Business owners like you are by nature ambitious people, so it’s no surprise to see many creating DIY content. You’re confident in your abilities and it can be tempting to try and create your own content, to save the expense of hiring an inbound marketing agency.
But would you have a go at fixing your car's engine if it broke down?
Probably not (at least, unless you're a trained mechanic).
While a DIY attitude might initially seem like a good idea, here are 4 reasons why it’s not.
1) Quality Won’t Be As Good
So you've downloaded a couple of marketing books, read a few blog posts and you’ve even been to a seminar or two. This is not a substitute for years of experience. It’s naive to think otherwise. Do you know how to optimise content for search engines? Can you write content that flows? Is your spelling and grammar up to scratch? Are you able to write in an engaging, conversational tone?
Whilst some business owners think that they'll be able to write better content than an agency, this is often not the case. Business owners are heavily invested in their baby, which can lead to them reverting to sales pitches in their content. They want everyone to buy their products or services, afterall. A great agency will interview you and the other experts on your team so that they can produce great content, whilst also offering a distanced and unbiased view that will resonate with your prospects.
An agency can often bring a new perspective to your marketing content, too. They've seen all types of content across a whole host of different industries, and can bring those ideas to your industry. These are all things you'll have to learn by trial and error working alone.
2) It Will Consume Time and Resources
Content creation takes considerable time and resources, even for the professionals. You need to factor what your time is worth, and how long you will spend creating content if you take a DIY approach.
Copywriters do more then write. They use their years of experience manipulating language to convey your business objectives through copy. They devote their entire attention to your content. While you might set out to do the same, content creation will inevitably lose its priority when something urgent comes along. If you’re a business owner and your day is booked up with both internal and client meetings, what time will you have for writing blog posts?
The key element of successful inbound marketing is consistent content creation. If you don't consistently produce content, you'll never achieve the business results you're looking for.
3) It Might End up Costing You More
When it comes down to it, producing your own content will probably end up costing you more than hiring a professional. It'll take you longer to produce the content, and that will take you away from other important tasks which will result in lost revenue elsewhere in the business.
A business owner's time is extremely valuable. Can you really afford to be investing your limited time doing all of your marketing activities yourself?
4) It Can Reflect Badly on Your Business
How would you feel if a company website you visited was riddled with poor copy and amateur design? You wouldn't be very likely to buy from them. Imagine if your business was all about accuracy and attention to detail. How would bad grammar and typos in your copy come across? What about blog posts that have clearly not had the time invested into them that they deserve?
Every piece of content your produce should be seen as an extension of your business. The quality of your marketing activities will have a direct impact on how prospects perceive your products, services and brand. A great product can be sunk by bad marketing. Business is all about how your prospects perceive the value of product and services. Poor content creates a poor perception.
Save yourself the aggravation, and do inbound marketing the proper way. Hire an expert team to come in and help you. You'll get better results, save yourself time, and be able to focus on your strengths instead.
