When To Use A B2B Marketing Agency Vs. Freelance Writers

In today’s digital era, B2B decision-makers can easily access high-quality information and content through various channels. This accessibility empowers buyers to gather information independently, reducing sellers’ opportunities to reach out to buyers directly and influence their decisions.

In fact, a recent Gartner study found that 27% of the B2B buying journey involves independent research compared to only 17% which involves meeting with potential suppliers.

That means, as a B2B company, you must increase the chance that independent researchers stumble upon the right content in the right place that accurately represents your brand and services. That’s where content creation comes into play.

To create great content, you could use an in-house team, marketing agency, or freelance writers. In the B2B tech world, where staying ahead of the competition is crucial, and half of all content creation aims to engage potential customers, making the right choice can significantly impact your marketing success. 

So, whether you are beginning to realize how vital content is to B2B buyers on their journey or you’re juggling internal growth challenges that your in-house team needs support with, read on to discover:

• The differences between hiring a B2B marketing agency vs. freelance writers.
• 8 signs it’s time to choose an agency over freelance writers.
• How Megawatt can help.

The Differences Between Hiring A B2B Marketing Agency And Freelance Content Writers 

A good content marketing agency offers a large team, with employees who possess varied skills that may be valuable to your organization. Ultimately this provides you with comprehensive support and expertise. Agencies also have the resources to handle larger projects while managing multiple clients. However, agencies tend to be more expensive than engaging a freelance content writer and may require more rigid partnership requirements like a monthly retainer or minimum contract length.

On the other hand, freelance content writers offer specialized skills and are more budget-friendly due to lower overhead costs and increased flexibility. While they may be adaptable for specific projects, they could face limitations in handling extensive campaigns and have limited availability for direct communication as independent operators. Making the right choice depends on each business’s unique needs, budget, and long-term marketing objectives.

When trying to make the best decision, consider this: marketing agencies usually have an advantage in terms of being vetted by industry peers.

A typical marketing agency will often have official certifications, an online or social presence, and recommendations you can easily find, like client case studies or testimonials.

Conversely, tracking down and sizing up freelance writers can feel more like relying on word-of-mouth; and they may not always have the solid proof of what they can do as readily available as an agency would.

8 Signs It’s Time To Choose An Agency Over Freelance Writers

While freelancers offer flexibility and specialized skills, they face limitations that agencies don’t. Freelancers often lack the resources and capacity to handle large-scale, multichannel projects or manage multiple projects simultaneously. Additionally, maintaining consistent communication and accountability can be more challenging with freelancers than agencies, which often have dedicated project managers and well-defined processes. 

And, while freelance writers can be an excellent choice for specific projects like a blog series or one-off video project— specifically for B2B tech companies — partnering with a specialized agency offers the expertise, scalability, and strategic guidance necessary to connect each asset to a larger marketing strategy and help your business succeed in the competitive tech market.

B2B tech marketing agencies often have a more comprehensive range of tools and resources to significantly enhance critical aspects of your marketing strategy like: 

• SEO expertise (both on-page and off) and tools to track SEO performance
• The ability to guide your team in setting up website analytics and interpreting performance data
• Comprehensive benchmark reporting against competitors

Partnering with a specialized or niche tech agency is basically an extra boost to help you navigate the complexities of the highly competitive tech market — with confidence and precision.

Ultimately, carefully evaluating your marketing initiatives’ specific needs and goals will help you decide if freelance support or a full-fledged agency partnership is right for you. Here are some common signs that tell you it’s time for an agency:

1. Upcoming Complex Projects: If your marketing initiatives require diverse skills and expertise because you have a number of upcoming complex projects, such as launching a multi-platform product campaign across international markets while implementing real-time customer engagement analytics, an agency with a team of experts can better handle the complexity and deliver results.

2. Scalability: When you anticipate a significant increase in marketing demands or need to scale up quickly, agencies have the resources and capacity to accommodate growth. Agencies employ experts beyond your agency team members—and can tap into additional resources as necessary to scale up or down quickly without a long, arduous recruiting and hiring process. 

3. A Need for Strategic Guidance: Agencies excel at offering precise strategic insights and planning, like developing a comprehensive marketing strategy that leverages content creation, social media engagement, and targeted SEO efforts to drive brand awareness and lead generation in your industry.

4. Brand Consistency:  If maintaining brand consistency across various marketing channels is crucial, an agency can ensure a unified and cohesive brand message across platforms and assets, a level of coordination that can sometimes be challenging with freelancers operating independently.

5. Time Constraints: Agencies can manage multiple projects simultaneously, allowing you to focus on core business operations while leaving marketing tasks to the experts.

6. Multichannel Marketing: Agencies can provide comprehensive solutions across assets and platforms for marketing strategies that involve multiple channels (e.g., social media, content marketing, email). 

For instance, an agency can create an integrated approach where blog posts enhance your SEO and serve as content pillars for social media campaigns. These blog topics can be repurposed into engaging email newsletters, ensuring a consistent and impactful message reaches your audience through various avenues. This level of multifaceted coordination is an advantage that sets agencies apart from the more individualized efforts often seen with freelancers because of the time and resources agencies have at their fingertips to devote to large-scale projects.

Specifically for B2B tech companies at scale or ready to scale, technical and niche content agencies offer:

7. Specialized Tech Knowledge: B2B tech marketing often requires deep technical expertise, which certain agencies specializing in technology can provide. They understand complex products and services — and nuances related to your target audiences — enabling them to create targeted and effective marketing strategies.

8. Industry Insights and Trends: Technology-focused marketing agencies stay updated with the latest B2B tech industry trends and innovations because it is a priority.

A B2B marketing agency has the resources to invest in ongoing research, training, and networking to ensure they remain at the forefront of technological advancements. This dedication enables them to offer clients the most relevant and effective strategies, leveraging cutting-edge tools and techniques to navigate the rapidly evolving tech landscape.

How Megawatt Can Help

Here at Megawatt, we are a B2B content marketing agency built to help Series B+ tech companies fuel growth with quality content and smart strategy. 

We are a specialized marketing agency that offers a range of services and expertise tailored to the B2B tech industry. Here’s how we can help:

1. Tech-Focused Expertise: Megawatt’s team comprises skilled professionals with in-depth B2B tech landscape knowledge. We understand complex tech products and services and can craft targeted and effective marketing strategies that resonate.

2. Strategic Guidance: With a focus on B2B tech, we provide valuable strategic insights and planning to help you develop a cohesive marketing strategy aligned with your business goals.

3. Multichannel Marketing Solutions: Megawatt curates and runs comprehensive marketing campaigns across various channels, including social media, corporate blogs, and email, to ensure our clients’ messages reach the right audience at the right time and in the right place.

4. Brand Consistency: Megawatt will work diligently to maintain consistent brand messaging and identity across all marketing platforms and assets, strengthening your brand presence and recognition.

5. Scalability: As your business grows, Megawatt has the resources and capacity to accommodate increasing marketing demands, ensuring your marketing efforts keep pace with your expansion.

Don’t just take our word for it, we also have a proven track record of successful B2B tech marketing campaigns. 

With Megawatt’s expertise and experience, you can expect a strategic approach, creative solutions, and measurable results that drive your business forward. Partnering with Megawatt will empower your marketing efforts, unlock growth opportunities, and help you thrive in the competitive market.

Ready for an expert B2B content marketing agency to do the hard work for you?

👇