Quality content is king, but are there ways businesses can help give the professional who handles their writing a strong, structured platform to improve marketing efforts?
Someone who works for a relocation service once told me that his crew has shown up at moving jobs — booked months in advance — to find that the people aren’t packed yet. I’ll just let that sink in. Movers are charged by the hour, and sometimes have to wait around while folks shove clothing in garbage bags and throw stuff in boxes before it can go on the truck. This scenario does not make for optimal results. Preparation (in this case, packing) is helpful.
Hiring a content writer to craft your marketing copy is a business necessity. You are assured your business brand gets consistent, regular marketing on your blog and social media. A professional writer will use your messaging goals and bring them to life in creative ways you may not have considered, first hooking and then informing customers about your product or service. Qualified content writers also know how to work SEO keywords into the mix without making copy sound stilted, stifled or stale.
There are, however, key things that can be done in advance to set your content writer up for better success, sooner, in crafting copy for your company (just like packing for a move).
1. Create an outline.
A good writer can help you organize it, but give some thoughts to what points you want to get across to your reader. What examples do you have? For instance, if you want to tout your company’s community involvement, think up some ways your firm stays involved, whether that is via college workshops or charity events.
2. Plan to cross-promote your content writing.
Make a strategy to promote your website, newsletter or social media efforts to push your messaging out to the masses. Maybe you also network, join professional groups, and advertise, as well. But it’s important to know that content marketing is only one cog in the wheel of a well-thought-out marketing strategy. In other words, content marketing alone can only do so much for your brand. It’s not realistic to expect a writer to draw thousands of new clients from your blog feed alone — especially if no one knows about it.
3. Appoint a contact person from your company.
This sounds like an obvious step, but bears mention. Even if other colleagues are weighing in on written content, having one main point of contact to facilitate tasks, answer questions and communicate edits to your content writer keeps the process running smoothly and on time.
4. Know that with cheap content, you get what you pay for (and even less).
A $10 blog post from a content writer you found on CraigsList just won’t work. Can you hire someone cheap, just for now? No. Because before you know it, the pixelated images and typo-ridden text they load will have destroyed your brand. You only have one chance to make a good impression. And folks may not be as likely to hire you to represent them in a legal case, partner with you in an architectural project, or apply to your university if you can’t even manage to spell words or use apostrophes correctly. Cheap writers not only won’t bring you business, they’ll likely cost you business.