Understanding the benefits of hiring a professional writer
Ever wonder what difference a professional writer can make in your marketing? While most people write in some format (emails, texts, etc.), on a daily basis, successful marketing and sales content takes a completely different skill set. Bringing on a professional to help with blogs, brochures, web copy, award submissions, sales proposals, video scripts, social media and more can really make a difference in your customer communications. Here’s a look at some of the benefits of working with a professional.
Better audience understanding
Often company leaders and subject matter experts will have a strong idea of what message they want to get out and the action they want customers to take but may not have the most effective way of communicating. Sometimes the problem is that they know so much about the topic that they get lost in all of the jargon teams use in their internal communications. That kind of language doesn’t always translate well to an audience.
A professional writer brings an outside perspective and better understanding of what may resonate with readers, listeners or viewers at a specific time and place. They can bridge the gap and make content digestible for customers, prospects, partners and staff.
The right message in the right context
Today, there are a variety of ways that companies can communicate with an audience and best practices to follow for every channel. A blog draft will look different than a video script and a social media post even, if they’re about the same topic. For example, video scripts need to front load messages to hook in viewers and maintain a steady pace to keep them watching. Likewise, social media text space is limited so what content from your blog post do you cut out or keep?
There’s a lot of misunderstanding about the different skill sets needed to effectively use social media. Many businesses with small budgets turn to these free marketing platforms, but too often people focus on making posts visually appealing and forget about the post content. If you don't have your messaging right at the beginning, you’ll lose your short window to capture someone’s attention. As companies start off, they may have one person writing the copy while also creating graphics on Canva or another simple platform and then scheduling the post. While it’s better to do this than not, as you become refined you’ll have more effective marketing if you break down that work to a writer, graphic designer and social media manager who each bring their specialties to the table.
Staying authentic and professional
Authenticity is huge in marketing communications, which is why you need a human professional behind your writing. AI platforms are increasingly offering shortcuts, which can be useful from time to time but the generated copy still needs to be reviewed by a person to make sure it's accurate and fits the voice of your organization. Authenticity resonates best with your audience. They want to believe that you believe in what you're talking about and AI can’t express that as well as someone on your team.
Also, while the world has become more casual with abbreviations and emojis, basic spelling and grammar are still important in conveying a professional, trusted voice. You don’t have to use big words, but if your social media posts have constantly misused terms or spelling errors, you lose some credibility with your audience. Writing is powerful and if you’re not communicating as effectively as possible, you're wasting time and money by missing out on potential engagement.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: if you think hiring a professional is expensive, try hiring an amateur. Bringing on professionals in any creative area is an investment. You want to get it right the first time and that's where expertise is critical, otherwise it’s likely the work won’t be to the level that you’re expecting,
To learn more about the advantages of working with a professional writer, watch our podcast “When to Use AI vs Hiring a Professional Writer.”