If you have a content strategy plan built from a deep understanding of who your clients are as human beings, HOORAY! Now it’s time to execute that strategy.

(On the other hand, if you have skipped the necessary step of building a content marketing strategy, DO NOT PASS GO. Take the time to ensure your strategy is solid so that when you do produce the content, it generates the results you want.)

If you’re like some budget-conscious businesses right now, you might be concerned about how to afford professional writing services. Here’s the good news and something that a lot of other writers are reluctant to share …

You can lessen production costs by using a variety of writing resources.

Not every piece of content needs to be developed by a senior content writer to execute your strategy successfully.

So how do you determine which assets deserve the expertise of an experienced senior content writer, and which you can tap in-house or junior writers for? Just ask yourself three questions.

1. What is the goal of the content?

Your target audience will interact with your content throughout their journey to become your customer — and hopefully well beyond the purchase, too.

When trying to decide what content you need to spend money on, here’s a good rule of thumb:

If the goal of the content is conversion or relationship-building, or it’s an asset tied closely to the sales process, it’s more important for it to be written thoughtfully, with attention to detail and buyer psychology.

SEO content, for example, is generally geared toward driving traffic to the website and establishing initial awareness. In most cases, it’s further away from the sales process, and with a strong SEO strategy, you can make this successful with in-house resources or a junior copywriter.

A white paper you gate on your website (i.e. visitors must provide their name and email address in order to download it) would generally be geared more toward conversion — the CTA would likely drive the reader to a qualifying or sales-related action — and that’s something that could probably perform better for you if a senior-level writer tackled it. Don’t forget that you’ll need a landing page written for that asset as well — and that landing page is 100% a conversion asset. The entire purpose of that page is to get the visitor to opt in for the white paper. Have a senior-level writer write the landing page too!

2. Who is the audience for the content?

Think beyond the buyer persona here. Your target customer’s needs change as they move through the buyer’s journey.

When the audience becomes more aware of their problem, there is a greater need to tap into human psychology and advanced conversion content writing skills.

While conversion is important from the top of the funnel to the bottom, if you need to prioritize where you’re spending budget on that more expensive skillset, prioritize content at the mid- and late-funnel.

In the early awareness stage, you’re often writing more for an algorithm. To get traffic to your website and establish awareness of your solution and brand, you’re often focusing on content for organic search and/or quick hits in social media feeds. This might be a good place to plug in a junior copywriter to create content for you.

3. Who is using the content?

The last question to ask when prioritizing where to spend budget on content production is to ask, “Who is using the content?”

Companies today often create content for partners and vendors such as PPC firms (who point ads to the content), account-based marketing teams (who send content to prospects), or resellers (who use content to help sell your product). Internal sales teams also frequently use high-value content to help them make their case with prospects.

If external vendors/partners or internal sales teams are leveraging the content, it needs to be high quality. Otherwise, those teams might not feel as comfortable using it.

Strategy First, Then Determine What Content to Spend More Money On

If you must prioritize your budget allocation in the content marketing implementation phase, know that every asset doesn’t have to be written by a senior content writer to be successful. Consider the goal, the audience, and who is using the content in order to determine where you need a senior-level writer or where you can get along fine with a junior writer or in-house team member doing the writing.