Hiring a Content Writer: Why it is hard to find the right one for your business

Content is the future. 
 
High-quality content that can captivate your audience is key to the future of an organization’s  brand presence. 
 
In this digital age, content is crucial to cut through the clutter and stand out. There are more than three million blogs published every day! 
 
It plays a critical role in the marketing space and can result in business growth when done well. It is an effective way to create visibility for your business, enhance brand presence, and ultimately drive sales. 
 
So how can you find the right person to do this for your organization?
 
To find a content writer today, is not just to look for a wordsmith but someone who can strategize and execute a content marketing plan for your organization. They would need to understand the benefits and key offerings of your products and services while also gauging the pain points of your target audience. 
 
                                                 
 
Before we dive into the nuances of finding the perfect content writer for your business, let us talk a little bit about content marketing and its challenges. 

Why is Content Marketing Important? 

Content marketing is the one way you can connect directly with your end customers. You can talk about your key benefits, answer their questions, and build trust and loyalty for your brand. This can in turn help you improve your conversion rate and generate leads. 
 
Content marketing also helps in developing your brand image and visibility. And for this, your content should have a consistent voice, language, and style which is unique and easily identifiable across all platforms. 
 
But all this can be achieved by putting out high-quality, consistent content. Today’s customers will accept nothing less. They want witty, humourous, and meaningful content to engage with. 

The Benefits of Content Marketing

 
                                             
 
  • Captures the Audience 
Well-written content has the capacity to arrest the attention of your target audience and create a positive impact on their minds. It can generate leads and continually bring back repeat customers for more. 
 
  • Builds an Online Presence
Consistent high-quality content can build a strong online presence via social media and other platforms. It can increase your followers, and viewership and generate advocates and fans! 
 
  • Builds Trust
Your content is your means of communication to interact, connect and build a relationship with your audience. You can share knowledge, answer questions, and provide advice or recommendations, before even pitching your product or service. When you can provide value without asking anything in return, it builds trust among your audience. 
 
  • Helps Generate Leads
When your audience regularly sees your content and is captivated by it, it is likely to generate leads or interest in your product or service. Effective call-to-action at the end of your content can further help in this process and also increase the conversion rates. You can direct this action to land your audience on a homepage or a sales page. When the customer is happy with your messaging, content and idea, they are likely to make the decision to purchase your product or service. 
 
  • Seen as a Market Leader 
When you consistently publish relevant content with respect to your industry, you will likely be seen as a market leader and an authority on the subject. This in turn will help you rank higher in search engines and create more visibility for your business and brand. Additionally, your customers are likely to trust you if you position yourself as an expert in the field. 
  • Saves costs 
Though it might seem steep to hire a freelancer or a full-time content writer, in the long term, it is cheaper as compared to paid advertising, video marketing and traditional advertising.
 
Okay, so you are convinced that content is in fact king and that you need to start putting out high-quality content immediately.  But the last time you hired someone, it failed to hit the mark. Even after the hand holding and feedback, it was not a great success story. 
 
                                    
 

Why is that?

The most common complaint about a content writer is, ‘We are just not happy with the writing!’
Or some version of it. 
 
  • ‘The writing lacked depth and insights.’
  • ‘The writers could not connect to our audience.’
  • ‘There was a lot of back and forth and feedback. It was easier to do it ourselves!’
Now, this is a broad statement that can include bad writing, bad grammar, or problems with work ethics like missed deadlines and more. 
 
But if you pause for a moment, and think about it, this is what will dawn on you. It is not always the writer, it could be you. 
 
So, here are some myths, that I am going to bust about content writers and writing: 
 

  • Content writers are NOT industry experts

So, you go out and find a content writer who has experience in your field or industry, say an IT engineer who is also a content writer, or a financial expert who is adept at writing. And you try to get them to write your blogs but it fails to have the depth and insights you are seeking. 
 
What was the problem with that?
Finding writers with specific industry experience is hard if you do find them at all. Why would a financial expert work as a writer when they can likely make more money by being a financial expert?
Content writers can only churn out content as good as the briefs given to them. And these need to emerge from well-thought-out content strategies that actually address certain needs and goals of the organization. 
 

  • Content writers are NOT always content strategists 

Most content writers are simply that - writers. They may not always be strategists. But the goal of content is to get your audience to do something: go to your website, buy your product, call your sales team or like and subscribe to your channel. 
 
Without knowing the end goal of why you are publishing a piece of content, your content writer cannot help you meet your goal. Most content writers start their projects without knowing who they are writing for, who the target audience is, what they hope the audience will do after reading your article and so on. 
 
Sometimes, this is a result of just bad instructions or briefing. But often, it is also because the businesses themselves have not paused to answer these critical questions. So, it is not surprising that the content will not perform as expected - as no one knows who it was intended for, so chances are no one will read it. 
 
The onus of the content strategy is on the business that hires a content writer or even a strategist so that they can help them clearly define their goals, target audience, call-to-action and more, before even asking them to write a single word. 
 
                                       
 

  • Content writers can NOT articulate your needs

Even the best writers in the world are not mind readers or magicians to spin out something that serves your business well unless it is well articulated. Today’s readers are looking for specifics that you as a product or service owner can provide your writers with. You need to share insights, anecdotes, research papers, data points, and any other information that can make your content-rich, unique and has the potential to answer or solve your target audience’s problems or queries. 
 
  • What problems is your business solving?
  • How is it different from your competitors?
  • What are some of the things your clients share with you?
  • What are some of the challenges of your business?
 
Ultimately, it is about providing as much information and instruction as possible to get the best output you possibly can. Create a robust process for the writing process: Arrange for client interviews, sign off on outlines, review drafts and revise them as necessary. 
 

  • Changing content writers will NOT always solve the problem

So you have hired someone to write and it didn't work out. So you decide to increase your budget and go looking for another content writer before pausing to figure out what went wrong with this one. Ask and answer some hard questions before hiring a new writer. Here are a few to get you started: 
 
  • Were the briefs not too clear?
  • Did they need some information from your end?
  • Did they need more effective and specific feedback?
  • Did they need help with research and data points?
  • Why did their writing fail?
 

  • Writing it yourself is NOT always the answer 

Sure there are not-so-great writers out there but finding one requires some serious thinking on your part to figure out what you need out of them. And writing it yourself might seem like the answer. But the reason you started looking for a writer was that you either hated the task or were not good at it or simply didn't have the time for it. 
 
                                          
 
So, before you choose this as an option, reevaluate what you need from your content, be specific with your instructions, share information, define goals and then hire someone who can write well. 
 
Over a period of time, the writer and you will find a balance and make it work. 
 
If the process of finding the right person for this job seems cumbersome to you, we can help. 
 
FlexiBees has a large pool of 35K+ experienced and qualified women. We have a deep vetting process that matches the right candidate to your exact business needs. We will do all the grunt work for you and provide you with only the best three screened candidates for interviewing. This can help you save time and energy, and you are likely to find a suitable candidate easily. 
 
Click here to read some of the candidates we successfully placed in the recent past. 
 
And if you are convinced and want to explore the option of hiring flexible candidates via FlexiBees, click here to drop us a line.