Freelance copywriters are the right choice in certain scenarios. In some cases, they will be a better choice for a SEO agency than a regular contributor. However, sometimes working with them can backfire. Hiring freelancers seems like the obvious solution when you need content. However, this is not always the right move. Let’s consider the pros and cons of making such a decision.
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When and why to contact freelancers in digital marketing?
Do you need to fill the site with texts one time, create text content regularly, but in small volumes? Are you looking for articles for external content marketing, but don’t have the ability or need to hire a new employee? In all these cases, ordering content from a freelance writer or copywriter for a SEO agency can be a simple and profitable solution to the problem. Why is it convenient?
- Freelancing will almost always cost you less than hiring a full-time employee of the same professional level.
- The freelance team can be expanded, narrowed or disbanded depending on the tasks and current workload. It is possible to find the most qualified freelancer for each individual project or marketing channel.
- In conditions of a limited budget, there is no need to create universal soldiers from their subordinates, who during the day are engaged in texts for mailings, filling a blog, and maintaining social networks. Experts of Shtudio consider that it’s beneficial hiring a freelancer sometimes.
- Thanks to remote work, finding a performer on freelance exchanges can be easier than looking for a candidate on a job search site. This is especially true for small towns.
In short: collaboration with copywriters is less demanding on investment and stability. At the same time, freelancers are not a cure for all diseases, and in certain cases they will not suit you at all.
Cons of freelance content ordering
There are several disadvantages of hiring a freelancer specialized in digital marketing:
- Low expertise of the authors. The more complex your niche and the narrower the subject matter of the texts, the fewer performers who will write high-quality material. It will not be difficult to find a freelancer for product cards in an online soft toy store, but not everyone will be able to maintain a unique blog on the topic of machine learning.
- If you need not just articles or reviews, but your own research, analytics and infographics, finding the right copywriter will be extremely difficult. And the cost of his services will definitely exceed your expectations.
- Instability. What was described as an advantage in the previous section can also be a disadvantage. A freelancer is able to let you down on deadlines, refuse to work at any time and not even report it. Unlike an employee in an office of Shtudio, you cannot control or influence the workflow in any way.
- Even with constant collaboration, the external author is not always interested in professional growth and development. He can repeat the same mistakes from month to month. Or he simply won’t delve deeper into your business and product than is required for superficial writing.
Tips from Shtudio on how to collaborate with copywriters
The team of professional SEO agency has a number of tips on how to simplify your cooperation with freelancers:
- Check first. Always ask copywriters for sample texts. It doesn’t matter if they already wrote about your topic or not. You will still be able to assess the level of the author. Another option is to request a test task.
- Clear, capacious task. You have to imagine what kind of final result you want to get. Therefore, you will inevitably have to spend time drawing up a detailed technical task. It needs to include general requirements for the structure of the text (volume, outline, subheadings, lists), wishes for key or stop words, stylistic constructions, a story about the target audience who is going to read it, etc.
- Abundance of information. Remember: a copywriter is not required to understand your subject. If you want them to prepare a good, professionally competent text, do not be too lazy to provide the TT with information: tell about the topic, share links to materials from where they can get ideas, show how competitors solved a similar problem.
- Adequate deadline. When working with copywriters, the deadline is set even at the stage of forming an order for the text. In all other cases, you need to label it yourself. Don’t make the deadline too narrow: give the author at least two days. If you specify a shorter period, he may not have time to properly study the topic.
Hence, hiring a freelance copywriter has both benefits and drawbacks. Depending on the type of organization, budget, time and goals, digital marketing agencies may sometimes make such a solution to quickly end the project without hiring a full-time specialist.
Read also: Custom Website Development – Is This the Best Approach for Your Brand?