Why investing in expert agency copywriting is a smart move

"The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten." — Benjamin Franklin

Writing copy for a living is no easy feat. It usually takes years to build the instincts, experience and psychological arsenal to do it well. You have to put the hours in, build up your mental muscles and drive the hard-won lessons into your nerves and sinews before you’ll be any good.

As a business owner, you might be tempted to save a few quid on all this long-winded puffery by hiring a freelancer.

Let’s get real for a moment. While both of those options can have their place, there’s a reason the marketing agency copywriter remains the gold standard, since the halcyon Mad Men days right up to the present day. It’s because with words, perhaps more than any other business asset, you get what you pay for.

It’s easy to underestimate the skill required to do good writing. Just because everyone can write it doesn’t follow that everyone is a writer. See our article, what does a copywriter do?, for more on this point.

In this article, we’ll examine the economics behind copywriter output and explain why paying a premium is usually a good investment. And yes, of course, we’re biased. But it’s justified. You’ll see.

In-house writer vs. agency copywriter vs. freelance: How the numbers stack up

We know every CFO loves a good cost-benefit analysis. So, whether you are one or can feel yours breathing down your neck as you read this, here’s how the most common copywriting options compare.

Some agencies and most freelancers and all employees cost a certain amount per day or per hour. For the purposes of comparison, we have tried to standardise on a good, midweight copywriter with perhaps 2-5 years of experience and to translate their costs into a cost per 100 words of output for comparability.

In-house writer costs

• Annual salary: A mid-level in-house writer salary is around £30,000 .
• Overheads: Add 30 precent on costs for things like benefits, employer’s tax and pension contributions and office space (if you don’t work remotely), which brings the total to £39,000 annually.
• Words produced: Assuming a steady output of 500 words a day and no distractions over 230 working days, that equals 115,000 words a year.

Now we divide the total cost of £39,000 by the total words produced, which is 115,000. Then, multiply the result by 100. This gives us a cost of £33.91 per 100 words.

Freelancer costs

• Hourly rate: Freelancers typically charge £30 to £80 per hour, depending on experience and expertise. Some, with extensive experience or specialist knowledge, may charge much more.
• Daily output: Assuming 500 words per day, that’s roughly 6 to 8 hours of work, including research, revisions, and communication.
• Cost per day: With rates ranging from £30 to £80 per hour, the daily cost is £180 to £640.

Now we divide the daily cost of £180 to £640 by the total words produced (500). Then, multiply the result by 100. This gives us a variable cost of £36 to £128 per 100 words.

Agency copywriter costs

• Hourly rate: Agencies charge about £100 per hour, more for very experienced or specialist copywriters
• Daily output: For those same 500 words, you’re looking at about the same 6-8 hours of work, including research, interviews, and revisions. This results in a cost of £600 to £800 for a short article.

This points to a cost of £120-£160 per 100 words.

Why agency copywriting delivers more than just words

When you’re weighing the cost of hiring a marketing agency for copywriting against the budget-friendlier options, it’s essential to look beyond the number for many reasons:

The work around the work

An agency like Articulate will deliver more than mere word count. For example, at Articulate the price of a 500-word thought leadership blog article includes:

• Project management
• Research and interviewing
• The actual writing, including SEO keyword targeting
• SEO meta description
• Test for two promotional social media posts
• Proofreading and pair editing
• Up to two rounds of revision (if required)
• Selection of a featured image
• (For clients with HubSpot websites) Uploading the post

All this work around the work adds value and reduces the amount of time you have to spend getting value from copy.

In addition, when we do our work in the context of a retainer, we invest in learning about our clients, their products and markets. We also assign at least two of our writing team to the client and give them a half-day to immerse themselves in the client so that we can provide continuity of service despite holidays or sickness.

Pay for what you need

While it is cheaper, on a per-word basis, to hire a writer in-house, do you really need 115,000 words a year? Who is going to edit that copy? Who is going to plan and brief the writer? What about their training and career development? What if your needs change? What if you suddenly need more than they can produce?

With an agency (and to some extent with a freelancer) you tap into a bigger pool of expertise and yet you can draw on it as much or as little as you need. 12 articles a year? No problem. 120 articles a year? No problem. 40,000 words for your website by the end of the month? No problem.

Fixed prices

If you pay by the hour, the provider has no incentive to optimise processes or focus on creative efficiency. That 500 word blog article might take a day or it might take two weeks. If anything there is a perverse incentive for the unscrupulous to take longer in order to earn more. And how credible are timesheets anyway?

This is why at Articulate, we have a fixed-price tariff of standard deliverables which means you never pay more than the pre-agreed fixed price for, say, a white paper or a thought leadership article, regardless of how long it takes us. And we guarantee up to two rounds of revision to ensure a consistently high level of quality. In other words, you pay for tangible output that accelerates your marketing not for the time taken to create it.

This gives us every incentive to do brilliant work that our clients love in the most efficient way possible. Fixed prices mean that our interests are aligned.

Marketing agencies are where the real talent hangs out

Teaming up with a marketing agency means you’re tapping into a pool of top-tier talent. These are the pros you've heard about. Writers and strategists who’ve honed their skills in the fast lane, juggling multiple challenging projects that keep them sharp and creative. Unlike in-house writers or freelancers who may focus on a single client for extended periods, agency copywriters tackle a variety of fresh challenges across multiple clients, keeping them attuned to emerging trends, best practices, and new perspectives.

There’s a reason marketing executives who have battled through the trenches of agency life are so highly valued for in-house positions. It’s because they’ve seen, heard and probably executed it all at some point. When you hire an agency to write for you, you’re bringing on board professionals who have consistently created customer personas, developed marketing strategies, received and acted on tough feedback, and transformed flashes of inspiration into successful campaigns. Unlike in-house writers or freelancers, agency copywriters face these challenges regularly, honing their skills and processes over time. This experience becomes a distinct advantage, ensuring your message resonates and connects with your audience.

Not only that, but agency expert copywriters bring a broader range of marketing experience to their copywriting, whether that’s from working in a specific sector or know-how such as SEO, social media or brand strategy.

You’ll save precious time

As a business owner, your time is your most valuable asset. Writing high-quality copy or even briefing a writer takes hours — time that could be better spent running your business or engaging with customers.

By outsourcing your copywriting to an agency, you free yourself from the content creation grind. They handle everything from ideation to final edits, delivering timely and polished content. With an agency on your side, you can trust that your writing is in good hands, allowing you to focus on what you do best, whether that’s building, sales, or a bit of both.

Quality is guaranteed

When you hire an in-house writer, you’re taking a risk. Will they understand your niche or USP? Are they even skilled enough to meet the standards required for your audience? It could be a costly mistake—one that might end up being far more expensive than hiring an agency to get it right the first time. Agencies, unlike in-house writers or freelancers, have their public image and reputation to uphold. They can’t afford to deliver subpar work, and that sense of accountability drives their commitment to quality. With rigorous quality control processes, often involving multiple writers, agencies ensure the highest standards across every project. At Articulate, we include up to two rounds of revision to guarantee quality, although we rarely need them.

Agency writers get brand

Creating a strong, recognisable brand is one of the most important ways to stand out in a crowded market full of social media influencers and fast-growing start-ups. A lack of brand clout can reduce industry monoliths to dust and crush a fledgling business underfoot before it even clears the cocoon. It’s essential, and if there’s one thing agencies can do well, it is brand.

When you work with an agency writer on a project of this sort, they’ll help you define and maintain a cohesive brand voice that aligns with your values and resonates with your audience. Even better, they won’t be scared to ask the tough questions to draw you out of your shell so you get the really good stuff — the emotions and words that drive you and your audience to do what you do. While an in-house copywriter could theoretically do the same, being part of the organisation rather than outside of it can lead to more of an ‘order taker’ role than a creative one. Not ideal if you want energetic, powerful content that makes people sit up.

At Articulate, we start copywriting engagements with brand strategy projects, even if it’s a basic client immersion project. This means we capture target audiences, personas, ICPs, tone of voice, messaging and those little idiosyncrasies that make you sound like you. We have well-honed processes and templates for this, including a database of client idiosyncrasies so that we capture feedback and share it.

SEO and digital expertise come baked in

Agency writers wear many hats and relentlessly build adjacent skills to ensure they can offer the most value to clients. One skill that is constantly honed and used to clients' great advantage is search engine optimisation (SEO).

Hiring an agency writer means you get to lean on them for keyword research, on and off-page analysis and content design. You’re not only getting pretty words, but you’re getting the invisible infrastructure that ensures those words reach the intended target.

Experience matters

Senior writers at agencies are often grizzled, battle-tested veterans who have done the late nights and the early mornings. They’ve ridden the caffeine rollercoaster and crashed on barbarous client shores — and lived to tell the tale. They know what to do and how to do it, with minimal fuss.

Marketing agencies are cut from the same cloth. If they’re still knocking about after recessions, global pandemics and Brexits, you can bet they’re doing something right and have a track record to prove it. Maybe they’re an exemplary HubSpot Partner or make cracking websites. Maybe they know how to turn a differentiator into a Difference Engine.

Articulate has been in the copywriting business for more than 20 years with world-renowned clients including Microsoft, HP, Google, HM Government and Dell. We have a roster of specialist and senior copywriters on staff supported by investments in our Difference Engine framework, well-honed SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) to ensure quality and consistency. Replicating these investments internally or on a freelancer basis is almost impossible.

Time to get the ball (point pen) rolling

Cutting corners on copy can cost you far more than you realise. Whether it’s relying on ChatGPT or hiring the cheapest freelancer, taking shortcuts can lead to long-term consequences for your brand, reputation, and bottom line.

If you want to see how it’s really done, and how your business will benefit from working with Articulate. Get in touch today for a quick chat with our lovely team.