Guides

What Is the Actual Cost of B2B Content Writing?

Published on May 5, 2022

In 2021, according to a Semrush poll for the State of Content Operations & Outsourcing Report, 49 percent of marketers will outsource their writing. This makes sense when you consider that it takes at least 6 hours for an experienced writer to produce a single 2,000-word piece of content — excellent content takes time. Because of this, B2B content managers have to either scale their in-house teams to meet increasing writing demands, or they have to identify quality vendors to fill their content gaps.

How do you know if a B2B content vendor is the right fit for your business? What is the cost of B2B writing? What kinds of vendors are there? How much will it cost to obtain the materials you need for your content marketing initiatives? We answer these questions below and give you a few example content budgets that you can draw inspiration from when creating your own. TABLE OF CONTENT.

Is there value in using vendors to scale your B2B content marketing?

92 percent of content marketers say that their business sees content as an asset. But, when it comes to budgets, the average B2B business spends only 26 percent of its overall marketing budget on content. So, where is the disconnect? Why do some businesses spend so little on content that is purportedly valuable to them?

Perhaps the answer to these questions is that it can be difficult for some B2B businesses to scale in-house to meet their content marketing requirements. Companies may free up internal resources by outsourcing content creation and use those resources on other vital elements of their marketing plans. Furthermore, it could be less expensive to hire a vendor than to expand your team.

Types of B2B content vendors

B2B content marketing vendors can be broken down into three main categories:

1. Quote-based vendors

These are vendors that require you to become a sales lead with their business. They don’t typically publish their pricing online (there are exceptions to this that we will talk about in just a moment) and you usually have to speak with them to get an individualized quote. Types of quote-based vendors include digital marketing agencies, high-end freelancers, and thought leaders.

Pros: Very individualized service; offer a wider variety of marketing duties; can sometimes negotiate the terms of a contract

Cons: High costs; long contracts/commitments; less direct contact with writers

2. Gig sites

These are aggregate platforms where writers of all skill levels and areas of expertise can create an account and offer their services directly to their clients for a rate that they set. Some examples include Upwork, Freelancer, and Fiverr.

Pros: Lower costs; ad-hoc content requests; usually no contract necessary; direct contact with the writer

Cons: Different writers will offer different content quality and consistency; subscription costs; writers service multiple clients

3. Marketplaces

Marketplaces offer on-demand content to clients. Examples include Semrush Marketplace, Verblio, and Writer.

Pros: Lower costs; vetted writers; fixed rates

Cons: Some marketplaces require a subscription so ad-hoc requests might not be a good fit in those circumstances; might not have supporting content that your business needs (e.g. a video script or social media post)

Image presenting a pricing formula breakdown.

How content vendors set their prices

Quote-based vendors

This is the most difficult kind of vendor to price. Digital agencies and high-end freelancers rarely provide their fees publicly. One exception is Clutch, a site that aggregates information from over 15,000 businesses. Working with an agency or a high-end freelancer will almost certainly cost more — it’s personalized labor at a customized rate.

In order to get a better sense of what an agency or individual charges, you’ll typically need to reach out to them via their website to get a personalized quote. Some charge by the hour, some by the month, and some by the project.

Freelance gig sites

Freelance gig sites are platforms where clients can request content directly from writers. Prices vary greatly because the contractor sets their individual rate. It can be very helpful to look at the writer’s profile and reviews to get a better sense of their experience and expertise.

However, the client often is the sole person vetting the quality of this content. Gig sites do not typically control the pricing or consistency of participating contractors’ work.

Marketplaces

Marketplaces are a relatively new concept in the world of digital content marketing. While they share some similarities to gig sites (like Fiverr or Upwork), content marketplaces (like Semrush Marketplace, Verblio, and iWriter) are different in a few respects.

Markets are one-stop digital shops. They allow customers to purchase on-demand content marketing materials through them. These marketplaces usually vet their writers to ensure that clients can trust they will be getting skilled professionals. Marketplaces also frequently offer a certain price for the material, as well as subscription costs.

What B2B content costs

Content writing pricing will vary depending on factors like the length of the piece and the client’s industry. In addition, content prices also vary by which on-demand platform you choose. As illustrated above, there are pros and cons to working with each kind of vendor.

Let’s take a look at what kind of prices you can (roughly) expect from different vendors, based on the type of content you’re requesting. As stated above, pricing for digital agencies and high-end freelancers isn’t necessarily always made public — you typically have to get an individualized quote. So, we won’t spend too much time on their content prices. We will focus primarily on two types of vendors: gig sites and marketplaces.

Quote-based content prices

Because these vendors can set their prices and change them depending on the client and other factors, these are just ballpark estimates of what you might spend:

Agencies

We took a look at Clutch’s website and identified the following pricing tiers and the minimum cost of working with several agencies:

The average hourly rate is $100 to $199/hr.
Some very reputable and experienced agencies charge above $199/hr.
Agencies can set a minimum project amount and/or charge a retainer fee — we saw minimum prices ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 — which means in theory you’d need to make a larger upfront commitment and pay more as the project progresses.

High-end freelancers

Many high-end freelancers will typically charge between $1,000 to $2,000 for a long-form blog (2,000-words), depending on the writer, niche/industry, and relationship with the client.

Gig site content prices

For the following averages, we selected 10 writers from the “Top Quality” sections of Fiverr and Upwork. So, you might personally be able to find cheaper rates on these sites, depending on where you look.

Articles and blogs

Assuming you need a 2,000-word blog or article for your campaign, here are some average price ranges:

Fiverr: $220-$1800
Upwork: $50-$120

Website copy

If you need 500 words of website copy, here are some average price ranges:

Fiverr: $100-$400
Upwork: $50-$150

Email copy and newsletters

If you need 400 words of email copy or a 400-word newsletter, here are some average price ranges:

Fiverr: $100-$300
Upwork: $50-$100

Ebooks and white papers

If you’re looking for a 5,000-word ebook, here are the averages across the various on-demand content platforms:

Fiverr: $95-$2,000
Upwork: $125-$500

Video scripts

If you’re looking for video scripts (which are more specialized and harder to get accurate averages for), here are some average ranges:

Fiverr: $100-$900
Upwork: $30-$8,000 (range is dependent on word count)

Marketplace content pricing

Articles and blogs

Assuming you need a 2,000-word blog or article for your campaign, here are some average prices:

Semrush Marketplace: $117
Verblio: $395
iWriter: $145

Website copy

If you need 500 words of website copy, here are some averages you might pay on various marketplace and gig websites:

Semrush Marketplace: $90
Verblio: $70 (for 600 words)
iWriter: $39

Email copy and newsletters

If you need 400 words of email copy or a 400-word newsletter, here are some average prices:

Semrush Marketplace: $40
Verblio: $70
iWriter: $29

Ebooks and whitepapers

If you’re in the market for an ebook or white paper of around 5,000 words, here are the averages across the various on-demand content platforms:

Semrush Marketplace: $504
Verblio: $600
iWriter: $363

Video scripts + infographic text

These two types of content are more specialized so averages will vary greatly. Here are some rough estimates:

Semrush Marketplace: $189
Verblio: $75
iWriter: does not list their prices; the “Standard Service” package costs $46.50 for 6,000 words

Campaign budgeting examples

It might feel a little daunting to prepare a content marketing budget, especially if you need to source multiple pieces of content for one project. Below, we’ve created a few example scenarios and mapped out what the cost of these hypothetical campaigns would be (depending on which vendor you go through). These are just examples to draw inspiration from and it’s always necessary to verify pricing yourself (pricing can change quickly in the world of content!).

Example 1: Gig site

Let’s say you’re running a content marketing campaign to introduce a new tool on your B2B platform. You decide you’ll go through Fiverr and you know you’ll need:

5 articles (2,000 words each)

At the low end, you might find a contractor on Fiverr who will charge $1,100 dollars for your project. At the high end of Fiverr, you might find a contractor who will charge $9,000 for your project.

Example 2: High-end freelancer

Let’s say you’re running a content marketing campaign to introduce a new tool on your B2B platform. You decide you’ll go through high-end freelancer, Writer X and you know you’ll need:

5 articles (2,000 words each)

Writer X charges an average of $1,400 dollars per 2,000-word article. So, in theory, you might pay Writer X $7,000 for this project.

Example 3: Marketplace

Your department has just been tasked with a huge content marketing campaign that will introduce prospective customers to a whole new service you’ll be offering next quarter. You decide to work with Semrush Marketplace. You know you’ll need:

A landing page (500 words of copy)
2 e-mails (300 words each)
1 blog (1,500 words)
An ebook (4,000 words)

To get all of this content you might expect to spend a total of $642 with Semrush Marketplace.

Final thoughts

The following examples demonstrate one thing clearly: the cost of B2B content varies based on which provider you choose to outsource your work to. A greater price usually implies better workmanship. However, this isn’t always the case. There are a lot of talented freelancers who provide high-quality services at reasonable rates. So, here are a few key takeaways to remember when deciding on a content vendor:

Quote-based vendors will only typically reveal their pricing after you contact them directly.
Gig sites do not necessarily vet their writers so the quality of the content will vary.
Marketplaces allow customers to request on-demand content.
Marketplaces typically vet their contractors.
If you are running a content marketing campaign with multiple pieces of content you might consider going with a vendor that does more contract-based work.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to B2B content marketing; take a look at your specific budgetary considerations and plan accordingly.