Outsourcing Your Content vs. Hiring an In-House Writing Team

@BKAContent / @JonBKA

Outsourcing Your Content vs.

Hiring an In-House Writing TeamA True Cost Comparison

Jon BinghamDirector of Marketing

BKA Content

Outsourcing vs In-House Writing @BKAContent / @JonBKA

How Much Content Do You Need?

29%26%

Content Marketing as a % of Total Marketing Budget

B2C

B2B

29%48%

15%% of Marketers Increasing Content Creation

Significant IncreaseIncreaseNo ChangeDecrease

Based on Content Marketing Institute’s 2017 survey, companies are setting aside nearly 30% of their total marketing budget towards content marketing.

Also, 77% of companies plan to increase their overall content production from the previous year.

Companies that published 11 or more posts per month saw 3x the traffic of those that published 1 or 2 posts.


Pros and Cons

In-House Writers

Pros:• Industry Experience• Increased Control

Cons:• Skills Gap• Time/Resources• Bias• Fixed Capacity

Outsourced Writers

Pros:• Process Expertise• Ability to Scale• Outside Perspective• Resources• Convenience

Cons:• Lack of Inside

Knowledge• Limited Control


The Cost of Hiring In-House WritersAccording to the Society for Human Resource Management, the average hiring cost is:

$4,000We found 18 copywriting salaries from 7 different employment websites. The average salary is:

$49,982According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, benefits account for 30.2% of compensation costs. In our example that equates to:

$21,625Payroll taxes are around 8.24%, meaning the tax payout is:

$4,119The cost of equipment/overhead is approximately:

$2,800The total cost for 1 in-house writer is:

$82,526


The Cost of Outsourcing Content Creation

Self Service vs. Managed Service• Order through online platform• Select price or quality level• Manage and quality check the

content yourself• Interact with each writer and

give feedback• Typically cheapest option

• Dedicated account manager• Manager creates team of writers

for your project• Most convenient and hands off

approach • May require a retainer or

membership fee• FREE with BKA Content


The Cost of Outsourcing Content Creation

PricingFor our cost comparisons, we’ll be using 2 different products to compare costs. Our scenarios will use 500-550 word blogs and 100-124 word product descriptions.

Branded Blogs Product DescriptionsProduct Descriptions Words Price25-49 $2.50 50-74 $4.15 75-99 $5.80

100-124 $7.45 125-149 $9.10 150-174 $10.75 175-199 $12.40 200-249 $14.10 250-299 $17.55 300-350 $21.00

Branded BlogsWords Price

100-150 $15.00200-250 $20.00300-350 $25.00400-450 $30.00500-550 $35.00600-650 $42.50700-750 $50.00800-850 $57.50900-950 $65.00

1000-1050 $75.00


How Much Can One Writer Produce?

In 2016, Hubspot asked 4,000 marketing professionals how long it took to write a 500-word blog post. They found that in-house writers could produce 1 article in approximately 2 hours, which equates to:

.50 Articles / HOUR

4 Articles / DAY

20 Articles / WEEK

87 Articles /MONTH

At BKA, we surveyed our writers and found that on average, they can produce:

.94 Articles / HOUR

7.52 Articles / DAY

37.6 Articles / WEEK

163 Articles /MONTH

For our scenarios, we’ll take the average of these 2 numbers, which is:

125 Articles / Month


Scenario 1: Small to Medium Size Business• # of Pieces of Content Needed: 30 per month• Article Word Size: 500 words• # of In-House Writers Needed: 1• Outsourcing Discount Pricing: N/A ($35 per

article)Cost of In-House Writer x1

First Month Cost Ongoing Monthly Cost Annual CostSalary $4,165 $4,165 $49,982 Benefits $1,802 $1,802 $21,626 Payroll Taxes $343 $343 $4,119 Subtotal $6,311 $6,311 $75,726 One-Time CostsHiring $4,000 $4,000 Equipment $2,800 $2,800 Total Cost $13,111 $6,311 $82,526

Cost to Outsource 30 articles/month First Month Cost Ongoing Monthly Cost Annual Cost$35/Article $1,050 $1,050 $12,600Total Cost $1,050 $1,050 $12,600

Annual Savings from Outsourcing: $69,926


Scenario 2: An SEO/Marketing Agency• # of Pieces of Content Needed: 250 per month• Article Word Size: 500 words• # of In-House Writers Needed: 2• Outsourcing Discount Pricing: $34.30 per

articleCost of In-House Writer x2

First Month Cost Ongoing Monthly Cost Annual CostSalary $8,330 $8,330 $99,965 Benefits $3,604 $3,604 $43,251 Payroll Taxes $686 $686 $8,237 Subtotal $12,621 $12,621 $151,453 One-Time CostsHiring $8,000 $8,000 Equipment $5,600 $5,600 Total Cost $26,221 $12,621 $165,053

Cost to Outsource 250 articles/month First Month Cost Ongoing Monthly Cost Annual Cost$34.30/Article $8,575 $8,575 $102,900 Total Cost $8,575 $8,575 $102,900



Scenario 3: Large Enterprise Company• # of Pieces of Content Needed: 500 per month• Article Word Size: 500 words• # of In-House Writers Needed: 4• Outsourcing Discount Pricing: $33.95 per

articleCost of In-House Writer x4

First Month Cost Ongoing Monthly Cost Annual CostSalary $16,661 $16,661 $199,929 Benefits $7,209 $7,209 $86,502 Payroll Taxes $1,373 $1,373 $16,474 Subtotal $25,242 $25,242 $302,905 One-Time CostsHiring $12,000 $12,000 Equipment $8,400 $8,400 Total Cost $45,642 $25,242 $323,305

Cost to Outsource 500 articles/month First Month Cost Ongoing Monthly Cost Annual Cost$33.95/Article $16,975 $16,975 $203,700 Total Cost $16,975 $16,975 $203,700



Scenario 4: Ecommerce Business• # of Pieces of Content Needed: One-time, 20,000 SKU

order• Article Word Size: 100 words• # of In-House Writers Needed: 5• Outsourcing Discount Pricing: $4.84 per description


Cost of In-House Writer x5 for 6 Months First Month Cost Ongoing Monthly Cost 6 Month CostSalary $20,826 $20,826 $124,956 Benefits N/A N/A N/APayroll Taxes $1,716 $1,716 $10,296 Subtotal $22,542 $22,542 $135,252 One-Time CostsHiring $20,000 $20,000 Equipment (half) $7,000 $7,000 Total Cost $49,542 $22,542 $162,252

Cost to Outsource 20,000 SKU Project for 3 Months First Month Cost Ongoing Monthly Cost 3 Month Cost$4.84/Article $32,267 $32,267 $96,800 Total Cost $32,267 $32,267 $96,800


Final Cost Comparison

Small Business Agency Enterprise E-Commerce

In-House Annual Cost $82,526 $165,053 $323,305 $162,252

Outsourced Annual Cost $12,600 $102,900 $203,700 $96,800

Annual Savings from Outsourcing $69,926 $62,153 $119,605 $65,452 (and 3 months)

In most cases, companies will save money by outsourcing. On the other hand, in-house production might make sense for more technical/specific content projects that don’t fall under the industry averages like the scenarios we’ve outlined.

Also keep in mind other costs associated with running an in-house writing team. You’ll need space, equipment, software and someone to manage the writing team and their tasks.

• Founded in 2009• Industry Leading Content Provider• Service Agencies, SMBs & Enterprises• Offer Account Management• No Monthly Minimums or Contracts• Hand-picked, Experienced U.S. Writers• Dedicated Writing Teams


Who are we?

@BKAContent / @JonBKA

www.bkacontent.com

If you need custom content, come visit us at Booth #320!

Thanks for listening!

Outsourcing vs In-House Writing