The way you communicate as a brand or business can be key to meeting your strategic goals. Crafting well-written, engaging digital copy plays a big part in this, especially if you’re after copy that channels your business’s personality and resonates with your audience. You need it to effortlessly communicate who you are, what you’re about and why customers or partners should choose you. Not an easy task, especially if your time is spread thin across other responsibilities and when you consider that website visitors only read 20% of content on a web page.
Working with the right digital content agency will ensure your business comes across in the best way possible. The right agency works hard to understand you, your customers and your wider content strategy, developing a strong relationship with your in-house teams to create first-class copy that represents your business. Knowing where to start when it comes to choosing an agency can feel daunting, but our guide to shortlisting and choosing the right agency will make the process feel simple and smooth.
What to expect from your copywriting agency
No two copywriting agencies are the same – this is a positive thing! The differences between them mean that you can interrogate their experience and approach in order to find the best fit for your company.
There are some things, however, you should expect from every copywriting agency you meet with and consider:
- Exceptional copywriting skills that combine flair and creativity with perfect grammar, spelling and punctuation. 59% of people avoid working with companies with sloppy attitudes to spelling and grammar, so getting accurate copy is vitally important
- The ability to get under the skin of your business to understand your goals and audience, and how best to bring your brand essence to life in order to engage through written copy
- A willingness and ability to understand how their copywriting work will align with and support your wider content strategy
- The resource to produce content at the pace and scale you require
- A portfolio of showstopping work and case studies
- An understanding of how copy and SEO work together, and the ability to craft optimised copy that helps to increase your organic traffic – after all, 75% of users never scroll past the first page of search results
- If you have a global audience, make sure you look for agencies with multilingual writers
Shortlisting potential agency partners
You’ve made the decision to recruit a copywriting agency: what next? Taking your time and approaching the process mindfully and with a strategy in place helps ensure you choose the right agency for your business. Follow these three steps to devise a shortlist of candidates:
- Research
Too much choice can bewilder and confuse matters. Do a quick Google search and you’ll see there are hundreds of online content agencies in business in the UK. Some are local; some have won awards; some list impressive clients; and some look within budget but aren’t as spectacular at face value. Investing time and effort into researching agencies that interest you will help streamline the process and stop you wasting time.
Look for agencies that are based within easy travelling distance, as close proximity will help you to build face-to-face relationships with the staff. Judge case studies and past work in two ways: look for examples that show existing experience of your niche, but also look for examples where the agency has taken on a new niche or industry and have done a great job of understanding and bringing to life previously unknown territory.
- Process
Having a clear understanding of how agencies work is important. Don’t be afraid to ask for a clear overview of their processes and how they approach projects. What does their production timeline look like? What is their typical turnaround time? What is their approach to amends and how do they like to receive feedback? Having this conversation before you sign any contracts will help to prevent any challenges from arising once work is under way.
- Costs and dependencies
Copywriting agencies rarely feature pricing on their websites, so don’t be afraid to instigate an open and honest conversation about costs. Be clear about your budget and what you hope to get from it. Also establish dependencies before signing anything – what will your chosen agency need from you for projects to progress? Being this transparent and clear before entering into a contract shapes the way for a really honest, collaborative and effective working relationship.
Getting the most from your agency
The key to a great client-agency relationship is a shared passion and understanding of your business. You want to work with people who are excited about what you have to say, understand who you want to say it to, and most importantly express it in wonderfully written copy. The connection between your chosen copywriting agency, your existing staff and your brand/business essence has to be palpable. Dedicate time to immersing your agency into your company’s goals, aspirations, personality and people. 58% of marketers said that original written content is the most important type, so getting it right with your agency is significant.
The hard work you put in to develop a transparent, honest relationship before signing the contract should pay off should you have any teething problems or issues as you collaborate. Your agency should be ready and willing to listen to any concerns or feedback you have, with solutions and improvements provided swiftly and with enthusiasm.
Working with a copywriting agency that really gets you as a company is an exciting thing. Enjoy the process of finding your perfect agency partner, take your time, follow the advice above and look forward to some great written content.
