In the last year I’ve started taking on more and more brand copywriting projects for creatives and small business owners, helping them fine-tune their brand messaging and speak to their ideal clients and customers on their websites. It’s honestly been such a rewarding process and I can’t wait to do more. I love being there to help a brand or someone refreshing their brand really hone in on their story and write all those things that it’s notoriously hard to say about yourself or your own company.
Obviously, I have a special connection to the cause, being in this industry myself it’s easy for me to see the value in hiring a writer to write, a designer to design, a developer to develop, etc. I wish we could all outsource the tough parts of the creative process to talented collaborators and simply focus on our strong suits and passion points—it would make for some seriously incredible projects!
But for the businesses that *are* ready to outsource, today I want to make the case for outsourcing your brand copywriting. I find that when starting a business a lot of us (me included) get super excited about the visual aspect—envisioning a logo, a beautiful website, product packaging—that’s all really exciting and such a good motivator to stay committed to your idea.
Why You Need A Copywriter for your Brand or Rebrand
Copywriting makes your design work harder. Have you ever seen a beautiful website that still felt, somehow, incomplete? Perhaps it was because they lacked the written content to back up that design. If you are going to go through the trouble of hiring a designer to brand or rebrand your website, social media, or business collateral, this is the other piece of the puzzle. I wish more designers would tell their clients this, because it’s their portfolio it’ll be on too! Having a beautifully designed brand with not-so-beautiful messaging not only looks unfinished, it sends a very confusing message to your customers. I personally think that good writing is part of good design, which is why I work with so many designers to fill this piece of the void.
It’s good for SEO. To have a successful understanding of how SEO works, you need to have an understanding of words. A good copywriter, even if they aren’t technically an SEO specialist, knows enough about words to make your content search engine friendly.
It tells your story in a way you’d never think of. This is absolutely my favorite part of being a writer. I’ve seen even the smallest dialogue, even just a single phone conversation, become a flawless bio or statement from a person. Think of something you wish people would understand but that no one seems to get or correctly convey… That’s what a good copywriter does. Even in the unlikely event that she doesn’t fully understand your voice, you’ve at least uncovered an “angle” to work off of.
People crave connection. My philosophy is to connect a company to its audience by illuminating the story behind the business. People want to feel connected to the services they book or goods they buy. You see this in the demand for transparency in the fashion industry, or when customers boycott a company that hasn’t been acting in their best interests. They want to feel like company behind their goods and services aligns at least fairly well with their goals and values. A copywriter can draw out the most meaningful and captivating aspects of what you do—and make it so your audience knows it right when they see your product, click to your website, etc.
It’s persuasive. I leave this last because I think copywriting does so so much more than sells a product, but those who specialize in writing truly understand what goes through the mind of the reader. Their job is to respond in a way that makes them feel inspired, compelled, supported, no matter what they’re selling. Many people, because they own a business, think they know exactly how to talk to their ideal customer. But so many miss the mark! Getting someone to do this for you ensures that you don’t lose interest, not because of your reader, but because of the person behind it.
Have you ever hired a copywriter or creative freelancer before? We’d love to hear more about the process of working 1:1 to tell your story.
(Photo by Jess Flagel)