Every marketing agency has had that client who needs just one more revision… then another, and another. Perhaps their project scope keeps changing. Maybe the feedback is vague, the deadlines are tight, or what should have been a simple blog post has turned into weeks of back-and-forth. Does that sound familiar?
Working with demanding clients comes with the territory. But when writing and editing requests start piling up, your team can end up spending more time making revisions than moving projects forward. That’s where Virtucom Group comes in. With experienced writers, editors, and content strategists on our team, we can take time-consuming content requests off your plate while still delivering the quality your clients expect. Here’s how outsourcing content creation with our team can free up your internal resources.
Key Takeaways
- Difficult clients aren’t necessarily wrong with their opinions, but their requests can take time away from other projects and priorities.
- Endless revisions, conflicting feedback, vague briefs, and last-minute requests can quickly overwhelm an agency’s content team.
- Outsourcing writing and editing allows your team to maintain client relationships while spending more time on strategy and account management.
- Virtucom Group’s in-house writers and editors can handle multiple rounds of feedback, reconcile conflicting stakeholder input, and still hit deadlines without sacrificing quality – all without the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in our creative process.
Why Difficult Clients Are Hard on Your Content Team
Everybody wants great content, but getting there isn’t always easy, and it can take a lot more time and effort than anyone anticipated. For example, think about some of the requests your team has probably dealt with:
- A client approves an outline, then decides to take the content in a completely different direction.
- Multiple stakeholders review the same piece and send back conflicting feedback.
- A client needs five blogs updated and rewritten before their new product launch tomorrow.
On their own, these requests might seem doable. But the extra work adds up quickly, especially if your team is balancing multiple accounts. As a result, writers get pulled away from other assignments, editors spend hours revisiting content they’ve already reviewed, and account managers find themselves negotiating timelines and pitching in with editorial work instead of building client relationships. Before long, one demanding client can affect the productivity of your entire team.
The good news is that you don’t have to handle every writing and editing request internally. Outsourcing some of that writing and editing can help. With a dependable content partner handling the extra requests, your team has more time to focus on other projects without leaving your clients waiting.
Expert tip: Track how much time your team spends on revisions for each client. If certain accounts consistently require more work than originally planned, it may be time to rethink how those content requests are managed.
The Never-Ending Revision Loop
You deliver the content. The client requests changes. You make the changes. Then, another stakeholder weighs in with a different opinion. Just like that, you’re back where you started. Does that sound like a familiar cycle?
Maybe a sentence was too casual in the first draft. Two rounds later, that same sentence is suddenly too formal. By the time everyone agrees on the wording, your writer has spent hours on a single paragraph. Those extra hours weren’t part of the original project budget. When your team has a dozen other deliverables waiting, every additional revision takes time away from something else.
Expert tip: Set clear revision limits before a project begins and include them in your scope of work. Two or three rounds may be reasonable for many content projects, depending on their complexity. If a client needs more, discuss adjusting the scope, timeline, or budget rather than absorbing the extra work.
Conflicting Feedback from Multiple Stakeholders
“Make it more engaging.” “Can we change the tone?” “This just doesn’t sound right.” Feedback like this is frustrating enough when it comes from one person. Now, imagine getting five different versions of it from five different reviewers.
Everyone has an opinion:
- Marketing wants a punchier headline.
- Legal wants to soften a claim.
- The CEO thinks the piece needs more technical detail.
Your writer is now trying to make them all happy.
Even a well-written piece of content can get stuck in this cycle. Without clear direction, your team may spend hours revising copy that may have been perfectly acceptable in the first place.
Expert tip: Ask clients to designate one person to collect and consolidate feedback before sending it to your writing team. One clear set of notes is much easier to work from than five separate documents filled with contradictory comments.
Vague or Shifting Briefs
Some clients know exactly what they want, while others aren’t quite sure, but they’re confident they’ll know it when they see it. Unfortunately, that can turn the first few drafts into a process of elimination. Worse, the brief itself can change mid-project.
For example, a blog post can start as a general awareness piece and become one that needs to promote a specific service line after your client’s marketing team meets. Or a case study that’s supposed to highlight results now needs to lead with a customer quote you weren’t given.
Sometimes the client is still figuring out what they want while your team has started writing. That makes it difficult to stay on schedule, especially when a change in direction means you need to start over on work that you’ve already completed.
Expert tip: Spend a little extra time on discovery before your team begins writing, even when a client is eager to get started. A short questionnaire covering the target audience, content goals, tone, and must-have details can clear up a lot of confusion upfront and save everyone time down the line.
Last-Minute Rush Requests
Some clients operate on tight deadlines due to the nature of their industry or business. Others underestimate how long quality writing and editing takes. Either way, you’ve probably experienced the Friday afternoon email asking for something by Monday morning, or the product launch that’s been on the calendar for months somehow still needs a dozen last-minute marketing assets.
An occasional rush request is one thing. However, when urgent requests become a regular occurrence, they throw off your team’s schedule. This last-minute rush forces other projects to take a back seat, and writers have less time to give each assignment the attention it deserves.
Expert tip: Establish a rush-request policy before those urgent emails start coming in. Define standard turnaround times, explain what qualifies as expedited work, and outline any additional fees. Clients are more likely to respect those boundaries when they understand them from the beginning.
Tone and Brand Voice Disagreement
One week, a client wants a conversational tone. The next, they want something more formal. A client’s brand voice can be one of the trickiest parts of content creation, especially when the client hasn’t clearly defined what their brand should sound like.
One reviewer might love a draft because it feels approachable. Another might think it’s too casual for the company and that it doesn’t sound like the company at all, even if both are looking at the same document. If a client has no written brand guide, they may give inconsistent and subjective feedback.
Expert tip: Encourage clients to put their brand voice guidelines in writing, even if it’s just a short document. A handful of tone adjectives, a few “do” and “don’t” examples, and sample sentences give every reviewer and writer the same point of reference, meaning feedback is more consistent and your writers won’t have to guess what the client is looking for.
Sensitive or High-Stakes Content
Some topics are too heavy for a typical blog post. Whether it’s a response to a public complaint, a message addressing a service disruption, or copy covering a regulated topic like healthcare or finance, some content requires a compassionate tone or specific industry knowledge.
Clients are understandably protective of this kind of content. They want to make sure every word is accurate, the tone is appropriate, and nothing creates confusion or additional problems. Often, this type of content goes through multiple levels of review and has more detailed feedback, resulting in a longer approval process. For your writers, it also means having to balance the client’s messaging goals with industry requirements and the expectations of everyone involved.
Expert tip: Match the writer to the assignment. Sensitive or highly regulated topics benefit from someone who understands the industry and knows how to communicate complex information clearly. Make sure the appropriate client-side subject matter experts (SMEs) or compliance reviewers approve the final content before publication.
Why Does Outsourcing Make Sense for Demanding Clients?
When a client takes up too much time, your first instinct might be to assign more internal resources to the account. But what happens when your other clients need attention, too? Hiring additional writers or editors isn’t always feasible, especially when workloads change from month to month. Pulling people from other accounts also just moves the problem somewhere else.
Outsourcing gives you another option. With the right partner, you can:
- Free up internal resources: This lets your team focus on strategy, client communications, and other high-value work that keeps your agency growing.
- Manage fluctuating workloads: You can bring in additional content support when projects get more demanding.
- Maintain consistent quality: Working with experienced writers and editors means you’ll get a team who understands brand guidelines and content requirements.
- Take on more content requests: Instead of focusing on just one type of content, you can offer blog posts, website copy, and detailed editing assignments without overloading your existing staff.
Perhaps most importantly, outsourcing gives your team some much-needed breathing room. Instead of spending another afternoon rewriting the same paragraph, your account managers can focus on keeping clients happy and projects on track.
Expert tip: Don’t wait until your team is overwhelmed to find an outsourcing partner. Building that relationship while workloads are manageable gives you time to establish expectations and workflows, making it much easier to hand off projects when things get busy.
How Virtucom Group Makes Difficult Content Requests Easier
You’ve got clients to manage, deadlines to meet, and plenty of other projects competing for your attention. The last thing you need is another round of revisions slowing everything down. That’s where we can help.
At Virtucom Group, our writers and editors work as an extension of your team. Whether you’re dealing with a client who can’t settle on a brand voice or an account that always seems to need something yesterday, we can step in and take care of the writing and editing so your team can focus on the client relationship.
Experienced Human Writers and Editors Who Can Handle Feedback
Conflicting comments? Changing directions? Another round of edits? We’ve seen it all. Our in-house writers and editors know how to work through detailed feedback, adapt to different brand voices, and make revisions without losing sight of the original goals.
We also use a multipoint editorial quality checklist to review every deliverable before it reaches your team. And because our content is written and edited by real people, without AI, you can trust that experienced professionals are handling the details.
Content Support When Deadlines Are Tight
Sometimes a client needs a few small edits while others need an entire website rewritten. Either way, those requests can overwhelm your team, especially if you’re already busy.
We support a wide range of content projects, from search engine optimization (SEO)-focused blog posts and landing pages to white papers, eBooks, and detailed editing assignments. When your workload increases or a client changes direction mid-project, we can provide the additional writing and editing support you need to keep things moving.
A Content Partner That Understands Your Client’s Expectations
Every client has their own preferences. While some have detailed brand guidelines, others are still figuring out exactly what they want their content to sound like. Our team takes the time to understand those expectations, follow your established workflows, and use previous feedback to guide future assignments.
With almost 30 years of experience supporting businesses of different sizes across industries, we know how important it is to deliver accurate, on-brand content without creating more work for your team. You’ll stay in control of the client relationship, and we’ll help handle the content requests that come with it.
Expert tip: When bringing in an outside content partner, share more than just the assignment. Brand guidelines, previously approved content, and recurring client feedback can help us understand what your client expects and reduce unnecessary revisions down the road.
Let Us Take the Difficult Content Clients Off Your Plate
Difficult clients aren’t going away, but the writing and editing workload they create doesn’t have to rest entirely on your internal team’s shoulders. At Virtucom Group, we’re used to working through detailed feedback, changing requirements, and tight deadlines. Our experienced writers and editors can take on the content work that’s eating into your team’s time, so you can focus on managing your accounts and keeping projects moving.
Whether you need an extra set of hands during a busy stretch or a dedicated partner for your most demanding accounts, we’re ready to help. Are you tired of spending more time on revisions than strategy? Contact us today and let’s talk about what we can take off your plate.
Frequently Asked Questions About Outsourcing Client Writing and Editing Requests
What if we don’t have a brand voice guide yet?
That’s common, and we can help you put one together. Our team can develop a brand voice guide based on your client’s existing content, stakeholder interviews, and sample feedback. We then use this guide as a reference point for every future project.
Will your writer be able to match my client’s brand voice?
Absolutely. Our experienced content professionals can adapt to different writing styles and brand guidelines, from technical content to a more casual tone. The more examples and direction you can provide upfront, the better we can match your client’s voice.
Is outsourcing content more cost-effective than hiring additional employees?
It can be, especially when your workload changes throughout the year. Outsourcing lets you bring in experienced writing and editing support when you need it without taking on the ongoing costs of additional full-time employees.
What types of content can Virtucom Group write and edit?
We support a variety of content needs, including blog posts, website copy, landing pages, product descriptions, and white papers. Our team can also review and refine existing content to improve clarity, consistency, and overall quality, while updating it to reflect current SEO best practices.
References
https://www.whatconverts.com/blog/dealing-with-difficult-clients
https://1secondcopy.com/blog/top-reasons-to-outsource-your-content-writing-needs
