
Pros and Cons In-House Writers Pros: • Industry Experience • Increased Control Cons: • Skills Gap • Time/Resources • Bias • Fixed Capacity Outsourced Writers Pros: • Process Expertise • Ability to Scale • Outside Perspective • Resources • Convenience Cons: • Lack of Inside Knowledge • Limited Control
The Cost of Hiring In-House Writers According to the Society for Human Resource Management, the average hiring cost is: $4,000 We found 18 copywriting salaries from 7 different employment websites. The average salary is: $49,982 According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, benefits account for 30.2% of compensation costs. In our example that equates to: $21,625 Payroll taxes are around 8.24%, meaning the tax payout is: $4,119 The cost of equipment/overhead is approximately: $2,800 The total cost for 1 in-house writer is: $82,526
The Cost of Outsourcing Content Creation Self Service vs. Managed Service • Order through online platform • Select price or quality level • Manage and quality check the content yourself • Interact with each writer and give feedback • Typically cheapest option • Dedicated account manager • Manager creates team of writers for your project • Most convenient and hands off approach • May require a retainer or membership fee • FREE with BKA Content
The Cost of Outsourcing Content Creation Pricing For our cost comparisons, we’ll be using 2 different products to compare costs. Our scenarios will use 500-550 word blogs and 100-124 word product descriptions. Branded Blogs Product Descriptions Product Descriptions Words Price 25-49 $2.50 50-74 $4.15 75-99 $5.80 100-124 $7.45 125-149 $9.10 150-174 $10.75 175-199 $12.40 200-249 $14.10 250-299 $17.55 300-350 $21.00 Branded Blogs Words Price 100-150 $15.00 200-250 $20.00 300-350 $25.00 400-450 $30.00 500-550 $35.00 600-650 $42.50 700-750 $50.00 800-850 $57.50 900-950 $65.00 1000-1050 $75.00
How Much Can One Writer Produce? In 2016, Hubspot asked 4,000 marketing professionals how long it took to write a 500-word blog post. They found that in-house writers could produce 1 article in approximately 2 hours, which equates to: .50 Articles / HOUR 4 Articles / DAY 20 Articles / WEEK 87 Articles /MONTH At BKA, we surveyed our writers and found that on average, they can produce: .94 Articles / HOUR 7.52 Articles / DAY 37.6 Articles / WEEK 163 Articles /MONTH For our scenarios, we’ll take the average of these 2 numbers, which is: 125 Articles / Month
Scenario 1: Small to Medium Size Business • # of Pieces of Content Needed: 30 per month • Article Word Size: 500 words • # of In-House Writers Needed: 1 • Outsourcing Discount Pricing: N/A ($35 per article) Cost of In-House Writer x1 First Month Cost Ongoing Monthly Cost Annual Cost Salary $4,165 $4,165 $49,982 Benefits $1,802 $1,802 $21,626 Payroll Taxes $343 $343 $4,119 Subtotal $6,311 $6,311 $75,726 One-Time Costs Hiring $4,000 $4,000 Equipment $2,800 $2,800 Total Cost $13,111 $6,311 $82,526 Cost to Outsource 30 articles/month First Month Cost Ongoing Monthly Cost Annual Cost $35/Article $1,050 $1,050 $12,600 Total Cost $1,050 $1,050 $12,600 Annual Savings from Outsourcing: $69,926
Scenario 2: An SEO/Marketing Agency • # of Pieces of Content Needed: 250 per month • Article Word Size: 500 words • # of In-House Writers Needed: 2 • Outsourcing Discount Pricing: $34.30 per article Cost of In-House Writer x2 First Month Cost Ongoing Monthly Cost Annual Cost Salary $8,330 $8,330 $99,965 Benefits $3,604 $3,604 $43,251 Payroll Taxes $686 $686 $8,237 Subtotal $12,621 $12,621 $151,453 One-Time Costs Hiring $8,000 $8,000 Equipment $5,600 $5,600 Total Cost $26,221 $12,621 $165,053 Cost to Outsource 250 articles/month First Month Cost Ongoing Monthly Cost Annual Cost $34.30/Article $8,575 $8,575 $102,900 Total Cost $8,575 $8,575 $102,900 Annual Savings from Outsourcing: $62,153
Scenario 3: Large Enterprise Company • # of Pieces of Content Needed: 500 per month • Article Word Size: 500 words • # of In-House Writers Needed: 4 • Outsourcing Discount Pricing: $33.95 per article Cost of In-House Writer x4 First Month Cost Ongoing Monthly Cost Annual Cost Salary $16,661 $16,661 $199,929 Benefits $7,209 $7,209 $86,502 Payroll Taxes $1,373 $1,373 $16,474 Subtotal $25,242 $25,242 $302,905 One-Time Costs Hiring $12,000 $12,000 Equipment $8,400 $8,400 Total Cost $45,642 $25,242 $323,305 Cost to Outsource 500 articles/month First Month Cost Ongoing Monthly Cost Annual Cost $33.95/Article $16,975 $16,975 $203,700 Total Cost $16,975 $16,975 $203,700 Annual Savings from Outsourcing: $119,605
Scenario 4: Ecommerce Business • # of Pieces of Content Needed: One-time, 20,000 SKU order • Article Word Size: 100 words • # of In-House Writers Needed: 5 • Outsourcing Discount Pricing: $4.84 per description Annual Savings from Outsourcing: $65,452 Cost of In-House Writer x5 for 6 Months First Month Cost Ongoing Monthly Cost 6 Month Cost Salary $20,826 $20,826 $124,956 Benefits N/A N/A N/A Payroll Taxes $1,716 $1,716 $10,296 Subtotal $22,542 $22,542 $135,252 One-Time Costs Hiring $20,000 $20,000 Equipment (half) $7,000 $7,000 Total Cost $49,542 $22,542 $162,252 Cost to Outsource 20,000 SKU Project for 3 Months First Month Cost Ongoing Monthly Cost 3 Month Cost $4.84/Article $32,267 $32,267 $96,800 Total Cost $32,267 $32,267 $96,800
Final Cost Comparison Small Business Agency Enterprise E-Commerce In-House Annual Cost $82,526 $165,053 $323,305 $162,252 Outsourced Annual Cost $12,600 $102,900 $203,700 $96,800 Annual Savings from Outsourcing $69,926 $62,153 $119,605 $65,452 (and 3 months) In most cases, companies will save money by outsourcing. On the other hand, in-house production might make sense for more technical/specific content projects that don’t fall under the industry averages like the scenarios we’ve outlined. Also keep in mind other costs associated with running an in-house writing team. You’ll need space, equipment, software and someone to manage the writing team and their tasks.
• Founded in 2009 • Industry Leading Content Provider • Service Agencies, SMBs & Enterprises • Offer Account Management • No Monthly Minimums or Contracts • Hand-picked, Experienced U.S. Writers • Dedicated Writing Teams Who are we?
www.bkacontent.com If you need custom content, come visit us at Booth #320! Thanks for listening!