THE RIGHT TONE
AN ABILITY TO EXPLAIN all that’s good about your business and its offerings is fundamental to growth. Yet it can be frustratingly difficult to achieve. Who is capable of finding just the right tone, precisely the desired effect? Will you agree about the most penetrating words and phrases to use? The road to selecting a copywriter can be littered with juddering holes. At some stage, nonetheless, it is likely that you will have to take the journey.
Unless you possess a full-discipline marketing department, along the way you are going to look at picking up a skilled writer who has an understanding of people, how they are motivated and what can – and cannot – be digested. Importantly, someone who accepts that target audiences are only interested in themselves.
Expect amateur or claim-to-be writers to have little or no training and make basic mistakes in usage, exposition and grammar. Such flaws are irritating to readers and reduce the authority of your company, products or services. Stick with the professionals.
Which begs the question, which professional(s)? All skilled copywriters possess an ability to communicate information accurately, with clarity and brevity. They will know precisely how to tell your story.
ON THEIR OWN
The pros work to time and within budget. Operating on their own, away from your base, they still remain true to your corporate voice. Such writers act upon feedback without compromising their integrity. Above all, they’re concerned about achieving results on your behalf.
Choosing a copywriter is not a decision to be made lightly. You are placing the public image of your business and all that you are offering in his or her hands.
Do the basics, of course. Look at the writer’s website and the client list shown, together with testimonials. See if there are supportive online articles or blog posts.
Enter into early correspondence to get a feel of the approach and attentiveness. Ask to see samples, in order to judge the style. You need to know the sectors they have covered and the media they use. Are they specialist or generalist? Experience is extremely important. And meet up, preferably across the desk. If needs be, use Skype or similar.
COSTINGS MATTER
Costings matter. Quoting a copywriting job can be difficult, because it is not clear at the outset how much work will be involved. Nevertheless, proficient scribes are capable of estimating the resources that will be needed and should be able to give a quite accurate figure, unless the brief changes.
Quotes will be based on the project type, the extent of necessary research, levels of expertise, any additional skills that might be involved, and the deadline. While it doesn’t follow necessarily that the more expensive it is the better it will be, quality copywriting is valuable and should be seen as such.
Methods of charging range from fixed or guideline prices to daily or hourly rates. A dwindling minority charge per word produced.
For your part, consider how you will direct the relationship. Do you know what you want? Are you equipped to brief the writer accordingly? Can you gather together all of your pertinent information? Can you delegate? Can you recognise, respect and ratify quality work when it is presented?
The post-selection course may be the most hazardous part of your journey. Reach your destination in timely fashion and business rewards will be awaiting.
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