What goes into a copywriting project?
If you’re looking to commission a copywriting partner, you’re probably thinking about how good their writing skills are. But there’s an awful lot that goes into a copywriting project beyond the ability to wrangle the written word into the required number of sentences and paragraphs.
Why should you care? Because if you want to choose the best copywriter or copywriting agency – one that will produce results on time, on budget and with minimal hassle for you – then you need to make sure they’re skilled across all of these areas.
Project management
No matter how small the project, someone needs to be in charge of managing it otherwise it can get very stressful, very quickly. Project management starts immediately, and in this case includes arranging briefing calls or meetings, agreeing and ensuring deadlines are met, organising amends stages and handling any unforeseen circumstances that arise along the way (and believe us, most projects have these).
Behind the scenes in an agency there are also writers to be commissioned and internal amends stages to be done, plus copyediting and proofing (more on these later). Freelancers have limited capacity not only because they can only write for a certain number of hours every day but because juggling too many clients leads to balls being dropped.
Often we ask questions that challenge our clients to more clearly define what they’re after, which means that they’re much more likely to get a first draft that doesn’t need endless amends.
At RH&Co we’ve worked hard to put process in place that mean things run smoothly. Even in those moments when we’re paddling madly under the surface, our clients should only ever see the gliding swan on the surface. It’s our job to take the stress away for them.
Brief creation
The first and most important step of any project we work on is the brief creation stage. Even when a client comes to us with a written brief, we still add value by interrogating it, bringing our perspective on what’s possible, where problems might arise, and how we can achieve even better results together.
A good brief should cover a huge range of important elements from objectives to target audience to tone of voice. Often we ask questions that challenge our clients to more clearly define what they’re after, which means that they’re much more likely to get a first draft that doesn’t need endless amends. We can also help them clarify their strategy and set goals against which we can measure progress.
At RH&Co briefings are always handled by a strategist and a creative. By bringing in two different brains and skill sets, we ensure we deliver the best possible outcomes for the client. That’s one of the benefits of using an agency rather than a single individual.
Research
Before your copywriting partner can start writing, they’ll need to know what to write about. And that means research. This might involve making themselves familiar with your product, analysing data from a survey you commissioned, or hunting for a BCG or McKinsey study to lend credibility to your argument.
In many cases, research will include what we call ‘gold mining’ – speaking to your subject matter experts to draw out their knowledge and experience. This is especially important for expert-led businesses who want to establish themselves as an authority on a particular subject.
Copywriting is the art of persuasive writing so when we talk about top quality copy we’re not just talking about it being well written – it needs to be able to generate the results that our clients are looking for.
RH&Co was founded by a former journalist, and this interview-style approach runs through the whole agency. Whether we’re talking to a reluctant developer, a detail-oriented academic or a flighty founder, we know how to get the best out of them.
Writing skills
It’s worth pausing for a moment to take note of how much value your copywriting partner has already added before they actually start writing.
Once the writing does start, it’s about far more than being articulate. Copywriting is the art of persuasive writing so when we talk about top quality copy we’re not just talking about it being well written – it needs to be able to generate the results that our clients are looking for.
Will the landing page copy convert? Will the blog post engage the reader until the end? Has SEO been taken into account and are the CTAs strong enough?
That’s why we’re super fussy about who we allow on to our writing team. We have both in-house copywriters and a handpicked team of freelancers who have to go through a thorough evaluation process before they go on our books. Plenty of people are decent enough writers; there are far fewer good copywriters around.
Copyediting and proofing
There’s a particular blind spot that you get when reading your own writing, which is why it’s important that you always get a second pair of eyes on anything you create. This will help you spot unsupported facts, veering off brand, errors in continuity, moments of rambling, changes in tense, random typos and a whole bunch of other issues.
It’s difficult to articulate exactly what makes one piece of copy better than another but we’ve been doing this a long time now and we’re experts at spotting what’s good and what needs work before it’s client ready.
At RH&Co, any copy produced by the freelance team is copyedited in-house, while writing done by an internal writer gets a second look from another member of the team. In some cases we’ll get a third person to do a final proofread, just to be sure the copy we deliver is word perfect.
Administration
It’s worth adding this bit because it’s so easy to forget the millions of little things that keep a copywriting agency – or even a freelancer, if we’re honest – up and running. Invoicing, sorting out insurances, making sure the accounts are up to date, filling out tedious forms of one kind or another.
Without these jobs your copywriting partner wouldn’t exist to be able to take care of all the other stages of whatever copywriting project you need doing. Yes, they add a few pounds to your invoice. But in the scheme of things they are worth it.
By appreciating the many skills that go into a successful copywriting project, you’ll be better placed to choose a team that can support you in creating copy that genuinely delivers results. Hopefully you’ll also have a much clearer idea of why doing it in-house isn’t the easy option it might at first appear!
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