What Kind of Writer Do You Need?
Your company has something it needs to communicate. “We need a writer!” you cry. No problem — there are plenty of writers. Almost too many. How and where do you find the writer with the skills you need for your project?
If you don’t have someone on staff who has hired and worked with writers before, it can be difficult. As a full-time writer at a company where I was also responsible for hiring and managing freelance writers, I knew where to look for and how to recognize writers with the experience and style that aligned with ours. I also had a lot of insider professional resources at my fingertips — Facebook copywriting groups, LinkedIn writing and editing groups, private job boards, and writing contacts gathered over many years, to name a few.
Unfortunately, not every organization has access to someone with those abilities and resources. So I’ve written down a few things to consider before you put out the call for a writer. They will help you:
· Describe your needs more accurately, so you can (a) attract writers with the skills and experience you want and( b) effectively assess the writers for those qualities
· Narrow down where you should look for those writers
Assess Your Needs
First think about the scope and range of your content needs. Are you looking for a writer to create conversion content for your website or emails? Do you want to write video scripts or commercials? Maybe you want someone to come up with a tagline or write ads. Perhaps you need someone to write articles, case studies, and white papers. Or maybe you need someone who can do a little bit of everything (what we in the biz call a unicorn).
Writers have strengths and specialties. It’s pretty rare to find someone who could do all of the above kinds of writing and do them well. In general, copywriters who focus on short, snappy ads and copy are probably not going to be as good at writing a research-based article (and probably not interested, either). By the same token, writers who have skills in interviewing and conducting research for long-form, in-depth content may not have the ability to create effective sales copy. This means if you have a lot of different content needs, you may need more than one writer to handle them all.
Below are a few different types of writers and what they’re good at. Note that the deliverables and skills under each may overlap.
Creative Copywriter: This is someone who has worked for ad coming up with creative campaigns (which may include TV and radio spots as well as print ads) for big clients. They’re good at creating an overarching concept for a marketing campaign and writing clever, original content designed to grab attention in a crowded, competitive marketplace.
Sales Copywriter: You know those long landing pages that go on and on about a product or service, often with a special offer or a deadline? Sales copywriters write those. They’re skilled at persuasive copy that convinces people to buy. They may also work on email sequences, sales sheets, and web copy.
Social Media Strategist: Writers who specialize in social media usually also include strategy as a part of their services. They’ll come up with a plan and calendar for posts and ads on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram, which may include working with influencers and other entities that amp up visibility.
Content Marketing Writer: “Content marketing” is a catch-all term for content that markets your brand or services. It could include blog posts, articles, brochures, and more. Typically it involves longer content (800 words and up) that involves some sort of narrative.
Long-form Writer: These writers are skills at creating content that is over 1200 words, such as case studies, white papers, and special reports. Since these types of content dig into a topic and often incorporate statistics, industry trends, and facts, they usually involve research and interviews with subject matter experts.
To make it even more confusing, there’s no standard way for writers to refer to themselves. A writer may call herself a content marketing writer but also create white papers and social media posts. The best way to categorize them is to take a quick look at their portfolio or clips on their LinkedIn profile or website. Some writers span many of these categories, although as mentioned previously, it would be extremely rare, if not impossible, to find someone who excelled in all of them.
Do You Need Writers with Experience in Your Industry? Not Necessarily.
Most companies want writers with experience creating content about the industry or field they’re in. That’s important if you want someone who can write about extremely technical or specialized topics, such as cybersecurity or SaaS, or someone who has to dive deep into a subject. Otherwise, you should focus on writers who just know how to write well and knowledgeably.
For example, I wrote a blog post for a client about the effect of a new approach to freight rail on their industry. I didn’t know anything about freight rail, but from doing online research and talking to people, I figured it out. The client was happy, and I learned something new. Think about ad agency copywriters — they may write for a beer company one month, a healthcare system the next. They wouldn’t have much job security if they only worked on campaigns about alcohol or hospitals.
I constantly see listings that say something like “Must have X years’ experience writing direct mail campaigns and brochures on y and z.” I once saw a gig requiring writers with experience writing about the moving industry, which has to be a pretty small number of people. Having extremely stringent and specific requirements is really limiting your options. Instead of discovering good writers who have the imagination and the competency to apply their skills to a range of topics and formats, you’re going to be stuck choosing from a very small pool of writers who may not have the perspective and agility you need.
Business is all about managing risk, and choosing a freelance writer may seem risky. But anything new involves risk. You take a risk when you hire a full-time employee, launch a new product, or change your branding. With writers, you always have the ability to test them out on a short (paid!) project to get to know them. Know what you need, do your due diligence, and you can manage that risk as well.
Don’t know where to look for writers? Read my blog post on how to find them.
