Copywriter Confessions: What we really want to say to you, but can’t

It’s time to confess; to get some things off our collective copywriters’ chests. With 15 years in business and a team of ten behind us, we’ve worked with clients of all shapes, sizes and maintenance levels… and we’ve loved every person and every project. But that doesn’t mean every plan and process is perfect.  

We’re not ones to vent or micro-manage clients: it’s our job to advise, steer and produce a finished product that performs. But it’s fair to say that there are some recurring niggles that we’ve noticed over the 8,956,200+ words our wordsmiths and award writers have written. They’re not really a big deal per se, but cause congestion, hiccups and unnecessary work which can frustrate flow, creativity and output.    

Our copywriters’ advice for clients  

We want everyone to enjoy the copywriting collaboration opportunity and understand that you want ownership of your brand and voice, but here are some things to consider when you’re paying a professional copywriter to represent your business. 

Content is king but character counts 

You may have a lot to say and, depending on the asset type, a high level of content can be valuable. But great content is audience-first, written for the reader. Relevant, rich detail is essential, but fluff and fancy, not so much. Every sentence should say something worth hearing. And every section should fit perfectly into its given design framework. If we cut some of your raw content or information, don’t be offended. It’s either surplus to reader requirements, or over the set character or word count.  

We can’t draw water from an empty well 

Nobody knows your business better than you do. We undertake extensive research for our copywriting projects and will ask all the right questions… but please come prepared. We need to know your history, current position, project objectives/performance metrics, growth data, audience, competitors, product/service details, future plans, other marketing activities, values… the big picture. We’re acting as an extension to your own team, so you need to bring us up to speed with as much detail as possible, whether that’s a verbal briefing, presentation, document share or combination of these.  

Consider before commenting 

We’ve delivered a piece of content for review and you can’t wait to get stuck in and make your mark. We get it. Really. However, we’d like to request a brief reprieve, a pause for consideration, before you start tracking changes and leaving comments. If we had a penny for every change made by a client, only for them to change it back to our original wording on the next review, we’d have a pretty healthy piggy bank. It’s new for you to hear your voice come from someone else’s fingertips. Let it settle. Re-read it. Ask for another eye over it. Then go ahead and make your suggestions.  

Professional integrity says ‘no’ 

The content we create represents us, as well as you. We’ll always honour your edits where they enrich detail, expand knowledge and/or make sense, but we won’t compromise our professional integrity. If the grammar is bad, we’ll change it; if the point is interesting to you but not your audience, we’ll argue to remove it. That random capitalisation? Sorry, but it’s coming out. You’re paying us for additional skills that you don’t have in-house, so trust us.  

As further reassurance on integrity, as a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) and one of only 1,000 global CIPR chartered professionals, our MD, Louise Turner, holds the entire Wordsmiths team to the highest of standards. Bound by the organisation’s code of conduct and ethics, you can be confident our advice is sound and always based on your best interests. 

Your business isn’t that unique 

Unless you operate in a super-exclusive niche, such as hedgehog clothing or meteorite recovery and authentication, your business is probably on par with many other similar companies. We’ve heard all the usual tropes before. ‘We’re reliable/family business/trusted supplier/rapid response’. If you’re not careful, you won’t stand out in a crowded marketplace. Work with us, and we’ll help you figure out a new hook, a point of interest, some impressive figures or recent accolades to substantiate your position. It might be a totally new tone of voice, or an eye-catching approach to your visual assets. Maybe you’ll sponsor the local hedgehog sanctuary? Start thinking more creatively about the kinds of things that might encourage more customers and increased loyalty, to give us something to work with.  

Getting the best from your copywriter  

Coming armed with information and trusting your copywriter to do the right thing by you are the easiest ways to get the best results. You’ve chosen to outsource your content production for a reason, so try to let go of the reins and help ensure a fluid process.  

We’ll always listen to your thoughts but we’re also here to challenge you if our experience tells us your approach or angle is wrong.  

If you’d like to see what our professional copywriters can do for you, contact us to arrange a free consultation – and try to keep the above advice in mind, whichever copywriting team to choose to collaborate with!