Content is key, and nobody represents your company as well as you do—right? As an entrepreneur or brand leader, you may have a tendency to keep an extremely tight grip on your content creation, believing that you alone should be the voice of your brand. But with content being so central to brand presence, it can be difficult to keep up. And chances are, you want to be working on your business, not just in it.
Good news: you don’t have to juggle it all alone. Hiring a copywriter as a key addition to your team allows you to focus on leading your organization without sacrificing the high-quality content that attracts your prospects and showcases your thought leadership expertise. By having a professional writer at your side, you will be more equipped to develop compelling content, avoid errors in your copy, and ultimately tell your best brand story.
Here are some key considerations as you select a copywriter to join your communications team.
What type of copy are you looking for?
Copywriting can encompass so many different things, depending on your brand and the writer you are working with. Copywriters work on a wide range of content, including:
- blog articles
- web pages
- email blasts
- social media updates
- promotional materials
- … and so much more!
When hiring a copywriter, it is crucial to consider an individual’s experience, skillset, specialty within the realm of copywriting, and also level of industry knowledge.
To get a great fit, first assess and map out your brand’s content needs to determine what type of content is your top priority. Are monthly blog posts important to you? Weekly email blasts? Daily social media content? Or, are you seeking someone who has been truly immersed in your specific industry first and foremost?
Narrowing down what you are looking for, rather than blindly trying to find a jack of all trades will allow you to find a writer with a truly developed niche that aligns with your company’s needs and will truly help your brand shine.
Is the copywriter flexible and collaborative?
No one—not even the most skilled writer—is guaranteed to nail your content on the first draft. It’s essential to prepare for the inevitable back-and-forth collaboration that will strengthen and sharpen your brand voice in the end. This means finding a copywriter who is not only talented at their craft, but who is also personable, flexible, and diligent when it comes to your work together.
Here are some questions to consider:
- What is this writer’s bandwidth/availability?
- What is their proposed turnaround time for content creation?
- How punctual are they when it comes to deadlines?
- Does this writer listen and clarify what they don’t understand or need guidance on?
Effective copywriters should be focused on adapting to your brand’s needs. In order to craft effective content, the writer should keep strategy in mind, and ask for clarity on specifics such as:
- the audience for the piece of content
- the level of formality expected in the copy
- what the call-to-action or purpose of the content is
- anything within the notes that doesn’t make sense
Working with a copywriter is not just about words on a page: it is about building a relationship in which the writer grows more and more immersed in your brand’s goals, objectives, perspectives, and voice.
Hiring a copywriter skilled at embodying your brand voice
Maintaining a strong and consistent brand voice is critical to your brand. After all, consistency—including when it comes to your tone across all official communications—builds trust between your brand and your clients. While there are many talented writers in the world, the ability for a writer to adapt their content to reflect your brand’s unique tone, language, sentence structure and overall vibe is a skill set of its own.
A good copywriter will be not only a word whiz: they will also be a good storyteller, focused on capturing your brand’s essence through a compelling narrative. The writer you are looking for is someone who makes readers feel like they are going on a journey with your brand through the content, not just reading information on a page.
So, how do you ensure that you’ve truly found a good fit for your content creation needs?
Found a potential candidate? Time for a trial run! While having copywriters send you samples of their work is a good starting point, a sample assignment is a great next step to request of potential collaborators before any paperwork is signed.
By working with a new writer on a piece of content—with no long-term strings attached—you will not only get a better sense of the copywriter’s style, but also uncover answers to your other pressing questions, such as how well you work together, how deeply they understand what it is you are looking for, and how they respond to feedback or editorial requests on their first draft. From there, you’ll have a good sense of whether to move forward, or to keep searching for a writer who truly understands your brand.
