Helen Savage, content writer and copywriter to the glazing industry, explains why outsourcing some of your marketing requirements doesn’t mean losing your identity, it means building it.
If you would like to see your business featured in a trade magazine, or you would like your website populated with a regular business blog, but don’t have the in-house resource to do it, you may have considered outsourcing the task of writing. But it can be a daunting prospect. What if the words written by an external copywriter don’t sound like you? What if the piece is not in line with your company’s ethos?
Fear not. A good copywriter won’t insist that you adopt their style of writing in your marketing communications. They will take time to understand your business values, learn your voice, and adapt their writing to suit your company. Of course, they will need your input up front on the topics you wish to cover, and the tone of voice you want to portray. But once these ground rules have been established, they should be able to be left to their own devices to create on point content that suits your business perfectly.
Build the relationship that works for you
Relinquishing any amount of control can require a deep breath, but I would always encourage companies to work as closely as they feel comfortable with their writer. For some this means downloading business objectives and key messages and then leaving their copywriter to it, while for others that want to be more involved, it might mean offering feedback on bullet points during the planning phase and working together on the editing process once the work is complete. We don’t always know what we like or don’t like until we see it. If you’re honest about your likes and dislikes in a piece of writing, your copywriter will continue to tweak the style until they are supplying copy that you are happy with first time, every time.
Once you get to this stage, there will almost be a shorthand between you and your writer, and as the trust between you builds, you might be able to delegate even more of the process. For example, a good writer should soon be able to start bringing ideas for content to the table. They might suggest topics you wouldn’t have thought about, or they might be able to come up with fresh angles to allow you to revisit important issues you have covered before.
Give your content the attention it deserves
Communicating your business to relevant audiences should be a priority, not a rushed process that has to be squeezed into the working day. It requires time, effort and skill to portray your message and ethos accurately. If your internal resource is pushed for time, hiring a freelance copywriter is a great way to not only generate more content for your business, but to generate more content that sounds like the best version of you.
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