Finding Good—Really Good—Marketing Writers

Recently in Casey Hibbard's Success Story Marketing Linked In Group, a thread occurred on finding good marketing writers. I thought I’d address that here.

Looking for a marcom writer as a hiring manager

There are many good writers out there and one would think it would be easy to find them. But that has not been my experience. As a former marketing director who ran a marcom group, I found my best experience came from hiring talent from a creative agency—freelance writers who were employed by the agency. The agency did the screening according to my criteria. I wanted technical writers with marketing flair. In this way, I brought on at least six writers and assigned each to a different practice area. Each wrote sales support material, direct marketing letters, brochures, and other marketing collateral for the specialized practice area client. The internal client was happy, because he or she only had to provide training once. He or she also received consistency of tone and voice. When I think back on those days, we had a wonderful, creative environment, and our productivity soared.

Looking for a case study writer as a hiring manager

Later, when I changed jobs and established the company’s first enterprise-wide reference program, I needed a writer to:

• Interview sales teams


• Interview clients


• Be comfortable understanding accents from around the world


• Be familiar with writing about technology


• Synthesize existing information


• Write a success story, case study, and/or Powerpoint® profile slide


• Write succinctly and clearly


• Communicate our company's value on the page


• Revise to client satisfaction

This was not as easy to find.

In retrospect, I think I should have gone back to the agency I used as a marcom director and use the writers I already knew and trusted. I knew they could turn things around quickly and well.
I was embarrassed by one new writer who asked a client background information questions he could have asked me or the sales team. This writer also did not have the experience necessary outside the United States to understand other accents. His writing was verbose and repetitive.

Finding creative talent

• Use word of mouth to find writers your colleagues recommend


• Check the thread on Success Story Marketing on LinkedIn to see which writers others have already mentioned—like me! (okay, I mentioned myself)
  
• Contact an agency like The Creative Group (a subsidiary of Robert Half International), http://www.creativegroup.com/


• In the New York-New Jersey-Philadelphia metro areas, contact UserEdge (the agency I used in marcom), http://www.useredge.com/ (tell them Barbara Khait sent you). They know how to write about technology and that’s a rare talent!


• Contact the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) Freelance Writer Search Service, http://www.freelancewritersearch.com/

Let me know how your search turns out!