Hiring a PR copywriter can be a lifeline to a business when they are swamped with work and can’t give enough time or attention to promoting their company, and yet a lot of businesses hesitate before recruiting help. Many never take that leap of faith and struggle on indefinitely.
When I used to work for full-service PR and Marketing agencies, I was involved in the recruitment of copywriters to support the team, and I have to admit, it wasn’t easy. Perhaps I shouldn’t say that now that I’ve jumped the fence to be a freelance PR copywriter myself, but it’s part of the reason I wanted to be a writer, because it should not be that hard for businesses to get the support they need
We saw it all trying to hire a writer – we had candidates that wrote to an exceedingly high level but who delivered copy that didn’t sound anything like the spokesperson it was written for, we had writers that were not prepared to listen to feedback or make changes despite having less experience with the client involved, and we had perfectionist writers who were so focussed on getting every word ‘perfect’ they couldn’t meet a deadline.
Achieving balance in PR copywriting
It is a tough balancing act writing for a business. You must be able to meet deadlines. There are often strict timelines that come with copy requirements, whether with designers for brochures or websites, with the sales department to support a product launch, or with magazines for editorial features or press releases.
Writers also need to be able to write in a way that reflects the values or ethos of the company they are writing for, and more specifically write in a way that sounds like the person they are ghost writing for. The aim of writing on behalf of a business is to make their spokespeople sound authoritative and reflect their expertise, without turning people off with anything too technical.
Getting the writer/client relationship right
So, what makes a relationship work between a PR copywriter and a business? I would argue that while a large degree of responsibility does lie with the freelancer to get it right for their clients, it is a relationship that works both ways and businesses need to know how to get the most out of their freelance copywriters.
You wouldn’t expect your accountant to do an outstanding job if you held them at arm’s length and only gave them some of the information they needed. And you wouldn’t expect a designer to produce a website for you without any briefing, or without at least a small amount of to-ing and fro-ing.
It can help to set some ground rules before you start working together so everyone knows what to expect. For example, how much notice should you give a writer to write various lengths of copy, how many rounds of amendments are reasonable to both sides, how quickly should you both expect to hear from each other, and what are the payment terms and conditions?
Once the ground rules are in place, keep talking! If something isn’t working on either side, bring it up sooner rather than later to see if it can be resolved. Writers can’t improve if they don’t know what they are doing wrong and businesses can’t support their marketing copywriters if they don’t know what they need.
Stay focused on the end result
I know from firsthand experience that it can be hard to find the perfect partner whether you are a business or a marketing copywriter, but good matches do exist! And when it’s good it can be a game changer for both sides. Businesses can benefit from more flexible support without compromising on quality, and writers can benefit from ongoing work and the satisfaction of genuinely removing hassle for clients.
If you would like more information about a PR and marketing copywriter that strives to offer a blissful hassle-free partnership, please drop me a line today at helen@blogwrite.co.uk
