No matter how well thought out your content strategy is and what budget you put into it, the success of your content marketing program depends on one important component: having a talented copywriter to carry out your plans.
This puts experienced writers in the position of power. Despite the looming specter of Artificial Intelligence bots that can create texts with lightning speed and an impressive scale, even the most complex systems are not equipped to match the emotional depth and resonance of the story created by real people.
We have prepared some tips to help you find, test and use suitable authors that meet your needs for your content marketing needs.
Marketers outsource many content creation tasks — writing, editing, design, production, project management, video creation, etc. The process described below can be adapted to the hiring task for any of these roles. Now let's talk about the outsourcing of authors who can create attractive, SEO-optimized blog articles, e-books, social media posts, and the like.
Are you ready to outsource?
Companies tend to create content on the side when they agree that they do not have the time and resources to produce content with the quality, volume or scale that they need to achieve their goals.
Recognizing that you need help is not the only part of the process that requires introspection. You also need to know what kind of help you need, and what skills you need to do the job right.
Describe your requirements
Before contacting the authors, make an honest list of what your needs and expectations are regarding content and how well freelance writers can fit into your content infrastructure.
What to consider:
• Type of content. Determine the themes, formats and platforms with which the authors will work, the expected number of words and features of content creation in these conditions. Do they need to conduct research? Interview experts? Create and edit video stories? Are there materials they can refer to or monitor?
• The role of authors in the process. Do they need to work with the systems and tools of your company? Should they be prepared to become a fully integrated member of your team, or would you prefer to connect their services if necessary?
• Expected content and frequency. How often do you need copywriters?
• Goals. What do you want to achieve with the new content? How will you measure performance against these goals?
• Content management and processes. Do you have recommendations on the style of content? Have you determined how their role will be integrated into your team’s editorial workflow? Are there regulatory, technical, procedural, or legal guidelines to which they should comply?
• Systems, tools and command resources. Do you have the necessary technical tools and systems for the successful production and distribution of content? Will they have access to all members of your team, or will they mainly work with a dedicated manager or contact person? Will they have access to experts in their field, intranets and knowledge bases, and / or other content tools and resources?
• Financial considerations. Do you have enough budget to attract authors? Will you pay for the project or set an hourly rate? How will you process invoices and payments? (Remember that the rates of freelancers and outsourcing companies may be higher than those that you pay your internal authors, because you do not pay taxes, insurance, etc. from them.)
To make sure that you are properly configured to work with outsourcing agents, some preliminary efforts are required. But if you work out the criteria before you get a freelancer, you’ll get the following benefits:
• Less friction in all content creation processes.
• Stricter compliance with the expectations and goals of your company.
• More trusting and mutually beneficial long-term relationships with the writers you brought on board your business.
Where to find great candidates
Assuming that your organization does not have a pool of preferred suppliers of ators, you can choose one of several ways:
• Request recommendations. Connect your professional networks and see if anyone has any suggestions.
o Pros: Someone vouches for the work of the writer and his professionalism.
o Cons: People may not recommend their best authors, if this means that they will be less available in the future for them.
• Post a job on the job board for copywriters. Fortunately, there are many resources on the Internet where you can write an advertisement about finding authors.
o Pros: access to different skills and experience; You can usually search by narrow criteria (case study, writing style, rate, industry experience, etc.).
o Minuses: Often in open and uncontrolled sites, writers can take a “creative approach” to how they characterize their skills and work experience. It may be difficult to measure the author’s suitability for this task or to sort the ranks of viable candidates.
• Work with a creative recruitment agency or content marketing platform.
o Pros: these services usually check your talent pool and provide tools to help you manage the work of the author on an ongoing basis.
o Cons: a full-service route costs more. These resources are more suitable for long-term or ongoing text writing needs.
No matter which of these techniques you choose, keep in mind that professional writers are qualified. Do not look for them among ordinary enthusiasts. Futureinapps has professional marketing journalists who can write texts for any niche. Address to experts!
