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Successfully Outsourcing Copywriting: How to Get the ROI You’re Looking For

When you outsource something, there’s always a cost-benefit analysis.

Making a cup of drip coffee instead of going for a Starbucks run? Unless you’re seriously craving a Chestnut Praline Latte, the ROI for time and money spent is probably better when you’re just looking for an afternoon pick-me-up.

Hauling new furniture from the store yourself rather than having it delivered? Unless you have a strong back, generous health insurance, and a friend with a pickup, you may be better off paying the delivery fee to outsource the heavy lifting. (Unless you’ve got house guests arriving tomorrow and deliveries are scheduled three weeks out.)

Like we said, there are always cost-benefit analyses. This is especially the case when it comes to outsourcing tasks that impact the future of your business—such as copywriting for your marketing endeavors.

Copywriting, at first blush, looks like something that anyone could do. But if you’ve ever sat down at a computer to write some social media copy or a website page, you know well how quickly writer’s block takes hold.

That’s why many businesses, from law firms to e-commerce companies, ultimately outsource their copywriting.

When you outsource content creation and copywriting, not only do you free yourself from having to do the work, but you can actually improve your profit margin, reduce your workload, and get a better result. So let’s talk about what it means to outsource this critical marketing task, and how to perform a cost-benefit analysis to determine your potential ROI.

What is content marketing ROI?

Simply put, content marketing ROI is the return on investment achieved from your content marketing strategy. Essentially, it’s a measure of how well your content performs in achieving specific business objectives.

There are several ways to calculate your ROI, but the most common is to take the total revenue generated from your content and subtract the total cost of producing it. This gives you your net content marketing ROI.

For example, let’s say your total revenue from content marketing last year was $100,000, and it cost you $50,000 to produce that content. With those numbers, your net content marketing ROI would be $50,000.

Now, let’s look at the same scenario—but this time, you outsource your content creation and copywriting to a professional digital marketing agency, with the total cost being $30,000. In this scenario, your net content marketing ROI would be $70,000.

When you compare the two numbers, it’s clear that there’s a big difference in the ROI you can achieve when you outsource your content marketing. Of course, calculating ROI isn’t always this simple, but it does provide an idea of how much outsourcing can improve your bottom line.

Calculating the ROI of your content marketing

To calculate the ROI of your content marketing, you need to track three things:

Total cost of producing your content
Total revenue generated from your content
Total number of leads generated from your content

There are several ways to track these numbers, but the most important thing is to ensure you track them consistently over time. This will give you the most accurate picture of your content marketing ROI.

Once you have these numbers, you can start to calculate your ROI. There are many different formulas you can use, but the most common is:

ROI = (total revenue – total cost) / total cost

For example, let’s say your total cost of producing content last year was $50,000, and you generated $200,000 in revenue from that content. Your ROI would be:

ROI = ($200,000 – $50,000) / $50,000

ROI = 3

This means that you generated three dollars in return for every dollar you spent on creating content last year.

Let’s say you outsourced your content production to a professional agency at $30,000. In this case, your ROI would be:

ROI = ($200,000 – $30,000) / $30,000

ROI = 5

This means that you generated five dollars in return for every dollar you spent on outsourcing your content last year.

As you can see, there’s a big difference in the ROI you can achieve when you outsource your content marketing.

Why is it important to outsource copywriting?

There are several reasons why outsourcing copywriting can be so beneficial. Here are a few of our favorite reasons:

1. It frees up your time.

No one wants to spend valuable time staring at a blank screen and a blinking cursor—especially when your time is better spent focusing on other aspects of running your business. If you don’t have a dedicated marketing team, outsourcing your content is especially important.

2. It allows you to work with experienced writers.

You may know a lot about your business, but do you know how to market your business to those who aren’t already experts in your field? Oftentimes, it can pay to have a fresh perspective—and someone who doesn’t already work in-house can provide exactly that.

Plus, when you outsource your content marketing, you get to tap into a pool of experts in crafting effective copy that converts readers into customers (which is especially helpful if you don’t have any experienced copywriters on staff).

3. It saves you money in the long run.

A common misconception is that in-house, DIY marketing efforts are more affordable than paying for content marketing services. Not only will outsourcing your content marketing strategy offer greater results, but it can also actually save you money.

This is because when you outsource your content marketing, you’re only paying for the services you need. This can be a lot more affordable than hiring full-time employees or contractors.

4. It helps you scale your marketing efforts.

By outsourcing your content, you can scale your content marketing efforts more quickly and efficiently. If you’re trying to do everything in-house, it can be difficult to keep up with the demand. But when you outsource, you can easily increase or decrease the amount of content you produce without having to make any major changes to your operation.

5. It improves the overall quality of your content.

Last, but definitely not least—perhaps even most importantly—outsourcing your copywriting can improve the overall quality of your content. When you work with a professional agency, you can be sure that your content will undergo a thorough review and revision process so that when it ends up in your hands, it’ll be of the highest quality.

What are the benefits of conversion copywriting?

Conversion copywriting is a type of writing that is designed to persuade readers to take a specific action. It can be used for many purposes such as increasing sales, generating leads, or getting people to sign up for a newsletter.

Here are some important benefits of using conversion copywriting:

Increased conversions

The whole point of conversion copywriting is to increase the number of people who take the desired action—ideally, becoming a client or customer. When done correctly, conversion copywriting can be highly effective in achieving this goal.

More leads

If you’re looking to generate more leads, conversion copywriting can be a great way to do it. By crafting effective copy, you can persuade more people to sign up for your newsletter, fill out a contact form, or download a lead magnet.

Greater engagement

Good conversion copywriting will increase the number of people taking action and engage them more deeply with your brand. When your copy persuades people, they’ll be more likely to remember your brand and come back to you in the future.

Better ROI

Because conversion copywriting is so effective at achieving specific objectives, it can also positively impact your ROI. When you invest in conversion copywriting, you’re more likely to see a higher return on your investment.

How to outsource copywriting successfully

If you’ve decided to outsource your copywriting, you can do a few things to ensure you get the best possible results:

1. Define your goals

Before you start working with a copywriting agency, you must clearly understand your goals. What do you want to achieve with your content? Do you want to increase sales, generate leads, or engage your audience more deeply?

By clearly articulating goals, you’ll have something to measure your success against.

2. Do your research

Not all copywriting agencies are created equal. Some are better than others at crafting effective copy—and an agency that’s a good fit for one company may not be the right fit for another. That’s why it’s important to do your research before choosing an agency to work with.

Read reviews, compare prices, and look at their work samples before deciding.

3. Set realistic expectations

It’s important to set realistic expectations when you outsource your copywriting. Remember that it takes time to produce high-quality content, so don’t expect results overnight. If you give your copywriter the time they need to create great work, you’ll be much happier with the results than if you push for short turnaround times. (But also remember that an experienced copywriting agency should always be able to give you realistic timelines from the start—and deliver on them!)

4. Be clear about what you want

Once you’ve found a copywriting agency that you want to work with, be clear about what you want from them. What kind of content are you looking for? What style should it be in? What tone do you want them to use?

The more specific you are about your expectations, the better the results will be.

5. Provide feedback

After you receive the first draft of your content, it’s important to provide feedback. If there are any changes you want the writer to make, be sure to communicate them clearly. The more feedback you provide, the closer your copywriters can come to meeting your expectations.

Outsource your copywriting with FocusWorks

Are you looking for a marketing agency to help you take your business to the next level? At FocusWorks, we specialize in content marketing for compliance-regulated industries, complete with a rigorous review process to ensure high-quality, compliant copy.