How to Outsource Copywriting: The Ultimate Guide

Whether a team is refining PPC campaigns, enhancing email marketing strategies, or nurturing a community on social media platforms, ineffective copywriting can quickly turn these efforts into costly endeavors. The messaging that a visitor encounters must not only be well-crafted and precisely targeted for each stage of the buyer's journey but also comply with the specific guidelines of the chosen advertising networks or media platforms. Moreover, the copy must be compelling enough to drive conversions.

Even if an organization's goal isn't directly tied to generating revenue through conversions, effective copywriting plays a crucial role in achieving any marketing objective, while poor copywriting can entirely miss these goals. This guide will help businesses assess whether they possess the necessary resources to effectively execute this vital element of their campaigns, covering several key factors involved in the decision to outsource or keep copywriting in-house.

The following key considerations will be addressed:

1. Compliance
2. Tools
3. Results and Tracking
4. Algorithms
5. Communication
6. Core Competencies
7. Language Skills
8. Benefits of Outsourcing
9. Benefits of Insourcing

Let's take the example of ad networks, which have specific compliance requirements. Consider this scenario: A new client has just launched a campaign. He's spent minimal time familiarizing himself with the ad network but is confident that everything is set for success. Could platforms like Facebook, Google, or Yahoo possibly flag his content? Suddenly, he's faced with 25 disapproved ads, and his account is temporarily suspended. This is when the reality of his unpreparedness hits.

Such incidents are common. Often, right after an account is disabled, is when an inexperienced advertiser seeks expert help. While a basic understanding of advertising guidelines could prevent many issues, sometimes more thorough preparation is necessary.

For instance, Facebook imposes extra restrictions on ads related to  credit, employment, or housing opportunities due to their potential misuse. Anecdotally, it seems Facebook allocates more resources to review these sensitive categories, increasing the likelihood of ad disapproval.

When an employee tasked with copywriting lacks experience with specific ad platforms (Google Ads, Facebook Ads, LinkedIn Ads, etc.), it’s crucial they at least review the platform's policies and best practices. Frequent disapprovals in a campaign often indicate a lack of preparation and experience, issues that outsourcing can typically circumvent.

Successful digital marketing providers utilize various tools to plan campaigns, analyze data, and perform other essential functions. Some tools are free, like Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and Moz's Keyword Explorer, which provide ample data for informed decision-making. Paid tools offer more automation and broader capabilities. Copywriters adept at using these tools have a distinct advantage.

Tools for A/B testing, such as Optimizely and Google Optimize, are crucial for refining landing pages and other critical content for conversions. These tools facilitate testing different page elements, collecting data, and making decisions based on statistically significant results. Following these content, layout, and copy adjustments, most businesses employ a CMS like WordPress or Drupal to implement the new versions.

The pivotal question concerning tools and applications is: does the business have the necessary tools, and if not, is it feasible to acquire and train employees to use them? If the answer to both parts of the question is "no," outsourcing emerges as the preferable option. Determining the right course of action can be challenging and often depends on the specifics of each campaign. Consulting with a digital marketing agency can provide valuable insights and guidance.

The important question regarding tools and applications is "does the business have the tools it needs and if not, is it worth it to obtain them and train employees to use them?" If the answer to both parts of that question is "no," outsourcing is the way to go. Answering the questions might be difficult and might depend upon the circumstances of a specific campaign. It's recommendable to speak with an expert. A consultation with an agency could be helpful.

In the realm of digital marketing, the term "results" is often equated with "conversions." Conversions are key actions taken by website visitors that are crucial and advantageous for the business, such as purchases, bookings, or contact form submissions.

Conversions typically include actions like purchases or lead form submissions. Marketers must pinpoint the source of each conversion to effectively optimize their strategies and allocate budgets. To differentiate conversions stemming from paid ads from those originating from organic search results, meticulous conversion tracking is essential.

This aspect of digital marketing can become technically demanding.

In some cases, setting up conversion tracking can be straightforward. For instance, Google Analytics can be integrated with various CMS platforms, allowing even a novice advertiser to track actions like lead form submissions—assuming these are redirected to a "thank you" page. With basic preparation, businesses with limited CMS and analytics expertise can manage this setup. Even a standard content writer might handle it without too much difficulty.

However, the complexity can escalate significantly. For businesses unfamiliar with basic CMS, analytics, and web development, setting up detailed tracking, such as monitoring the value of every purchase transaction on a non-standard CMS, might require the expertise of a web development professional. This level of technicality underscores the importance of having skilled team members or partners who can navigate the more intricate aspects of digital marketing infrastructure.

Mathematics plays a critical role in digital marketing campaigns, especially in PPC ad campaigns where cost-efficiency is paramount. Google Ads, for instance, assesses an ad's landing page and assigns a "landing page experience" score which directly influences the ad's overall quality score. The higher the quality score, the lower the cost per click (CPC). In essence, Google uses these scores in an algorithm that determines the CPC, a key factor in calculating the campaign's cost per acquisition (CPA). Quality scores range from 1 to 10, with 10 being the best. Analyses show that for each point increase above 5, the keyword’s CPA can decrease by approximately 16% to 22%. This means that improving a quality score from 5 to 10 could potentially slash CPA by up to 80%, leading to a significant improvement in return on ad spend (ROAS).

This is just one way in which algorithms influence key performance indicators (KPIs). Here’s the takeaway: A copywriter who lacks understanding of these underlying mechanisms is likely to see suboptimal results. This can be particularly problematic in scenarios where profit margins are tight or when the organization is highly sensitive to ROI. Moreover, if no one in the organization can pinpoint how a campaign could be performing better or knows the steps to enhance its effectiveness, even a small amount of research and adjustment could make a significant difference. Thus, gaining this knowledge or outsourcing to knowledgeable professionals becomes crucial.

"Is the team equipped to collaborate effectively with remote members?" This is a crucial question to consider before deciding to outsource. Teams accustomed to in-person interactions and offline task management may struggle to synchronize with remote collaborators across different time zones or regions. This challenge might be overcome with adequate training, but sometimes it may be more effective to maintain an offline work culture.

Additionally, it's important to note that full-time employees can sometimes allow emotions to interfere with their judgment, leading to what could be termed an objectivity deficiency. This often results in the propagation of inaccurate or unhelpful information among team members. In contrast, most outsourced teams bring a professional detachment to their work. With experience across various clients and industries, they focus on delivering results efficiently, minimizing biases and enhancing decision-making.

Something a consultant might bring up when discussing internal vs. external delegation is "core competencies." That is, the defining characteristics that give a business an advantage in the marketplace. As former IBM executive John Lutz said back in 2009, it's no longer about avoiding a situation where a core competency is outsourced. "[Businesses] are trying to figure out which things they can use to really differentiate by doing it themselves, whether it's core to their business or not."

In modern times, marketing and advertising are so multi-faceted and change so rapidly that a single business (or even corporation) rarely, if ever, has expertise in all of it. Marketing can be as simple as defining the target audience and developing a basic strategy to communicate with them, and that would make the outsourcing decision fairly easy with regard to competencies.

More or less, the manager can just ask the question "Would keeping this internal help us to differentiate and maintain or create competitive advantages?"

Other businesses have such a large marketing budget that they sometimes need external help to perform as best they can and continue achieving financial goals. As Lutz puts it, "because of scale or expertise, someone else can do a better job than they can even if it's essential to their business." They might spend a bunch of funds on surveys and focus groups, for example, or they might team up with an agency to develop audiences to target using a new ad network.

As an example, consider Procter & Gamble. Here's their purpose, according to their own documentation:

"We will provide branded products and services of superior quality and value that improve the lives of the world’s consumers. As a result, consumers will reward us with leadership sales, profit, and value creation, allowing our people, our shareholders, and the communities in which we live and work to prosper."

We can assume one of P&G's competencies is marketing. However, the question for P&G is not "is marketing a core competency?" It might be more like "what help do we need to maintain our brand loyalty and differentiation in the market?"

A CPG marketer as successful as P&G needs to take advantage of every marketing innovation to compete on the shelves in our local stores and on the pages of Amazon and other sites (Yes, P&G brands such as Downy have their own seller accounts on Amazon). As a journalist shared at Linkedin, P&G works with highly specialized agencies who do things like ethnographic studies, quantitative research, and advertising creative in order to keep a leg up on the competition.

In short, the outsourcing decision should be about what direction gives the company the best long-term benefits without causing undue risk. When the potential significantly outweighs the downsides, outsourcing is an opportunity. Copywriting can provide advantages in a number of ways, such as helping to create brand awareness, achieving a higher ad rank on a search engine results page, or simply having better-quality site content than competitors.

A copywriter should not only be able to convey a message "correctly," he should be able to wear the reader's shoes and predict the interpreted meaning of the message as it is written. That requires understanding the significance of semantics, grammar, and lexicon. Ideally, he also understands the culture in which the target audience exists.

Sometimes, incorrect grammar or spelling works great (e.g. "I'm lovin' it"). The marketing team has to know when that is the case, which can be difficult when a concept (or multiple concepts) must be conveyed in a space the length of a typical social media headline. Language skills are worth a reasonable premium.

Some of the considerations involved in the decision to outsource copywriting or keep it internal don't have much to do with copywriting, or even digital marketing services, at all. There are benefits (and disadvantages) to outsourcing that apply to every industry and function. Some are especially significant with regard to marketing. We'll follow up this section with some disadvantages to consider.

As we outline here, the economic benefits of outsourcing include:

Cost Savings

Having lots of options at different rates and schedules, plus the ability to employ a team or team member part-time can be much more cost-effective than hiring or promoting full-time employees.

Time Savings

For conversion copywriting, sometimes no internal team member is readily prepared to write the kind of copy the business needs without making revisions and spending avoidable man-hours. A manager won't need to provide extensive training to an outsourced team member.

Optimized Management

Especially when an outsourced or “nearsourced” team or team member is at the manager's disposal, the manager won't need to spend much time coordinating activities.

Experience

A manager may not even know the right questions to ask to vet a copywriter before hiring. Marketing agencies not only know those questions but have already used them to hire a talented team. Now they're at your service. For freelancers, there's usually a rating system in place wherever they are found (upwork.com, freelancer.com, etc.). Ratings make it reasonably simple to find qualified help when training a current employee isn't the right solution.

Yes, shipping the job overseas or to another city might be cheaper, but what potential exists within the organization? Here are the potential economic benefits of insourcing.

Industry Knowledge

Agencies sometimes boast their experience working for clients in a particular industry, such as higher education or auto sales. That's great, but it's not always easy to find a compatible agency that is knowledgeable about the right industry. In some cases, the business is very foreign to almost everyone except its own market.

For example, few agencies are knowledgeable about aeronautical sensors and alarms. It would take most of us some time to learn about these products and their uses. An agency might not be motivated to spend that time, which could lead to disappointing results. Read reviews to find out how well agencies were able to familiarize themselves with products and business models. When in doubt, hire a trainer to prepare a knowledgeable employee for the new copywriting duties.

Cost

Cost savings can be achieved by outsourcing in many cases, but it's also possible to save money by taking care of things internally. This scenario becomes more likely as the need for training and the cost of promoting an employee decreases.

Company Culture

An organization's culture is important. It's what generates loyalty from employees and customers alike. Especially when a lot of cooperation between the copywriter and other team members is required, culture and compatibility are important. Outsourcing could lead to a mismatch. That situation is avoided when current employees provide the services. When a promotion is offered to them, it can be a psychological boost.

Shared Vision

A business' leaders know where the organization is headed. Their vision guides their top-level decisions and keeps things moving forward. Decisions regarding every function are informed by that vision.

An outsourced service provider probably won't be able to work towards that vision the way the client can. They serve a variety of clients and, therefore, are not able to focus on a single vision every day. On the other hand, when goals are communicated effectively, positive results will serve the vision nonetheless.

When a manager is faced with the decision to outsource copywriting or keep it internal, it can be difficult. An organization's unique characteristics might persuade managers to make very different decisions than their competitors will, which is fine. The decision comes down to understanding the prerequisites of a successful campaign, the resources available, and the potential benefits gained by outsourcing vs. insourcing. A thorough analysis should steer managers in the right direction.

Keep in mind that "outsourcing" and "insourcing" are not the only options managers have. When a marketing team is already in place but cannot provide sufficient output, nearsourcing should be considered. A remote fractional team is like having full-fledged agency resources without paying for them full time, allowing businesses to grow without making huge time and money investments. Learn more about fractional marketing services here.