At ThreeTwelve Creative, we focus on IoT content marketing for a reason. Getting quality emails, white papers, and blog posts in front of potential customers is the key to winning leads online — full-stop.

This is true for just about every company, but content is particularly powerful in the IoT sector. With content marketing, your firm can target potential customers when they search for solutions to their problems, even if they’ve never heard of your product. Take telematics, for example. Decisionmakers aren’t always familiar with the ins and outs of IoT technology — but they may very well click on an SEO-optimized blog post about “Top 10 Ways to Cut Fuel Costs with Technology in 2021” anyway.

On the other hand, longform content can show tech-literate decisionmakers the true value of your product. That white paper about the specifics of video telematics machine learning technology could earn you the sale.

So why doesn’t every IoT firm go all in on content marketing? To be frank, it can get expensive.

When it comes to content, more is better. Let’s say you commission one white paper, two blogs to support it, and one email newsletter. All told, that should be about 5,000 words. IoT writers often charge $1 per word. That adds up to $5,000 for a fairly minimal content marketing campaign.

Some IoT companies with smaller marketing budgets will balk at the cost. One option is to focus on other marketing channels with faster results, like social media ad buys. Another is to go cheap.

After all, there are plenty of content agencies who will offer the same service for a fraction of the price. $.10 or even $.01 per word is better than $1 — right? Not necessarily. Here’s why.

Writing Is Hard. Tech Writing Is Harder.

How long would it take you to write a 1,000 word blog post? Don’t forget to research high-performing topics, select a clickable title, search engine optimize throughout, and eliminate all spelling and grammar errors!

Good content writing takes time and skill. The number of hours it takes to write a typical blog post varies by writer and by day — even for the professionals, writer’s block gets in the way. But one survey found 1-5 hours is in the ballpark.  

Worst case scenario: a writer spends 5 hours on a 1,000-word post and gets paid $10: $2 an hour.

You get what you pay for. And for top-notch tech content, sub-minimum wage won’t cut it. At rates between $.01-.10 per word, writers are highly incentivized to get the assignment done as fast as possible. That can mean spelling errors, plagiarism, and other problems that undermine the credibility of your brand. 

Good Writing Is Worth It.

Paying higher rates, on the other hand, opens the door to exceptional writers.

Writers with tech backgrounds, advanced degrees, and years of experience. Writers who have a higher chance of turning in not just a blog post, but thought leadership.

One viral blog post could bring you thousands in new business. 

Quality Content Is Passive Marketing — For Years.

This is arguably the single biggest advantage of content marketing. A $3,000 LinkedIn campaign can run for a week, then it’s over. A $3,000 white paper can attract and delight customers for months, if not years. 

That changes the ROI calculation. Not only does higher expenditure increase the chance of the content’s success — it’s spread out over a longer period of time.

So How Much Should I Be Paying?

There’s a middle ground between starvation wages and top-of-the line. Paying $.20-$.60 per word for a blog post can get you great results. Do try to pay more for technical and longform content, where credibility matters more than clicks.

Working with a reputable content marketing agency gives you access to a stable of quality writers. At ThreeTwelve, for example, we’ve built up working relationships with talented professionals at a variety of rates. If you’re struggling to find content writers for your IoT company, don’t be afraid to contact an agency for help.