How to work with copywriters to get amazing results?
Regardless if you are coming from our guides on \”Using content writers effectively\” or \”Do I need a writer?\”, you probably want to discover the magical thing that makes copywriters one of the most polarizing writers. After all, they charge more and write less than any other writing category. So what gives them so much leverage? In short, it\’s the profit promise.
In this quick guide, you\’ll find:
Table of Contents
What is a copywriter, and what do they do?
Copywriters are sales writing specialists
A copywriter is an umbrella term for any writer who writes with commercial intent. Vastly oversimplifying, they figure out why a given problem hurts, weaponize the pain, and hook you in with the promise of a solution.
How successful they are, depends on their knowledge of their target audience\’s needs and cognitive biases.
If the purpose of writing is to inspire any sort of action, typically business-related, that text falls under copywriting jurisdiction. However, if the writing intent is rather informative, it would be more suitable for content writers.
However, the roles often overlap, and intelligent marketers understand they need both.
Informational content brings value first and introduces you as a helpful brand, while sales content monetizes the goodwill you created.
Copywriters generally branch out in 4 directions – web copywriters, ad copywriters, social media copywriters and email copywriters. Although there are similarities, each of those branches has specific requirements for success.
What do web copywriters do?
Web copywriters help you make a powerful impression on your web visitors. Your website is your online business salesman, and people spend less than a minute before deciding to leave or stay.
The mission of web copywriters is to keep people on your website interested and engaged for as long as possible. Then, in the ideal case, users will be convinced that doing business with you is in their best interest.
The percentage of people who take the desired action is also known as the \”conversion rate\”. Hence, the popular term \”conversion copywriter\” was coined by Johanna Wiebe.
What do advertising copywriters do?
Ad copywriters are the true pioneers of copywriting, as they have been around since the late 19th century. They cherry-pick the words that will help them create a bomb of an emotional impact.
It\’s their job to create the texts behind ad campaigns and sales scripts. They can be used both in traditional and social media and usually focus on getting an immediate response from their audience. An associated term with that is a \”direct response copywriter.\”
In the ideal scenario, it works like something that came out of the \”Inception\” movie, where they plant an idea in your mind like a parasite, but you believe it to be your brainchild.
What do social media copywriters do?
Social media copywriters specialize in creating content for (drumrolls) your social media channels. Maintaining social media presence in 2022 is crucial for many businesses.
Writing posts quickly becomes a full-time job if you are serious about growing your online presence through social media.
In the ideal scenario, your social media copywriter will keep an eye on the competition and developing trends and help you stay as exciting and relevant as possible while mixing in the occasional promotional post for your services.
What do email copywriters do?
Email copywriters help you maintain, nourish, and expand your email list. This type of copywriting is unique because you reach a warmer audience.
People on your list should have voluntarily subscribed to be on it. Maybe you have a fabulous newsletter going on, a killer lead magnet, or they purchased a product or service from you.
Email copywriters are there to reinforce the decision of your audience to engage with your business again. If you know anything about marketing funnels, you know it\’s much easier to retain a client than to find a new one.
Email copywriting is there to continually improve the user experience, manage your relationship with users, and ideally sell them more of your services and products.
Strengths and weaknesses of copywriters
In this section, we discuss the strengths and weaknesses of Copywriters compared to other types of writers like Content Writers and SEO Writers.
Remember that these characteristics do not consider experience level or niche expertise, which are always a huge plus.
Pros: Laser Focus, Performance Driven, Business Minded
Copywriters are marketing and sales specialists. They measure every single word and remove it if it\’s not helping the sale. They are the definition of Quality over Quantity.
Most are naturally business-minded since their success is often tied to online business performance indicators. Views, Comments, Clicks, Conversions, and Open and Bounce Rates are all small wins on the road to getting the sale and making more money for your business.
Since their success is defined by performance and quality, as opposed to the volume of writing, high-end copywriters constantly experiment and test what works best to maximize results in the long term.
Cons: Salesy, Expensive
Pushy copywriters can make your brand feel like one of those sleazy car salesmen that push you to act and fill you with anxiety and disgust. Yuck.
Copywriting requires precision, and it will take a lot of trial and error before a copywriter can learn to deliver reliable results.
They say good copy is expensive, but bad copy costs you even more. Although good copywriting is an investment that should pay for itself over time, it may require you to fork out some serious money in the short term.
How to hire copywriters?
Nowadays, the writing niche is heavily saturated, so it\’s not a challenge to find anyone with the title \’copywriter\’, but distinguishing the good from the mediocre can be challenging.
Finding copywriters
There is an abundance of freelance copywriters on job platforms like Upwork and Fiverr, as well as in Facebook copywriting groups. Linkedin is also excellent for finding specialists.
However, top talent tries to avoid these as they are very crowded, so you might have to look at more niche writing websites.
Moreover, you can opt to hire a marketing agency that also offers copywriting services. Usually, agencies are lower risk, but they can cost disproportionately more than freelancers.
Selecting Copywriters
By definition, copywriters have to make their services sound irresistibly inviting. However, if you trust everything you read, you will be in for a challenging learning experience.
Frankly, any copywriter can type powerfully promising words, but fewer understand why they work, and fewer still understand when they don\’t.
Your best bet for making a wise choice is to invest time and learn more about the world of copywriters. You must understand that results are not random but caused by a specific process.
When selecting copywriters, you are trying to find someone with a bulletproof process. Someone who can calmly explain their reasoning, result expectations, timing, psychological angles, and what they would do if expectations are unmet.
Paying Copywriters
Two good options for paying copywriters are hourly and by the project. A third option is to pay by the word, but that is wholesomely inadequate. The merit of copywriters is found in how many words they eliminate rather than how many they keep.
By hour
This is one of the most standard ways to pay freelancers online. Neither of you is sure how long the task will take exactly, so you just go with the flow. It\’s convenient because it helps you stay flexible in case more work comes up unexpectedly. Moreover, it\’s suitable for establishing a rhythm with your copywriter over the long run.
By project
Paying by the project is a great way to ensure you stick to your budget. It\’s more rigid, but it gives you more certainty. However, it also offers a lot of negotiation leverage to your copywriter. You will have zero input about how much of their time you are paying for. Maybe you paid 500$ for a one-hour job. Maybe not.
When to keep a copywriter full-time?
Getting a freelance copywriter to join your team full-time has several benefits. You will be skipping the pain of spending months training someone for the job. You\’ll get talent ready for action, and you will be able to negotiate a better deal for yourself.
Freelance life can be very feast or famine, so many writers are charging higher prices due to the uncertainty of their occupation. Some are willing to trade a lower paycheck for higher certainty.
Hiring someone as a freelancer is a great way to test them out. If you like how they work and you have a steady supply of tasks for them, bringing them in sounds like a no-brainer.
How to onboard copywriters effectively?
Be laser-clear with your goals and specifications
If you are not absolutely clear about what you want from a copywriter, it\’s not going to work out. \”Make me money and grow my business\” – is something you can say to your CEO, not your copywriter.
\”Run ads and social media posts to promote sales\”, \”Increase clickthrough rate of this button\”, \”Increase email open rate\”, and \”Improve conversions of this sales page\” – these are much more specific goals.
If you have a specific brand voice, it\’s up to you to instruct your copywriter on its details. Moreover, you have to help educate them about your target audience. Ideally, you can help them interview your clients to understand them firsthand.
Provide results and analytics of past experiences
Regardless if they were positive or negative, past results help your copywriter identify what works and what doesn\’t.
Share whatever data you may have with them. Product reviews, Page analytics, Email Analytics, and Ad Campaign results. There is always a pattern behind success.
Don\’t mess with their process
I once had a client add the word \”interesting\” to the title of an article I wrote for her. Why? Because some headline analyzer tool told her \”interesting\” is a better word than \”dramatic\”, \”unique\”, or \”wild\”.
Sometimes clients just want things done their way. You have to trust the creative process and let the numbers decide which approach is correct. Just keep an open mind.
For more details about onboarding, check out our guide \’How to develop new writers effectively from zero to hero in 3 steps?\’!
Final Words on Copywriters
Great copywriters are an excellent investment, and they can help your business multiply its results. Finding them is not so easy, paying them even more so, but it\’s all worth it in the end. We also have a guide for you if you are not sure if you need a writer just yet. Finally, I hope you enjoyed the read!
