To Outsource or Not? What content marketers think of working with freelance writers

A week ago, I asked my network whether they outsource content or create it in-house. 41 content marketers replied to my question. Here’s what I’ve found out.

Out of 41 respondents, only 11 teams (27%) work ONLY with in-house writers. 13 companies outsource all content and work ONLY with freelancers (32%). But the majority (41%) choose to use a hybrid approach – they mix internal and external content creation.

The results are by no means statistically significant. Semrush’s survey of 700 respondents has shown that 51% of companies never outsource content creation, 37% go for a hybrid model, and only 12% work solely with freelancers.?

Obviously, if I asked people outside of my network, I’d get similar results. But I didn’t aim at collecting stats. I wanted to understand WHY companies choose to work with freelancers and HOW they make it work.?

How and why content marketing teams collaborate with freelancers

As a former in-house content marketer, I know why my company has chosen to build an in-house content team. As today’s freelance writer, I know why my clients choose to hire freelancers. For companies of different sizes and niches, the motivation is different. Therefore, I’ve talked to 11 specialists representing enterprises, large eCommerce companies, and SaaS startups to discover how they handle content creation:

• Spela Mlekuz of Databox
• Hiba Amin of TestBox
• Lindsay Brunner of Architect.io
• Xavi Galindo of Fastic
• Monica Dema of MDinc
• Sofie Koevoets of Superside
• Kate Erwin of Contractbook
• Padmaja Santhanam of FirstPrinciples
• James Taylor
• Ryan Prior of Modash
• Emma Fanning of Sendinblue

“It never really worked out for us to have in-house writer”

Spela Mlekuz, Content Marketing Coordinator at Databox says: “We're actively working with at least 3 freelancers, and another 2 from time to time so they can help us support any quarterly initiatives (meet content output goals).

We create different types of content, so it never really worked out for us to have an in-house writer since we look for freelancers that are highly skilled in writing long-form reports, or case studies that are super-specific to the SaaS industry or have a good knowledge of GA, so they can write an outstanding narrative around quotes on a very specific topic in a roundup type of article.?

Each writer has a focus on a certain type of content that we produce, and is affordable at the same time - that leads to a win-win on both sides.”

“At the start, I worked with freelancers because of lack of budget”?

Hiba Amin has recently joined TestBox as a Senior Marketing Manager and shares: “At the start, I exclusively worked with freelancers because of a lack of budget to bring on an in-house writer. There were also more crucial roles to fill at the time.?

However, now I love working with freelancers because it gives us the opportunity to highlight a lot of different voices and perspectives on the blog without ever compromising on the quality of a piece. I've built a roster of incredible freelancers who I continue to find so much joy and value working with.?

At Hypercontext, we were working with about 3-7 freelancers at any given time. I'll be starting off with 2-3 at TestBox and growing it as the channel grows!”

“I want their voice and perspective to shine through”

Lindsay Brunner of Architect.io chooses a hybrid model: “In my case, it's a combo of experience and efficiency. Architect.io is a developer tool, so I have a team of developer advocates that undertake all kinds of marketing, product development, and community-building activities, including writing docs and blog posts. I like to keep that team focused as much as possible on the most technical content we need, typically writing about either bleeding-edge technologies or new features of our product that haven't yet been fully documented and supported. Because we need more content than what they can reasonably work on (core technology tutorials, education content with clear SEO targets, etc.), I supplement with a talent pool of freelancers.

Working with freelancers is almost entirely a timing and volume play. We're a seed-stage start-up, it wouldn't be a good use of resources for me to run a large DevRel team to generate all our content in-house. Also, opening the door to a robust freelancer writing program (and hopefully one day soon a user-generated content program) lets me elevate a diverse group of voices, something I care about deeply.

Today at Architect.io we have me (I still write!) plus two developer advocates and our CEO/founder all writing regularly. We're also working with two content agencies that have large rotating stables of freelancers. I previously built out the developer content program at Okta, where we had a team of 8-10 developer advocates in-house, and at one point during my tenure 12 contract writers working alongside that in-house team. That was exhausting, but we did some amazing work that I'm still so proud of!”

I was wondering how Lindsay makes sure their freelancers create actionable content and follow their company’s tone of voice. She shares: “When I'm scoping assignments for a freelancer I have a content brief template I complete that covers things like keyword target (if there is one), the intent and audience for the post, and often a brief outline of the content I expect to be covered.?

The outline is something I focus on mostly when there's a clear keyword target attached to the post and I've reviewed what's already ranking for search intent. Overall, I run a data-driven program, so I know quite a bit about what a post should cover before we ever start writing. I don't fret tone of voice too much.?

I byline freelancer content to the freelancer vs. using freelancers as ghostwriters, so I want their voice and perspective to shine through. I see our content team, both internal and external, as topical SMEs, and I respect their work accordingly. In my experience (and I've been doing this almost a decade now!) I've only ever had one freelancer who just couldn't write professionally enough to clear my bar and the solution was to part ways after a couple of trial posts. In his case, it was like reading the interior monologue of a teenager.

"It's more a matter of not having enough flux of work to justify having them as full-time employees"

Xavi Galindo is a Head of Content at Fastic. He says it's way easier to attract top talents when you don't require them to commit to a full-time job: "We currently have a team currently 4 content creators (copywriters) and 5 translators. Before that, we had an in-house team (so employees rather than freelancers) of 3 copywriters and 1 editor.

Why do I prefer to work with freelance specialists? I don't think it's a matter of preference, to be honest. The freelance team we have is pretty constant at the moment (as in, they've been with us for a couple of quarters already). I'd say it's more a matter of not having enough flux of work to justify having them as full-time employees.

It could perfectly be that on a monthly basis they would typically work, let's say, 5-6 days (or if you prefer to say it in assignments, they would have 2-4 big monthly assignments) and it could also be that they would be without anything to work on for a month. That's why we moved into a freelance relationship and looked for competent high-level freelancers that can help us on a regular basis, without having to commit to a full-time job (which actually let us attract better talent, to be honest!)"

“Depending on the project, I will work with 10-450 freelancers”

Monica Dema, Global Head of Content Creation at MDinc says: “I work with BOTH freelancers and in-house writers. My business model lets clients leverage my bench of SMEs and writers for a variety of industries and tasks. Freelance writers give me flexibility and scale for large projects.

I choose to work with them because they are qualified in their subject matter. Often they are expats, military spouses, exchange students, etc. They're qualified and available to be flexible. I feel less obligated to their job security when I know they prefer the one-off project over full-time employment.

There is seasonality in e-commerce writing and it's cost-effective for companies to hire temporary (freelance) writers for tasks. I've worked with clients that needed 1000s of 500-600 word product descriptions (PDPs) written, edited, and QA'd in three months. You cannot do this with in-house staff if it's a short turnaround. Freelancers around the world also give us a 24-hour work cycle, so in theory, we can complete a task 3x faster.

Depending on the project, I will work with 10-450 freelancers. I have PMs that assist with the larger projects so I am not personally managing that many people.

The onboarding process is a mix of trial-by-fire and training. We have style guides that include good and bad examples. We let the writer start with a few pieces and then leave comments for them to understand what is good or bad. They revise the content and it's usually ready to go. If their quality fails or if they provide fluff we send it back and work with them on improving their content. Not all freelancers adapt to criticism, but most respect the process and the voice of various clients.?

As an additional note—many of my freelancers have been with me for 5-10 years. They adapt to the ebbs and flow of our projects and I adapt to their changing life situations. There are instances where I've hired women that were in abusive situations and working with me gave them the financial independence to change their lives. Not all freelancers (just like not all employees) are cut out for every task, but it doesn't mean they're not worthy of participating.”

“Initially, we only had an in-house team”

Sofie Koevoets of Superside also chooses a hybrid model: ?Initially, we only had an in-house team, but due to scaling our teams and growing faster than we can hire for, we also use reliable freelance writers.

Now, we work with a content agency and I also use about 5 freelance writers for all the in-betweens. We started to work with freelance writers to avoid missing deadlines and still keep our content up to date and with a steady output. It allows us to relieve our in-house content writing team.

Managing freelancers is tricky, indeed. I create extensive briefs with lots of examples and research. All content, especially outsourced, does go through our in-house team for final edits though. To make sure it is exactly as we want it to be before publishing it on our site. I also try and work with freelancers who have 'proven' their knowledge on the subject matter in the previous content, although the trial and error is not always fun in that exercise.

“Freelancers provide a more affordable alternative to hiring additional in-house writers”

When I asked Kate Erwin of Contractbook whether she prefers working with in-house specialists or freelancers, she said: “Absolutely both. In-house specialists are great for editorial content and anything product-related. They know what we offer better than anyone.?

Freelance writers are great for two things: subject expertise your in-house writers don't have and volume-based content.

Work volume can be inconsistent so freelancers provide a more affordable alternative to hiring additional in-house writers. Also, hiring freelancers means that we can tap into a wider network of writers with different voices and skills.

Right now I'm actually on the hunt for freelance writers. In-house we have about 3.5 people. We also use an agency.”

“To ensure the brand voice is maintained, we have the writing handbook”

Padmaja Santhanam of FirstPrinciples says:? "We work with both in-house specialists and freelancers.

The primary reason for working with in-house specialists is that you can create your own content library and personalize your content based on your service or product. Having in-house specialists in the team helps improve the quality of content and reduce the turn-around time from assignment to completion.?

Besides the in-house team streamlining content submissions simultaneously, they have substantive knowledge about the business goals, so collaboration opportunities within the team are also maintained. And freelancers are primarily to help reduce the extra content workload from the team delivering the additional content required.?

From my experience in the industry, the primary benefit that I have witnessed in working with freelancers is that they bring particular expertise to your team and are also available on short notice. They are often the experts in their niche and have a good grasp of niche tasks.

To ensure the brand voice is maintained, we have the writing handbook, where the writing styles and the brand guideline are mentioned. When a freelancer is hired for a project, these terms are clearly explained; also, the BRD document is shared with them to understand the client's requirements. The organization's requirement is delivered to them as a pitch, and communication is done via a common workspace such as slack/Jira to ensure the work is done on time. The work goes through a strict review to ensure that brand tone and styles are adequately maintained.”

“Freelancers are much more reactive to your requirements”

James Taylor runs an SEO consultancy business, and he primarily works with freelance writers: “I tend to find that freelancers are much more reactive to your requirements, and are used to working between briefs and deadlines. Freelancers often want to actively retain relationships by adhering to SOPs, so I've found greater consistency with freelancers too.?

James uses SOPs (standard operating procedures) to keep brand voice consistent across all content: “It's so important to create a standard operating procedure document with rigid guidelines on exactly how you want a piece of content to look, and the tone or structure that needs to be adhered to throughout.”

How do companies collaborate with freelancers?

Out of 17 surveyed content markets, 8 respondents provide a topic and brief for their writers and 9 specialists also prepare an outline for freelancers to build their content upon.?

Ryan Prior of Modash says: “It depends on the person, their experience, the content, and the stage of the relationship!

The fastest-moving projects in my experience usually have some kind of semi-templated approach, i.e. an example/outline for different content types:

• this is how we approach a 'how to' piece
• this is how we approach an 'alternatives' list
• this is how we approach a 'best tools' list, etc.

Then, after a little onboarding period with extra support, a writer can generally knock out a bunch of similar pieces just with a topic or keyword.”

Emma Fanning of Sendinblue shares: “Generally use a templated approach that covers a topic, brief, and an outline. The level of detail in the outline depends on the topic and the writer's experience level.

If I'm confident the writer can handle it and the topic is easy to research, I tend to leave them to it with a bare outline and SEO instructions. If it's a tricky topic that requires specific product knowledge and positioning, the outline will be well fleshed out with exact points to include.”

Should you work with freelance writers?

Outsourcing content creation might be tricky. You need clear content guidelines and a streamlined process to make things work. But managing a large content team isn’t all roses either.?

If you have fluctuating workloads, working with freelance writers is the best way for you to save money. Large companies and enterprises choose to collaborate with freelance to scale faster. Personally, I see the future of content marketing in combining in-house content teams and freelance writers.