Two years ago, PRWeek reported that public relations firms were at a “make or break” moment when it came to content creation. At the time, many agencies were scrambling to hire content writers to fulfill all the blog posts, social media content, white papers, case studies and other strategies they were developing for their clients.
Now, in mid-2017, content continues to be a primary focus of marketing and PR firms across North America and around the world. In large part, these agencies have opted to acquire other firms, create new content divisions and/or hire and train ever-growing teams of writers.
What sometimes gets lost in the shuffle is a fourth—and arguably more effective—option. PR and marketing agencies can partner with existing content development services to scale their efforts, while ensuring they continue to deliver quality content and maintain affordability for their clients.
In fact, partnering with a content creation agency is typically a more sustainable, more manageable and less costly alternative to hiring content writers. Here are some reasons why:
The hiring and training is already done
Content development agencies know how to find, test and train strong copywriters, taking the burden off your business. Basically, you only have to make the decision to partner with the agency in the first place. From there, the agency and its editors will ensure you receive high-quality content in a timely manner.
It’s a solution that scales
One of the big challenges for a PR or marketing agency when trying to hire content writers is knowing how many people to bring on at once. Depending on how busy you are, you could be paying writers to sit around and do nothing or overwhelm your team with too many assignments.
When you partner with a content creation firm, you only need to order the content you need for your clients. Predicting volume and budgeting costs becomes much simpler. It’s a process that scales well.
Proofing and editing are included
Another common challenge for PR and marketing firms when hiring content staff is ensuring those writers deliver quality on a consistent basis. A failure to do so could result in unhappy clients and lost accounts.
Content creation services have skilled editors and project managers as part of their processes. These professionals must ensure all the content that gets delivered to your firm—and its clients—is well-researched, flows well and is free of any errors in spelling, punctuation or grammar.
You can easily hire content writers with industry expertise
If your agency serves clients in a niche industry, it can be incredibly difficult to hire content writers who know how to create copy for these businesses and their customers.
With a content writing agency, you don’t have to worry about this. These firms have large pools of talented writers from which they can draw. The result is your team won’t have to spend hours training writers on the ins and outs of a specific industry.
Most PR and marketing firms today have enormous needs for content creation. If you find yourself facing these challenges, consider the benefits of partnering with an existing content development agency rather than attempting to hire content writers on your own. It can be much more sustainable and affordable solution for your firm and its clients.
ProPRcopy offers high-quality content creation services to public relations, marketing, advertising and communication firms throughout North America.