Time to read: 2 minutes. Should you outsource your content marketing efforts? Don’t—unless you want your blogs, white papers, videos or magazines blend in with those of your competitors. Good, effective content marketing cannot be outsourced. No matter how much you’re struggling to create a constant stream of content keep it in house. Here’s why.

First, it’s important to realize that having a constant stream of content emanating from your business is not that important. Despite what “the experts” keep saying, the most effective content is not that which gets discovered in search engines and gets people to your Web site. It’s not a numbers game. Nor is it that which has “your voice” or “reflects your culture” or “is authentic.” Nor is effective content a blog or article or video which convinces customers to prefer or choose your brand.

The most effective content produces measurable sales. Period.

If leads and sales are what you’re after with content marketing then you’ve got to come to grips with the truth: Effective content marketing goes beyond providing your target audience with useful information. That’s essential but you’ve got to go the extra mile—you’ve got to provide NEW, previously unknown information that tells customers how to avoid risk or exploit opportunity. Good luck finding someone on the outside that a) understands that and b) understands enough about your competitive environment to know how and where to find what your customers truly need to know and c) can actually research such content—let alone produce it reliably, over time!

Getting to the sale demands that your company’s content create addictions among customers. People need to crave your tips and tricks or educational materials. That means your content must always help them solve problems, generate wealth or avoid risk. If your content isn’t doing these things then it blends right in to the environment. It’s crap.

Want your content to look like your competitors? Just outsource it to people who repackage information your customers already know. They’ll take your money and in return pass off what they create as thought leadership or insightful information. And then you’ll pass that junk on to your customers.

95% of content marketing is crap—information that everyone already knows surrounded by buzzwords.

Want your content to produce leads and sales? Hire people who know how to produce written or multi-media materials that make readers/viewers say, “hmm, I never thought of it THAT way… that’s scary” or “I see the opportunity in that, I better get in touch with these people to take action!”

Because that’s what good social media marketing and content marketing does—induces responses that leads to sales.

photo credit: feck_aRt_post