So you’ve decided to hire a copywriter – amazing! But what now?
Before you hire a copywriter, you need to do some thinking and planning. Not about specific content or titles or anything like that, but the kind of person you want to work with. After all there are thousands of copywriters out there clamouring to help you, so how do you know which one to pick?
To help you out, here are the 5 main things you need to think about before you start sending emails and arranging meetings with prospective copywriters.
General or Specialised?
How much experience do you want your copywriter to have of what you do? If you work in a very specialised or technical industry, then you might want someone who has a deep understanding and a lot of time spent writing for it. I imagine aerospace engineers hire a very specialised kind of copywriter to create content for them! But if you work in a more generalised or non-technical field, a generalist copywriter can be a better option. They tend to have a lot of experience writing for different industries, audiences and working with different types of content, so you’ll get more versatility out of them. It all depends on the business you run.
How Will You Work?
This one is strictly practical. How do you want to work with your copywriter? Do you want someone who will go away and do their own research, come up with ideas and create content for you on their own, so that you don’t really have to think about it? Or do you want someone who can meet with you every week and listen to your thoughts, turning them into something amazing? Or maybe you want a mix of both? Working out how much involvement you want to have and what kind of process you’re willing to go through is a good way to weed out copywriters who aren’t right for you, and means you know what will happen when you do hire one, so there are no nasty surprises!
Your Budget
Money is often an uncomfortable topic, but it’s one we really need to talk about. Because here’s the thing, copywriters aren’t cheap. Yes, you can find people on certain websites that will claim to write you a blog for £5, but what they deliver for that won’t be up to snuff. So before you go looking, ask yourself how much value you place on what a copywriter does, and set a realistic budget for that. Remember that investing in good copy can be what pulls customers to your site and ultimately builds your business, so it’s worth getting it right. If you’re curious about my prices, you can find them on my service pages.
How Important is SEO?
Every copywriter worth their salt should have a basic understanding of SEO and how it all works. Writing content optimised for search engines isn’t optional anymore, so if your copywriter says they know nothing about it, walk away. It’s a giant red flag. That being said, there are different levels of knowledge each copywriter will have, and choosing the right one depends on your priorities. If your business is focussing hard on SEO and being found online is your only source of business, then looking for a copywriter who specialises in SEO copy would be a good place to start. If you’re looking for more general content and brand awareness pieces, look for a marketing copywriter. This type of copywriter (which includes me) should have that basic level of knowledge needed to provide you with content that will help your website rank higher on Google and make sure you get found for the right things.
Do They Get You?
Perhaps one of the most important parts of choosing a copywriter is finding one that understands and appreciates you and your business. That means they not only take an interest in what you do, but they actively engage in the vision and purpose of your brand. They need to identify with that core reasoning so that they can bring it out within your copy, as that’s what adds the special sparkly fairy dust. So when you’re interviewing copywriters you should not only look for all of the stuff above, but whether they feel like a good fit for you and your company. Will they be able to reflect your ideas and desires to your customers, and communicate with them in a way that draws them in every time?
Remember, there are no 2 copywriters who are exactly alike, which means you need to do some legwork to find one that’s going to work for you. That can take time (and lots of cups of coffee!), but I guarantee your perfect match is out there.
And hey, if you like the cut of my jib, why not give me a call? We can get together for a coffee and see if the sparks fly!