Freelance Copywriters: Your Best Content Solution?
Freelance copywriters work contractually to write copy and content for businesses. Many companies use these kinds of temporary employees to develop the sales and advertising copy necessary to promote their products and services and develop a consistent brand voice. But is using a freelance copywriter really your best content solution? Today, we’re covering topics like:
- What Do Freelance Copywriters Do?
- Why Do Companies Use Freelance Copywriters?
- CopyPress vs. Freelance Copywriters
What Do Freelance Copywriters Do?
Image via iStock by Prostock-Studio
There’s no “typical day” in the life of a freelance copywriter. Because they work on contracts for various companies everything from the type of research they do to the actual content they write may change by the day. Common tasks for freelance copywriters working on a project include:
- Brainstorming ideas for copy
- Meeting with clients to discuss projects or get content clarification
- Conducting research for projects
- Proofreading content before submission
- Submitting the completed copy to the client for approval
- Making edits or changes to content as requested by the client
Why Do Companies Use Freelance Copywriters?
Gig writing websites like UpWork and Fiverr have made it easier than ever to find and hire freelance copywriters for any project. But easier doesn’t always mean better. Why are sites like this so popular anyway? Because the demand for quality content and copy, especially for a B2B audience, is high. Here are some reasons brands turn to freelance copywriters:
Budget
Small companies and startups especially may think that hiring their own writing team or working with a content agency is out of their price range. An internal team requires salaries, benefits, and paid time off, which can take a large chunk out of a marketing budget. Companies that know they need content but want it cheap often tend to look for freelancers and contractors that fit into their budget, rather than building the budget around a solid content team or agency.
Commitment
Having an internal writing team or working with an agency takes commitment. Once you hire an internal team, you have them for life, unless they choose to leave or make a fireable offense. With agencies, a company has to sign a contract or similar document and is locked into working with that agency for the duration. Those who don’t know if they need full-time or extended content may think it’s easier to turn to freelancers on a case-by-case basis without an extended commitment.
Time
Even if a company has an internal writing team or writing specialists on the marketing team, they may find they don’t have enough time in the workweek to create everything they need. Time constraints may come from too many other responsibilities or from fast-approaching deadlines. In either case, brands may turn to freelance writers when they need additional power to reach a content goal.
Expertise
Business owners may feel they don’t have enough writing expertise to create good content their audience loves. Other times, a specific project may come up where the marketing team needs to consult with an expert from another field. When the content team feels they don’t have the expertise to accurately and effectively cover a topic, they may turn to freelancers for a supplement.
CopyPress vs. Freelance Copywriters
Despite the convenience and flexibility of working with freelancers, they may not be your best solution for top-tier content. Though you may have budget or quality concerns, let’s compare how working with a freelance writer stacks up against working with CopyPress, a content agency, in areas like:
Content Types
Both CopyPress and freelance writers act like an extension of your organization to produce written content pieces. But freelancers may only specialize in certain areas. For example, a blogger may be best at creating short-form, witty, or opinionated content. But if you need both blogs and eBooks, you may have to hire more than one freelancer. Then you’re juggling multiple contracts and deadlines for different projects with different people. When you work with CopyPress, you have access to quality writing on a variety of services, like:
Articles
Quality, engaging articles are a focal point for a good content marketing strategy. The CopyPress team helps create pieces that support your efforts to become a thought leader in your industry and improve your brand’s online presence. All the writers in our network understand the importance of top-quality research to make each piece both factual and engaging.
Blog Posts
Marketers like blog posts because they’re quick to write, easy to read, and hit the mark on what’s trending in any industry. At CopyPress, we understand how important it is to make these pieces engaging for your audience, and how to send them to the top of the SERPs. We frame each post around an eye-catching industry topic, using our proprietary software Thematical for research. This method helps improve your content strategy and rise above the competition.
Want a sample of how this system works? Request your free content analysis report from CopyPress today. Inside, you’ll find out how your content compares to that of your top three competitors. Then browse the keyword and syndication recommendations to find gaps in your strategy you can target with content, like blog posts.
“CopyPress gives us the ability to work with more dealership groups. We are able to provide unique and fresh content for an ever growing customer base. We know that when we need an influx of content to keep our clients ahead of the game in the automotive landscape, CopyPress can handle these requests with ease.”
Kevin Doory
Director of SEO at Auto Revo
eBooks
Brands use eBooks for lead generation and content promotion within a marketing strategy. They often serve as lead magnets or incentives in email newsletters to keep your subscribers looking forward to the next issue. These are excellent content sources for B2B companies to establish themselves as credible in their niches. At CopyPress, we help you from eBook ideation to publication, and use our proprietary content management system (CMS), Dante, to streamline the process.
Product Descriptions
For B2B companies that sell both products and services, engaging product descriptions can help set you apart from the competition. We generate polished descriptions that grab your audience’s attention and increase interest and sales. With SEO as a focus in everything we do, including writing product descriptions, we help get you better reach and matches in search intent with these summaries. They highlight what makes your offers unique and why people can’t live without them.
White Papers
White Papers are a preferred content channel for digital marketers to share information with a B2B audience. They position your brand as a thought leader in any industry and share valuable information about your product, services, and strategies. At CopyPress, we meet with you before kicking off campaigns to understand your business and clients to help you choose the right goals for every white paper.
Style Guide Development
Having a consistent brand voice is one of the most important parts of content marketing. You’ve worked hard to develop the tone you use with your audience. It’s what your clients expect. Even if you have a company style guide of your own, it may be difficult to share it with every freelancer you contract. Even when you do, you can’t guarantee that your freelancers will understand it, or follow it.
At CopyPress, we work with you to understand your brand’s style guide. If you don’t have one, we help you create one from scratch. The document follows your campaign from ideation through publication so that our network of writers understands the nuances that come with writing for your brand and it reflects in every piece. You can update this document at any time throughout your campaign to make sure we’re providing exactly what you need.
Vetting and Training
One of the most unsettling things about hiring any employee, but especially a freelance contractor, is worrying that you may not get the quality and dedication you expect from each team member. It’s time-consuming to work to find the right freelancers, and while many of them are truthful and good at what they do, some lie about their credentials and experience. Only you may not find that out until after you’ve hired them and wasted your time and money.
You never have to worry about quality when you work with CopyPress. We spend all the time finding and vetting talent for our content team, which includes writers, editors, and quality assurance professionals. Then we train them to follow your style guide and write in your brand voice. It’s like having your own internal team with a 100% guarantee you’re getting the quality you expect.
Niche Expertise
One of the most important things about finding writers is choosing ones that understand your industry or niche. You wouldn’t want to hire someone to write for an audience of brain surgeons who’s never so much as watched an episode of Grey’s Anatomy, let alone understands the complexities of human brain anatomy. Sure, there are freelance writers out there up for the task, but are they easy to find? Are they telling you the truth about their knowledge level?
When you work with CopyPress, we already have writers from a variety of niches and industries in our creative network. From health to travel, recruitment, and beyond, we understand the importance of getting people who know your industry and your audience on your project. You can trust that our writers know what they’re talking about, both from research and life experience.
Language Barriers
If your company works with clients around the world, or you’re looking to expand your coverage areas, you may look for a freelancer who writes and speaks other languages fluently. But, if you plan to expand into multiple new markets, or serve many countries around the world, what’s the likelihood of finding one freelancer that speaks two languages or more? Then you’re back to hiring multiple writers and juggling various contracts when you could streamline your process.
The CopyPress network has writers and editors that speak over 42 languages, natively and fluently. We think it’s important to guarantee that the meaning of your content doesn’t get lost in translation when working with audiences in different countries. That’s why we prioritize putting native speakers on market projects both inside and outside the United States.
Content at Scale
Many companies turn to freelancers when they need content fast. This usually happens when a company tries to scale production too quickly or doesn’t understand the time and team power it takes to deliver high-quality content. But what happens when one freelancer or even two isn’t enough to meet your content goals? What happens when you have to spend time training these writers to fit your brand voice and you miss your deadlines anyway?
With CopyPress, we make it easy for you to scale content production up or down to meet your demand. Thanks to the living style guide and vast network of writers, we’re able to put more hands on your project any time you need them. This helps you meet any goals or deadlines you may have.
Professionalism
Not every writer is great at organization, punctuality, or even communication outside of writing content. When working with a freelancer for the first time, you may not know what to expect. Will they get back to you quickly with questions? Will they contact you to clarify any project directions that are unclear? Do they understand how strict or lax the deadlines are?
With CopyPress, you never have to worry about receiving anything less than professional treatment. Perfecting your content comes from back-and-forth discussion and communication between your team, and our creatives and strategists. Each client gets paired with their own client success manager who handles all your questions and concerns. We even offer a Slack channel for each client account to help you get the answers to your questions quickly, simply, and most importantly, professionally.
Convenience
Working with many or even just one freelancer may be more complicated than it seems. From researching talent, conducting interviews, reviewing portfolios, and issuing test pieces, the process can become cumbersome before you even hire someone. Then, after you hire them, you have to train the writers and check their work. Why go through all that hassle when you could find an easy, convenient solution and spend more time working on other areas of your business?
CopyPress does more than just writing. We find the talent and assign the right people to your campaigns. We help with strategy, publication, and everything in between. Working with a content agency isn’t complicated, and it’s not out of your budget when you consider all the services we provide beyond putting words on the page or screen.
Are you ready to start a content partnership with CopyPress and reap all the benefits of a freelance army with our knowledgeable and dedicated creative network? Schedule your free 30-minute introductory call with us to discuss your content needs and how CopyPress works for your brand.
CopyPress writer
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