“Content is king.” It has become a bit of a cliché over the past several years in particular, but the fact remains that the development of strong, informative content readers actually like is more important today than ever.

Just consider some of these content marketing statistics to get a better idea of exactly how important sound content writing is for today’s brands:

• Adopting an inbound marketing strategy has been shown to double the average website’s conversion rates (via the 2015 State of Inbound Marketing report).
• Brands that heavily use inbound marketing can save more than $14 for each new customer they acquire.
• Between 2012 and 2015, 84 percent of top-performing companies were either already using or planned to start using content creation and marketing automation tactics
• Approximately 67 percent of B2B marketers in 2015 said content marketing was a top three or high priority within their year’s overall marketing strategy.
• About 93 percent of marketers are now using social media for their business, whether it’s to promote their blog content, engage with customers or share interesting articles, videos or images.
• Brands that create at least 15 new blog posts each month earn, on average, 1,200 new leads per month. And 82 percent of all marketers who create regular blog content see positive return on investment for inbound marketing.

Clearly, the creation of quality articles, blog content, social media content and more is a major part of the online marketing strategies for businesses across nearly all industries. Best of all, it comes with lower costs than most other forms of marketing—democratizing the process and allowing smaller brands to compete with the big players in their fields.

Engaging a content writing partner

One of the challenges of developing a cohesive content marketing strategy is finding the time and resources to actually create the high volume of content your business needs. Instead of hiring a copywriter in-house or turning to a freelance writer, many companies have found a great option in the form of reliable content writing services.

The key word here is “reliable.” Small businesses especially can have trouble finding truly great copywriters because they do not necessary have the cash flow available to pay a full salary. They end up relying on freelance content writers who may or may not be able to deliver the quality of content on the kind of schedule they need.

There are a number of reasons why a professional copywriting service is a better option. First, these providers staff highly skilled and well-vetted teams of content writers who have experience in fields like journalism, public relations, marketing, advertising and communications. They also have processes in place that allow them to provide their services much more affordably than marketing agencies, or even freelancers.

Furthermore, you should look for a content creation provider with copywriters who are all based in the United States and have at least a bachelor’s degree. Also keep an eye on a company that has writers with subject-specific expertise—ideally within your industry.

When done right, your content marketing campaign will result in more visitors to your website, more time spent reading your content and much higher levels of customer engagement. Consider working with an established copywriting services provider as you move ahead with your content creation efforts.