If you are launching a business or want to grow yours, there will probably come a time when you think, “Do I need to hire a content writer? After all, there’s ChatGPT…”

While it’s true that AI will scrape the internet for similar information and change it up to technically be “original,” it’s also true that Google is cracking down on sites that feature AI-churned content with little to no value. Content writers can produce 100 percent original content, but the most important thing they bring to the table is strategy, originality, and problem-solving. Content writers aren’t just writers. They’re PROBLEM SOLVERS who bring fresh ideas to your most persistent challenges and solve them with CONTENT.

Good content writers can serve you in a multitude of ways, beyond sending you a well-crafted story, sales piece, or words to include in your marketing efforts. They can solve the problems you have with your marketing and add value to your efforts with content.  It all makes sense because the act of creating great content is often the solution to the problem.

As a content writer, I help companies inform, persuade, or solidify their marketing efforts. Take a look at the example, “marketing challenges” below. Can you see how a content writer can help you with an effective solution? Otherwise, I’m on call to help when clients call me with their concerns, like….

I need a new website!

This is my starting block with a lot of clients. They come to me to help them fashion their website content. It’s smart because your content shouldn’t look like your competitors and I guarantee it will if it is produced by AI.  It should distinctly and uniquely express your company’s differentiators and philosophy behind the business. Good content writers will help incorporate your brand, mission, and core values, into your website content. If you haven’t spent much time thinking about your brand, your content writer will help you take a deep dive into the target audience for your business, your mission, your core values, and the language  use to describe your company. Only then can they give you the content you need for your site.

We need a tagline to describe what we do.

Taglines are fun, quick easy ways to identify a company. Writing a tagline isn’t as easy as it sounds. It must communicate quickly and succinctly what the company does and why it differs from competitors. AI is a starting point but the final decision and tweaking lies with a human. The tagline gets extra points if it succeeds in a witty and humorous way. Content writers know how to put taglines together that are compelling and clever, while still achieving a goal.

We want to communicate regularly with our customers.

This is perhaps one of the main reasons to hire a content writer. Having a content writer on call can make a difference for an organization in regular communicating with their various audiences through the best channels. A content writer can produce your company blog, social media posts, and eblasts. Content creation is an ongoing job requiring creativity, commitment and follow-through. Without someone dedicated and committed to creative concepting and fulfillment, efforts can go by the wayside.

As a content writer who is also a marketing strategist, I help companies organize their efforts. I produce editorial calendars for their blogs (and then take care of producing them) and marketing calendars that help coordinate all their efforts into one reference guide. With such tasks assigned to a regular content writer, you will receive consistent input, ideas, and messaging so your customers and prospects will always be aware of your company’s most important news.

Nobody understands what our company does.

Sometimes, companies unintentionally misinform readers or misrepresent themselves online or in their marketing materials. One of the benefits of content writers is that they offer an objective opinion and fresh eyes about your marketing communication and how you represent your company through your current content. They can suggest ways to explain things in simpler language, or through infographics or other formats that communicate more effectively.

Or, in addition to your website, you need additional collateral pieces that describe certain products and services in more detail, like a brochure or a mailer. Maybe even an advertisement. A content writer will have ideas for you.

Nobody knows about our incredible accomplishment(s)!

Hire a content writer, and you’ll have a great partner to help you “toot your own horn” about your company’s achievements and let your prospects and clients know about your excellent work. There are lots of ways content writers can do this, including eblasts, blog posts, and even  press releases that announce your good news to the world.

We can’t keep up with our social media!

Content writers are usually a fount of ideas for social media, especially from the content they create! After your content writer writes you a blog post, chances are parts of it can be repurposed into a social media post (or a series) with or without special imagery. Stuck on post ideas? Ask your content writer!

Everyone thinks we only serve one kind of customer.

Here’s where you need a content writer to help tell your story! If you’ve had success with a customer in an atypical market or an atypical situation, it may be time for a case study. Your content writer can interview you and your client about what your company did and write the story about how your company saved the day. Or swam against the grain. Or knew all the answers. Or performed under pressure. How you tell the story is just as important as what you did. Leave it to a professional!

We need to create a video.

I’ve written dozens of radio scripts, a few commercials, and many video scripts. Although that pales in comparison to the hundreds of thousands of words I’ve written for digital content, people ask me to write scripts because of my content-writing background. I can organize thoughts, condense ideas, and express them visually with the help of originally produced narration or text onscreen. I’m also a collaborator, so working with a videographer and/or my client comes naturally to me. Then there’s my background as an actor and playwright which helps me write dialogue. But that’s a story for another blog!

Help! I have to give a keynote!

Depending on the background of your content writer, speech writing may also be in their wheelhouse. Although the written word varies significantly from the spoken word, content writers are all about communicating a message as skillfully as possible. You may need a content writer to help you outline your thoughts, edit your speech, or write it in its entirety.

So you see, content writers are problem solvers, not just there for the “one-off” project. A content writer can and should be part of your permanent marketing team. So what’s your answer to the question, should I hire a content writer? If it’s a yes, I’m here with solutions. Give Karen Dix a call at 630.605.0169.