Talk to a budding writer, and here’s what you’ll hear: “I’m a writer; I can write anything.”
But nothing could be further from the truth.
Different types of writing require different skills, which means if you want great content, you need an experienced content writer.
What’s so different about content writing?
Think about why you create content. Isn’t it because you understand that content can help you engage prospects, generate leads, build a community and perhaps drive sales.
Your focus is marketing and branding.
Content helps you engage, generate leads, build community & drive sales.
Now, think about a magazine. What are its goals? A magazine’s income comes from subscriptions, so it produces content that revolves around a niche subject. Its goal is to be the go-to resource for people interested in their topic.
What about a newspaper? It keeps its readers updated on current events. Press releases report the news, sometimes objectively, sometimes with a slant. But on the whole, journalists are taught to find the story and tell it factually.
Content writing should promote the brand without selling directly. It should engage, teach and entertain, but always with an underlying business goal. At its best, it supports your outbound marketing and also builds a community.
Let’s be honest. That takes a unique mix of skills. Is it any wonder you’re struggling to find great content writers?!
Watch out for these writers
From my experience working with and editing other writers, here’s what you need to know.
Fiction writers and poets are most interested in wordplay. Academic writers are most interested in showing off their intelligence or, if they’re past that, in expressing themselves in the smartest (not the simplest) way. For each, words become the focus rather than your audience.
There are exceptions, I know. But in most cases, if they self-identify as a creative writer, they can’t create great content.
Journalists, because they know how to dig out the facts, make great content writers, but they often need help with introductions and conclusions.
Magazine writers and bloggers can tell a great story, and they’ve mastered conversational writing, but they rarely understand marketing. They may come up with a great topic, but once they start writing, they forget about the underlying business goal—the very reason they’re writing the post.
Here’s what you’re looking for in a content writer
Content writers are able to find the story that attracts a brand’s ideal prospect, tell that story engagingly (and conversationally), and persuade without being salesy.
Content writers are journalists, bloggers, and marketers rolled into one.
They don’t try to draw attention to themselves or their words. They’re interested in teaching, showing, telling a story in a way that helps the brand reach its business goals.
They want to know who your readers are, so they can target them better. And they want to know what your content is trying to achieve, so they can be sure to persuade or drive action appropriately.
They understand you need a clickable title to get people to click through and read. But they also know how important it is to keep people on the page.
Great content writers want to help you reach your business goals.
As a result, they give you the best content they can write—informative, engaging and readable. They do the research to back up their points. They present their ideas clearly and logically. They add subheads and bullets to help scanners stay involved.
They understand you need to optimize for search too. Given the chance, they’ll help you with keywords and SEO. Then after a piece of content goes live, they’ll help you promote it.
Most importantly, they understand that they can’t do all of this without a bit of work. So they aren’t necessarily looking at their cost per word as they write.
A great content writer is hard to find
When hiring a content writer, look for a unique combination of skills:
- Marketing
- Writing
- Research
- Reporting
Ideally, your writer knows enough about your core topic to write intelligently about it, but it’s imperative that do it in a business-growing, brand-promoting, relationship-building way.
On that note: Given the choice, I’d recommend hiring a subject matter expert who is a decent writer and an ace editor who can improve the writing. If you rely on writers who don’t know your topic, you could end up with a beautifully written blog that impresses no one.
Don’t settle for any writer. For content that helps you build your business, find a content writer. You’ll be glad you did.
