Have you ever wondered if you should outsource content creation as an author? Well, I’m here to tell you 5 reasons why you should!
As an author, you’re busy. (Not that I need to tell you that!)
Not only do you need time to craft your genius books, but you might have a day job, a family, or other interests you’re trying to juggle. On top of all that, you are attempting to grow your social media platforms, email list, blog, and more because you know the importance of increasing your brand awareness.
And when was the last time you posted consistently to your social media accounts? Exactly.
This is where outsourcing your content creation comes in.
Here are 5 reasons why you need to outsource content creation as an author.
1. You Have More Time to Write Books
The first is an obvious reason: You have more time to do what you love, which is write books! None of us can do everything. Especially when it comes to social media.
It’s one thing to post high-quality content consistently, but alongside that, to grow your account and brand awareness, you need to engage with your followers/readers, post to Stories, find new accounts to follow, and brainstorm creative ways to promote your books. It’s a lot!
That’s outsourcing content creation can be so beneficial. It allows you to take back some of those hours you’d spend creating book content and put that time back into your writing.
2. You Preserve Your Creativity
Social media content takes creativity. Not only the act of content creation but coming up with unique ideas that reel in new readers. However, writing takes a lot of creativity (as a writer, I know this!) and you want to save every ounce of energy and creativity you have for writing. Because if you’re reading this, you probably love writing a whole lot more than content creation.
Preserve your creativity for writing and unload the need to put even more creativity into content creation.
3. You Won’t Need to Constantly Keep Up to Date on Social Media Marketing
Understanding the fundamentals, as well as updates and new trends in social media, is necessary to thrive on social media.
As a freelance social media content creator and book marketer, I understand social media and I am constantly updating my knowledge on every platform. I take HubSpot courses every month, or a couple of months, to ensure I am caught up on new Instagram updates or TikTok trends so my clients don’t need to be.
It takes hours, but since I love social media marketing and it’s my job, I carve the time to invest in my education every month. It’s time-consuming and if you don’t love social media, it’s a grind!
That’s another reason why you should consider outsourcing content creation.
4. You Won’t Stretch Yourself Too Thin
Burnout is a real thing. I’m sure you know this first-hand, like myself. That’s why it’s important to use your time and energy wisely on the things only you can do, and outsource the things you don’t need to do. Like content creation.
If you don’t enjoy content creation and don’t need to do it, ask yourself what is keeping you from outsourcing it. It could be because you don’t have the money to hire a freelancer, which is totally fine! It is something you need to plan ahead for and save. However, if you do have the money, your mental health will thank you for taking this off your plate.
5. You’ll Market Your Books the Right Way
If you don’t know much about social media and marketing, you might end up marketing your books the wrong way. Because yes, this is a thing! This can impact the success of your new book release or a re-release.
Outsourcing content creation and hiring a book marketer can ensure you market your books the right way and get the most out of your release rather than wasting your time, energy, and money on marketing efforts that just don’t work.
As a content creator and book marketer, it’s my job to know how to market your books the right way.
3 Things to Know Before Outsourcing Content Creation
1. Your Content Alone Won’t Sell Your Books, Book Marketing Will
Consistent content creation builds brand awareness, it doesn’t sell books. Brand awareness is important because it allows potential readers to develop trust in you and then buy and read your book.
Good book marketing does both of these things: sell books and grow brand awareness.
And no, book marketing doesn’t have to be paid marketing. It can be organic content creation or utilizing your newsletter or reaching out to ARC readers.
It can include paid marketing, but it doesn’t need to.
Before outsourcing content creation it’s important to understand that content creation:
- Doesn’t sell books alone.
- Doesn’t need to be for every single platform that exists.
- Shouldn’t only revolve around promoting your books.
To be successful with your content, content needs to:
- Promote your books only 50% of the time.
- Entertain, engage, or motivate the other 50% of the time.
- Have a purpose.
It’s also important to know that virality doesn’t equal sales. Just because a TikTok goes viral, doesn’t mean your book sales will go up drastically. It’s common for them to spike, depending on how many views it gets, but you still need to continue advocating for yourself and your book!
Hopefully, that clears a few things up around content creation because the biggest misconception that I run into with clients is that they expect their social media content to sell their books.
Of course, it does help to sell books. Sometimes people will stumble across my authors’ accounts and say, “Hey, this book sounds right up my alley! I’m going to check it out.” And that is awesome, but that isn’t as easy as it sounds. Nowadays, people are more reluctant to buy books from authors they don’t know. That’s why creating consistent content is essential in order for them to get to know you.
Like I mentioned above, creating content that is consistent, valuable, and high-quality is part of a strategy to build your brand awareness as an author. Building brand awareness helps establish a trustworthy relationship between you and your readers and is the first step out of three in any marketing plan.
The other two steps are then to engage and convert.
You need to warm readers up first to you and your books before throwing your book at them, right?
2. You Don’t Need to Be on Every Platform
I recommend authors choose 2 platforms to focus on, and then just re-purpose content for whatever other platforms you feel like you should be on. Personally, I think Instagram and TikTok are the top two platforms for authors, but I do have a few authors who I re-post their Instagram content to Facebook and Twitter.
Rather than stretching yourself thin across multiple platforms, by focusing your energy on 2 platforms like Instagram and TikTok, you can really harness your following and grow your brand awareness efficiently.
3. You Don’t Need to Spend Hundreds of Dollars a Month to Outsource
A little bit of content creation goes a long way. When you make the decision to outsource content creation, don’t feel like you need to have someone spend hours and hours creating content.
I have clients who only hire me to do 1 hour of content creation per week, and in that time, I create Instagram content for 5 days per week and re-post the reels I make onto TikTok. Another client I have hires me for 2 hours per week and I create content for one Instagram but re-post it to Facebook and Twitter as well, AND I post book bites to Verve Romance too.
See, you can get a lot of content for as little as 1 hour per week. I personally recommend 2 hours a week if you want content for more than two platforms, but regardless, you don’t need to invest thousands of dollars to post consistently.
However, if you want content for newsletters, blog posts, etc., that will obviously require a few more hours every week or so.
My point is if you really want to outsource but feel like you don’t have the income to support it, start small! It will make a big difference in the success of your online platforms.
Did I convince you? Or maybe do I have you considering outsourcing content creation for the new year? I hope so!
If you’re on the hunt for a social media manager or book marketer or want to chat a bit more about the process, I offer services that include:
- Social media management
- Social media content creation
- Ad campaign creation and management for new or re-releases and discounted books
- Write promotional copy like blog posts, newsletters, landing pages, book blurbs, taglines, etc.
- ARC outreach
- Influencer management
- Blog/Bookstagram tour management
- Social media management
- Social media strategies
Feel free to contact me here to chat more 🙂
Follow me on Instagram and TikTok for social media and book marketing tips!
Zoe Mathers Creative 