When hiring someone to write for your online marketing content (such as website, social media, blogs, white paper, etc.), start it right by providing the person with the information he needs to fill the knowledge gap. This will save time and money especially if you are paying the writer on a per hour basis. Tons of back-and-forth revisions can also be avoided if there is a proper direction. Either you schedule a zoom meeting to have a thorough discussion or provide him with a gdrive file of the company’s information. Better yet, do both.
- Give a background about the company so the writer gets a feel of what he is writing about. No need to elaborate too much but just the highlights.
- Clarify your objective. He needs to understand the deeper context of his own writing tasks. Mobilize him with a clear path; say, you are rebranding your company so it can cope with the new online trends and you need to adjust your content to better fit the market. Make it relatable to the new identified audience while keeping the message relevant to the existing group.
You can start with this: “Our tone is professional yet friendly, and the profile of our readers include…”
- Describe your audience. Good if you can provide an audience profile so he gets a realistic picture of who will eventually read his material.
- Simplify the jargons. Help him uncover the terms that may sound strange for a new comer in the industry; this way, his writing will not alienate the readers and the technical terms can sound naturally pleasant. Good to also recommend resources the can aid his research.
- Share the style and voice that you like to “hear”. You can refer him to a prior content output or other online references. The point is to get a grip of how he will narrate your story.
Just last month, I also wrote an article about 7 Pre-Writing Considerations that can come useful when engaging with a writer. You can also apply the given steps as you move forward in building a productive writing project.
