How To Get The Best Results Out Of Your Content Writer

After some careful screening of candidates, there are still some responsibilities of you—as the employer—which ensure the best return for your content marketing investment.

Know What You Need Up Front

When hiring a content writer for content marketing, you should know that you need somebody who can write authoritative content that will engage your core audience. You should also know that you need somebody who already gets the ins and outs of internet marketing, maybe not even limited to content marketing, for seamless integration. The less effort and explanation on your end, the higher your return on investment.

In addition, you should be able to identify what your goals are. With the right content writer on your team, you should be able to clearly explain your goals to keep them on the same page. To put it simply, there is a big difference between “increasing brand awareness” and “getting on the front page of Google”.

Communicate Project Requirements Clearly

Most problems in a project are caused by a lack of clarity. In order to meet a deadline, it is important that the freelancer is very clear on what needs to be accomplished so leave no room for trial and error or misconceptions.

Even if you aren’t the best writer, you can still explain the details and then ask the right questions to make sure that everyone is on the same page.

Get Organized

Sometimes, email is not the best way to work productively. You may want to invest in an online workspace for collaborating over content. These programs allow you to set tasks, deadlines, view and edit documents, provide feedback, and more.

Imagine not having to dig through an inbox to find that one 3rd revision of an article!

Give Constructive Criticism

This might be the hardest part, but once you’ve done it a few times you won’t have to anymore. When giving feedback on an article, don’t be afraid to say that you don’t like something. If you hired a quality writer, this will not hurt their feelings.

However, you can’t just say “I don’t like it.” Instead, you have to say “I don’t like X because X. Can you try X instead? I do like X, let’s see some more of that.”

Constructive criticism is actually a good thing. It lets the writer know what you like, and what you don’t. What is working, and what isn’t. This way, you won’t have to constantly revise pages because they will quickly adapt to your needs and preferences for a more efficient and productive workflow.