You hired a copywriter because of at least one of these reasons:
- You wanted to work with an experienced sales writer
- You needed an expert in their field
- You don’t have the time to do it yourself
- You don’t have the skills needed to create effective copy
- You wanted to make sure your copy worked
In other words, you’re serious about your business goals and you wanted to make sure you had the best team on board to help you realise them.
So, what will your copywriter bring to your project?
The role of a copywriter
After you’ve briefed your copywriter, what do they do next?
Well, first of all, they’ll spend a lot of time getting to know:
- You
- Your company
- Your style
- Your products and services
- Your customers and their needs
- Your brand
After that they’ll research your competitors, find out what’s happening in your market and, if necessary, make suggestions about how your original brief can be tweaked to get better results.
That’s all the background stuff, then the copy creation starts.
As they create, they’ll make sure the writing is firmly focused on the reader (your customer) and tells them everything they need to know (benefits first) to counter any potential buying objections they may have.
After that, the writing is shaped and formatted to have the greatest impact.
The first draft
You’ve already seen the complex process that’s involved in getting the copy this far. You’ve read about how your copywriter will use all their experience and expertise to create powerful content. So why is it then, after reading the first draft, you turn round and say…
“I think it would be better this way…”
And change the layout, wording and fill it with ‘we’?
Now, I’m not suggesting for one moment that the initial draft will be spot on, that rarely happens, but your professional writer would have written it in a style that works. After all, if you were having a house built would you tell the builder half way through that he’d got it wrong and you’d prefer it to be built another way? Doubtful – because you trust him to build. I know you can write (we all can), but producing copywriting that works is another ball game entirely.
Remember, you are an expert in your field, but you’re not an expert sales writer. If you were, you wouldn’t have hired a copywriter in the first place, so let them do their job.
Get the right copywriter for you
Do your homework, plan ahead and don’t leave it to the last minute. Good copywriters get booked up quickly.
Ask colleagues for recommendations and then do a Google search, then make a short list and call them for a chat. If you like what you hear, meet with them and talk about your project face to face. That way, you’ll get to understand them and they’ll be able to take cues from you about the style of copy that would work for your business.
Ask for samples of their work, but don’t be put off if they don’t show you something that’s exactly what you’re after. They are experts and can create copy for anyone, just because they haven’t worked in your particular industry doesn’t mean they can’t write for it.
When it comes to their fees, if you’re looking for a quote for the price of a tea bag you’ll be disappointed. As with everything in life, you get what you pay for. If you want a professional writer who can produce high quality content, you’ll have to pay for it – copywriting is an investment.
Hopefully that has been a useful round up of what it’s like working with a copywriter. If you get the right person for you and trust their judgement you’ll get the results you want.