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Writing great content is a huge part of being a successful business, whether you’re looking to build a website that’s an ultimate resource for your customers or simply need a landing page that converts visitors into leads you can contact, the words you use are your first point of contact with your potential customers.
There are thousands of writers out there, some are incredible specialists in their area, some are great generalists, and others are… well, less than perfect.
So how do you find a copywriter that’s right for your business? Read on to learn what exactly a copywriter is and 5 questions you must ask before hiring a copywriter to ensure you don’t make any costly mistakes!
Table of Contents
What is a Copywriter?
A copywriter is someone who professionally writes marketing and promotional materials for businesses. Marketing and promotional text is referred to as “copy”, hence copywriter.
Copywriters are responsible for writing the copy for websites, ads, leaflets and brochures, blog posts, product descriptions, video scripts, podcast scripts, and more. Copy is literally everywhere you look and is a part of a 2.3 trillion-dollar industry worldwide.
Great copy combined with a needed product or service and a good marketing strategy can skyrocket a business’s success.
Copywriter vs Content Writer
Before we move onto the questions, let’s just pause to cover the difference between these two terms. While many outside the industry may refer to copywriter as an umbrella term for all writers, experienced copywriters may refer to themselves as a copywriter or a content writer to differentiate between someone who solely writes advertising copy and someone who solely writes content, such as blog posts and content for videos and podcasts. While this won’t affect most of you as you search for a copywriter, you may find that very experienced writers do not use the terms interchangeably, so that’s just something to keep in mind as you browse directories and sites.
5 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Copywriter
Question #1: Do you have experience writing for my industry, or an industry like mine?
New copywriters (with 1-2 years’ experience) will likely cover all topics as they find the areas that suit their natural tone, interests, and strengths, but more experienced copywriters will have certain areas and industries they love writing about and those they don’t (or even won’t cover).
When you search for a copywriter look out for industries and topics they don’t write about before you reach out, and when you do ask them if they’ve written in your industry before. You may not need an industry expert, but a certain level of familiarity is needed.
If they have no understanding of your topic and it’s not something “regular people” can pick up in an hour or so, the work isn’t going to be up to par, no matter how good a writer they are. They need to be able to speak from the place of an expert to your audience.
Question #2: Can I see some examples of your work?
This is a straight forward question but it will allow you to do a few different things:
- Read some of the work they’re proud of or feel is a good representation of what kind of work you can expect.
- Read their tone – yes, copywriters will alter their tone to suit your audience, but we all have an innate style. Some copywriters are super conversational, others sound like they’re giving a high-level technical talk. It’s unlikely that a copywriter can do both well, so look for a tone that suits your audience.
- Look for their ability to optimize for SEO – asking an experienced copywriter if they know SEO best practices is a bit like asking a chef if they can dice an onion; they’ll roll their eyes and reply “yes” through gritted teeth. If they’re inexperienced, they’re going to say yes even if they don’t. Instead, look at their examples and see if they’re used. If you’re not sure about SEO best practices, see this link on SEO basics for a basic checklist.
These examples do not necessarily have to be industry-relevant, but if you’ve talked about your industry and they have experience writing for it, they likely will be.
Question #3: What’s your process like?
This is also a moment to consider what you’re looking for – do you want to send off your brief and receive something back that’s ready to publish, or do you want to work collaboratively with someone?
You need to mesh on your process; if you like to converse regularly but they like to be left alone until delivery, the working relationship will feel strained. Conversely, if you want to be hands-free but are constantly hand-holding and fielding questions, the same will happen. Look for a process you feel comfortable with and suits your workflow.
Question #4: What do you need from me?
This is always a good question to ask if you’ve not got strong outlines for what you’re looking for or are new to hiring a copywriter, as what they need will vary from project to project. While brand guidelines for tone are always useful, but they’re not always necessary. Equally, if you want to supply detailed outlines for the work, that’s fine, but many are also comfortable just with a topic – so discuss what you need to give them as well as how you’ll work together.
Question #5: If I need revisions, what’s the best way for me to communicate this to you?
Asking this question is always a good idea if you’re establishing a long-term relationship with a copywriter. You’ll know from the “what does your process look like?” Question whether they send you a draft copy or the final – but most copywriters will always send you something they believe to be publishable. (I say believe to be, because unless you’re paying for a high-ticket service, they’re probably not going to have a professional proofreader who looks over what they’ve written so there’s a chance of a misspelled word. They’re human.)
Some copywriters will be seriously happy about receiving a marked-up piece back with track changes and comments, while others… not so much. If you’re planning to change every sentence to what you think is best, rather than the professional you’re paying, why aren’t you doing the work yourself? Ask any potential copywriter how they like revisions to be communicated to them so you can give them the freedom to be the professional, but still finish with a piece of copy that is perfect for your industry, topic, and brand.
So there you have it, 5 of the top questions you should be asking any potential copywriter. A few other basics you should cover (especially if you’re hiring a newer writer or are on a tight budget) are:
- (If you know they’re not a native speaker:) Do you write English (or the language you need) at a native level? (Badly written emails and messages are a huge red flag.)
- What’s the turnaround time like for this project? Is there a rush fee I can pay to get things fast in the future, should I need them? (Longer lead times may be more difficult for you, but it also means the writer is in demand.)
- How do you like to be paid? (Upfront, 50% now/50% on delivery, within 30 days, etc)
- (If looking for a long-term writer or a big project) Can we do a small paid test piece?
Conclusion
If you’re looking for a content writer, you may choose to research the topics yourself and give them to your copywriter, at least initially. If this is the case, two great tools (with free versions) many writers use for topic and keyword research are UberSuggest and Answer the Public. The first will help you find keywords and see what pages are ranking for competitors, and answer the public will show you longtail keywords you can use for article topics and subheadings to maximize on SEO.
If you cover all these points and choose the right professional, you’ll have a long and successful relationship!