First, I should probably explain what I mean by a neutral copywriter.
When you start looking round for a writing partner to help you with your marketing, you’ll realise they come in all shapes and sizes.
Some will only write for online marketing, others specialise in offline media.
Then there’ll be those that only blog and others that only create website copy.
Then you’ll get the ones that specialise in a particular field, such as medical or technical writing.
You’ll also find generalists, or as I prefer to call them neutral copywriters.
The benefits of neutrality
I am such a writer, so admittedly, I might be slightly biased about what neutral writers can bring to your marketing party, but the points I’m about to make are still valid.
As a neutral writer, I’m happy to tackle any subject (as long as it’s not immoral or illegal) in any format.
You might think, well hang on a minute that’s going to cost me more because you’ll have to do loads of research.
The fact is, if you want good copywriting it’s not going to be cheap anyway.
Plus, every good copywriter, no matter whether they’ve written for your industry before or not, will have to do research.
If you use someone who always writes for the same industry you run the risk of getting ‘tired’ copy. I don’t mean that in a bad way, it’s just that if you write, day in day out, on the same subject, sooner or later you’re going to reach a point where you’ve covered every angle possible. That means your copy and your approach becomes predictable. And if there’s one thing you don’t want in your marketing it’s predictability.
But if you work with a copywriter with no or limited experience in your industry you get a very valuable fresh pair of eyes who will bring something new and dynamic to your marketing because they’re not blinkered by what they’ve done before.
A case in point is a project I’m working on at the moment.
It’s for a large London firm that creates software for the finance industry.
This isn’t an industry I know a lot about and the project began with repurposing white papers into interesting articles. With input from their subject matter experts the project was a hit. It then progressed to writing brochures and white papers.
The reason why it was a hit was because I looked beyond ‘normal’ financial writing. I brought something fresh to the company using my own skills, experience and expertise as a writer. It was a win-win situation: the knowledge of their subject matter experts combined with my skills as a copywriter.
One of the first questions I’m asked by prospective clients is have you written about this before. If I haven’t, I basically tell them what I’ve just told you and that how working with someone who doesn’t know their industry well will, in fact, create stronger content that will really resonate with their audience.
So next time you’re looking for a copywriter, don’t get hung up on their experience in relation to what you do; look at the quality of their work because that will be what brings you the most value.