Meghan
Let’s face it – writing is hard. Even the most experienced novelists agree with this! Pair this with a myriad of other businesses vying for customers’ attention, and the concept of content marketing becomes even more difficult. If you’ve been interested in hiring a professional content writer, here are some pros and cons to consider before you make a final decision.
Why Hire a Professional Content Writer?
There’s no denying that online marketing is progressively evolving and becoming the primary form of communication for audience members. With so much information at our fingertips, your business content can unintentionally fall through the cracks. Plus, creating content can feel overwhelming if you don’t have much experience with writing.
However, hiring a professional content writer can streamline your digital marketing efforts and make connections with your customers. They listen to your marketing goals and your business knowledge to create engaging content that keeps audiences interested. As an added bonus, you can focus on running your business while they’re working on your content.
There are two options when looking for a professional content writer. You can hire one or you can hire a company that employs professional content writers for you. You’ll get more control over an in-house writer, but they tend to be more expensive. When looking to hire a professional content company, there are a lot of options and services, check out this guide for a breakdown of what to look for.
High-Quality Content
Simply put, well-written content stands out to customers. When you’re trying to capture the attention of certain audiences amongst several other businesses within the same industry, it’s important to create unique content. Two blogs from separate businesses may cover the same topic. However, if your blog happens to be engaging and creative, people are more likely to stay.
Professional content writers can write these kinds of blogs on a consistent basis. After all, it’s one thing to create content, but it’s just as important to make sure it’s relevant. Professional content writers know what’s appealing to customers and create content that correlates with trends.
Increase Leads
Content isn’t just a fun way to connect with your audience, although that’s a significant part of digital marketing. Content is also a way to give prospective customers a sampling of your services. For example, if a person comes across your blog detailing the benefits of using a marketing service, they’ll pay attention to your knowledge of the topic.
If this person likes what they read, they’ll proceed to follow through with contact information and reach out to utilize your services. This is all a strategic way to generate more leads and reach out to more customers. At the same time, a professional content writer can create genuinely interesting content that engages all audiences, even if they don’t use your services.
Elevate Your Business
You’d be surprised how far digital marketing can go when it’s done professionally. Not only is it cost-effective, but it’s likely to bring in more customers quickly. Plus, well-written content can appeal to a larger audience that goes beyond your business’s services. Professional writers understand how to showcase your business while creating amazing content.
In summary, good content elevates your business. If it captures their attention, customers will get involved with your brand. This includes your testimonials, case studies, and product descriptions. Noticeable grammatical errors and spelling mistakes give potential customers a bad impression of your company. However, a professional content writer will always make sure they create the best content that benefits your business and keeps customers coming back.
When Should You Hire A Professional Writer?
Whether you’re a solopreneur or just gaining traction, you may feel like a professional writer isn’t worth the investment. However, here are a few questions to ask yourself when you’re deciding on the right writing partnership for your business:
1. Do you have the time to devote to writing your own content?
You’ve established your business, you’re making sales, and you’re probably wearing a lot of hats right now. It’s why you’re considering outsourcing and why you are reading this blog.
While content is one of those things you may be able to bootstrap in the beginning, it’s important to think long-term about how you’re going to compete in the digital space. You want to put your best foot forward. And sometimes acknowledging that you just don’t have the time to make your content shine is ok!
Even if you love writing, the technical aspects of penning content for the web can be overwhelming. Ask yourself this question early and then evaluate which hats are important for you to wear versus which ones are ok to delegate.
2. Can you afford not to?
Deciding when to hire a professional writer is often a matter of asking the question, “Can I afford not to?”
From a marketing standpoint, optimizing your content so that it can be discovered online is one of the best things you can do for your business. As trends change, you don’t want to be left in the dust with subpar content that doesn’t connect or convert.
Outsourcing your content writing — or even your entire marketing strategy — can actually help your bottom line, especially over the long term.
3. Are you looking to scale?
Scaling your business requires a certain amount of investment, time, and energy. If you’re at a pivotal point in your business and looking for scaling and growth opportunities, it may be the perfect time to bring a dedicated writer on board.
They can work with you to reach the next level by planning out launches, crafting email campaigns, creating stand-out headlines, maintaining your brand voice, and executing all of your well-thought-out marketing plans.
While the simple answer to, “When should you hire a professional writer?” is “when you’re ready,” it’s important to think about where you are and where you are headed as well as what having a writer on your team could do for you in the short term and the long term.
Pros
1. Improved SEO
One of the greatest benefits of hiring a professional content writer is their ability to increase brand visibility on search engines, particularly Google. SEO will be your ultimate ally when it comes to audience engagement. Great content will also improve SEO when paired with targeted keywords.
You might be wondering why SEO is important. The answer to that question correlates with website traffic. When your content ranks higher on search engines, it’s more likely to reach your target audience. This leads to higher website traffic and lead generation.
2. Enhanced Marketing Campaigns
Your marketing campaigns will thrive with a professional content writer on your team. Simply put, content writers know what appeals to your target audience and will work with you to ensure your campaign appeals to those individuals. They’ll hype up your products and services to convince customers to follow through with their purchases.
Plus, professional content writers often have a wide range of experience with other forms of content. Have trouble writing social media content? Your content writer can create that for you! If you’re interested in targeting another audience, your professional content writer can work with you to create content that stands out to these individuals.
3. Convenient Content Strategies
Don’t know where to start with your content? No worries, your content writer can help! Pro content writers don’t have to be restricted to writing blogs for your website. If you struggle to come up with effective content strategies, they can think of blog topics, SEO keywords, and intriguing meta descriptions.
Plus, if you have a team of content creators covering different responsibilities, professional writers are very flexible. They can work alongside marketing agencies, SEO specialists, and graphic designers to create the perfect content plan for your business. This allows you to focus on your business while they work on creating and updating your content.
Cons
1. High Costs
It’s important to remember that writing services are still an investment. Professional content writers are admittedly expensive, which can be inconvenient for small or startup businesses. This is because you’re hiring an experienced professional who devotes all their time to creating the best possible content for your business.
In other words, you’ll get what you pay for. Thankfully, many content writing services and freelancers offer package deals that allow you to budget effectively. They may also offer customizable options that allow you to pick and choose certain services based on your current needs.
2. Lack of Expertise
To be clear, professional content writers will always be amazing at what they do. However, it’s very unlikely that they’ll be experts in every single industry. For example, a content writer may be very familiar with marketing. However, if you’re a lawyer hiring a content writer for your firm’s blog, they’re probably not going to have a law degree.
The good news is that content writers are also pros at research. Even if they don’t know much about your specific industry, they’ll always take time to learn about your content’s topic. You can be assured that they’ll cite their sources and back up their writing with reputable references.
3. Mismatched Writer
Even if you work with an amazing content writer, there may be cases where they’re not a good match for your business. This can be due to numerous reasons, whether it be their pay rate, writing style, or lack of industry knowledge. They may also work with a wide range of clients when you’re looking for a more individualized content plan.
These are all valid reasons not to work with a professional content writer. However, they just might not be the right match for you. If you’d still like a professional to manage your content plan, consider figuring out what you’re looking for ahead of time. From there, customize your content plan to fit your needs and share this with your new writer.
If you’ve been looking for an amazing professional content writer, consider working with Content Cucumber! We’re a dedicated team of writers that help your business stand out while creating appealing and innovative content.
When you sign up with Content Cucumber, you’re paired with a hand-picked writer that oversees all your content goals. Book your demo today!
