How to Leverage Freelance Writers Without Sacrificing Your Brand's Voice
To stay relevant in the content marketing world, you need to keep your freelance writer team very familiar with your brand's style and voice. Here's how.
As a marketer, you want to use your knowledge to establish yourself as a thought leader and draw inbound leads. But how do you demonstrate your wealth of knowledge to a broad audience on a regular basis when you have so many other tasks to do? A freelance writing service can be great content-creation partner, but the trick is in relaying your expertise and your voice to the writer.
The good news? A great style guide can help freelancers nail your voice and deliver authoritative, ghost-written content that you're happy to publish. Here, we go into detail on how to create a foolproof style guide.
Kick off your style guide with a 2-3 sentence overview of what your company does, with a link to your home page for the writer to conduct further research.
Include an objective that offers a high-level view of your goals for the content (e.g. lead generation, education, conversion, thought leadership, etc.) -- this gives the writer the framework for the piece.
The tone of your content is everything - it's what makes your blog unique and human. Let your writer know what you're aiming for both by using descriptive adjectives for your desired tone (edgy, conversational, thought-provoking), and providing in-text examples.
Who are your blog posts trying to reach? Include any notable identifying factors about your target reader - this could include age (millenials, senior citizens), location, education (tech savvy, topic novices) and any other pertinent details. If you have buyer personas, that's even better!
Provide documents or links to specific resources your freelance writers can use to create blog posts. Speaking of references, tell them how to refer to sources within the content (i.e. linked anchor text or a separate list) and supply formatting requirements. Include word counts, headers, images, etc.
With a style and content guide in hand, your freelance writers can create high-quality blog posts that capture your unique voice and let your expertise shine. As your business needs change over time, remember to update your style guide and keep your freelance writers in the loop. But for now, you're ready to go!
As a marketer, you want to use your knowledge to establish yourself as a thought leader and draw inbound leads. But how do you demonstrate your wealth of knowledge to a broad audience on a regular basis when you have so many other tasks to do? A freelance writing service can be great content-creation partner, but the trick is in relaying your expertise and your voice to the writer.
The good news? A great style guide can help freelancers nail your voice and deliver authoritative, ghost-written content that you're happy to publish. Here, we go into detail on how to create a foolproof style guide.
1. Company Overview
Kick off your style guide with a 2-3 sentence overview of what your company does, with a link to your home page for the writer to conduct further research.
2. Objective
Include an objective that offers a high-level view of your goals for the content (e.g. lead generation, education, conversion, thought leadership, etc.) -- this gives the writer the framework for the piece.
3. Tone and Voice
The tone of your content is everything - it's what makes your blog unique and human. Let your writer know what you're aiming for both by using descriptive adjectives for your desired tone (edgy, conversational, thought-provoking), and providing in-text examples.
4. Target Audience
Who are your blog posts trying to reach? Include any notable identifying factors about your target reader - this could include age (millenials, senior citizens), location, education (tech savvy, topic novices) and any other pertinent details. If you have buyer personas, that's even better!
5. References and Formatting
Provide documents or links to specific resources your freelance writers can use to create blog posts. Speaking of references, tell them how to refer to sources within the content (i.e. linked anchor text or a separate list) and supply formatting requirements. Include word counts, headers, images, etc.
Ready-to-Go Blogs
With a style and content guide in hand, your freelance writers can create high-quality blog posts that capture your unique voice and let your expertise shine. As your business needs change over time, remember to update your style guide and keep your freelance writers in the loop. But for now, you're ready to go!
Are you ready to rock content marketing this year?