Helen Savage, glazing industry content writer and copywriter, explains how and when freelance copywriting support can make all the difference.
Depending on your business type and even your individual career experience, hiring a copywriter might be second nature to you, or it might be something you didn’t even know you could do. So, for the un-initiated, what sort of companies hire copywriters and what kind of things can they help with?
Supplemental support
Some businesses employ a full-service marketing agency to take care of all aspects of their marketing. The agency might work with the MD of the company, or marketing manager, to deliver a whole host of communications from PR and advertising, to e-mail marketing and social media management. However, sometimes, if there’s a wide scope of work, a little extra help is needed, and external copywriters can be used to plug the gap.
Business blogs for example, are useful to outsource because they often get nudged to the bottom of the list of priorities as deadline driven work takes precedence. A writer that is solely focused on delivering a consistent and on target blog, can ease the pressure.
The gift of time
The same strategy can be applied with a directly employed in-house marketing team, or individual in charge of marketing. The marketing resource, whether one person or several, might be fantastic at coming up with creative ideas for how to market the business, building relationships with magazines, writing news stories and managing social media channels. But perhaps they struggle to find the large chunks of time needed to copywrite longer pieces such as blogs and feature articles. Rather than making do, hiring an external copywriter can be a great way to support the in-house individual or team and free them up to play to their strengths.
Support start-ups
When a business is first established, it often doesn’t have the in-house capacity to carry out all of the necessary marketing activities, nor does it have the budget to employ an agency. A copywriter can be an excellent interim solution, or even a sole solution in the beginning and then a supplementary support as requirements and budgets increase. A marketing copywriter will have the skill and expertise to advise on what copy is needed as well as produce copy with impact. Whether it is populating a new website, establishing a business blog, or writing feature articles to promote a new business in trade magazines, a freelance copywriter can be a cost-effective resource for a start-up business in the early days.
Is partnering with a copywriter right for you?
Whatever your size of business or current marketing set-up, if you have identified a weak spot in your marketing, or you know your team is pushed to the limit, or perhaps need more flexibility for busier months, it might be time to consider adding a freelance copywriter to your team.
Visit www.blogwrite.co.uk/blog for more information on copywriting for business, with or without freelance support.
