You're looking for a freelance copywriter in your niche, but can't find one. Here's why all is not lost.
Most business owners are experts – they know their sector inside out. Given their vast knowledge about the service they offer and the clients they serve, they must be the best people to write the content for their websites, right?
No.
Here's an analogy...
Let's say you're a Formula 1 driver. You know your car intimately, and you're capable of throwing it around Silverstone faster than anyone in your team. You can explain every component in detail. You are Mr Mercedes.
But can you service your car?
Can you adjust its myriad components so they work at their best?
Are you able to reassemble a faulty engine that has started to misfire?
Expertise is always relative. Just because you're incredible at explaining the features of your product in minute detail doesn't mean you're blessed with the hard-earned skills you need to explain – in captivating, short-form text – the benefits of your product or service.
Nor should you be expected to be able to turn these benefits into powerful reasons for someone to buy.
We've all seen bigshot lawyers in movies summing up a court case and getting the defendant off scot-free. While this might be fiction, it's based on fact. Why would a defendant – who knows every nuance of the case – make their own closing argument when there's a professional available who can do it much better?
But who could I possibly be talking about?
Enter – drum roll, please – your friendly, neighbourhood freelance copywriter.
If you're asking 'How can I find a copywriter who specialises in my industry,' you're asking the wrong question!
It's no secret that there are a lot of copywriters. That's because it's an easy profession to get started in – anyone can claim to be a copywriter.
Unfortunately, it also means there are thousands of unskilled, inexperienced copywriters who will happily take your money.
This kind of copywriter is obviously unlikely to do a great job when entrusted with your complex writing assignment.
However, with so many copywriters around, specialising is pretty rare.
Why would someone set out their stall as a luxury copywriting specialist catering to the yacht sector when there are only a few dozen manufacturers?
Why go all in as a mechanical imaging copywriter if you're only going to land one assignment a year?
As a result, it's diversification that keeps professional copywriters like me in business.
A truly valuable copywriter who can give you the copy you need will grasp new subjects easily. They must also:
Ask the right questions
Listen carefully
Digest information quickly
Understand best practices in UX (user experience), conversion copywriting and SEO
And write well, too. In your company's voice.
So when it comes to finding a copywriter, your goal shouldn't be to track down someone with insider knowledge of your sector (there's a caveat to this at the end of the article).
It's more a case of finding the best writer for the job who is capable of rapidly gaining the knowledge they need to complete the task.
The copywriter's journey from novice to "expert"
OK, so "expert" is stretching it. You don't need your copywriter to become a leading authority in your sector – you just need them to become competent enough to explain what you do.
You're hiring a copywriter for their skill at copywriting, not to present a TED talk about your SaaS product. If they're proficient and experienced, they will learn enough during the briefing process to convincingly write about your sector and services.
But in some cases, you'll have to keep a hand on the rudder. And that's OK. Here's why...
Some copywriting jobs are for highly technical products/services. Rather than send your copywriter off to write a PhD thesis about your business, you should be aiming for a 'sweet spot' whereby the writer knows enough to write 90% of the copy.
The remaining 10% is either knowingly incorrect (i.e. placeholder text) or – by mutual consent – delivered on the understanding that the client will flag up any technical errors and suggest corrections.
The copywriter can then check these for grammatical mistakes and consistency – by which I mean ensuring that there's no deviation from the tone they have worked so hard to establish.
Here's how this looks in practice:
Thorough briefing session
Agreement of deliverables
First copy draft
Client checks copy and adds corrections
Copywriter checks amended copy
Client signs off copy
Some real-life copywriting examples from my archives
In a career spanning 20+ years, I have written about hundreds of subjects, sectors and businesses.
Among the more complex were a business that creates products using graphene, an early AI adopter whose platform uses machine learning to power market intelligence, and one of the world's leading manufacturers of high-tech elevators (trust me, APIs and 'people flow dynamics' are not the easiest things to master).
I have also written for businesses that work in international shipping, green energy, architectural design, hypnotherapy, hi-fi, luxury property, superyachts, Swiss watches, management training, cybersecurity, art collection management, dentistry, packaging systems, forestry management, virtual reality therapy, food production, health and safety apps, recruitment, educational software and countless other niches.
A recent example of the copywriting learning curve developing exactly as it should was when I worked for TITAN Containers, one of the world's biggest storage container brands.
At face value, containers might not seem very technical. However, TITAN has more than a dozen types of them, from full side access containers to high cubes (which are 30cm taller than regular containers. Great for bespoke conversions!).
They also own one of the UK's best-selling refrigerated container brands, so I quickly had to acquire knowledge about precision temperature control, remote monitoring systems, cold chains, blast freezing and more.
Am I now a leading expert on containers? No – but I know a lot more than the average Joe. Thanks to input from the company's real experts – with whom I liaised regularly – the copy delivered was accurate and hit the spot.
Choosing your freelance copywriter carefully
I'll finish this article about working with a copywriter who doesn't yet know your sector with a word of caution. While you don't need an expert in your field to write your business copy, you also don't want an amateur.
Working with someone who has little or no experience of dealing with unfamiliar subjects is likely to result in confusion, delays and disappointment.
Also, a relative newcomer probably won't have the tools to step back, work out your key messages, contemplate the needs of your audience – and then create some gloriously easy-to-follow copy that will convince customers of your benefits.
There are also the small matters of SEO, page hierarchy, user journey, internal linking, CTAs, wireframing and other technical aspects of the copywriting process – but we can get to all that if and when the time comes.
Oh – and that caveat I mentioned earlier? If your sector truly is mind-meltingly complex, then a copywriter with the inside knowledge you need – if you can find one – is actually a smart place to begin.
Need a professional copywriter to help your business convert visitors into customers? Drop me a line.
Written by Mike Peake, UK freelance copywriter and website content writer.
T: +44 (0)208 133 4306
P.S. Check out my freelance copywriting rates analysis for 2024.