When you work in the copywriting biz, you see it all. Sometimes it’s literally laughable what some clients want to pay for quality work. I think there are a number of reasons for this (which I will get into momentarily), but I also think that the number 1 reason for it is lack of education.
I would like to speak frankly to anyone who has ever thought of hiring a copywriter or working with a copywriting company. If most clients could see what happens behind the scenes (selecting a writer for a specific project, editing, checking the content against what’s listed in the brief, etc.), they would understand that it’s not a simple or immediate process. In most cases, it involves a number of people. The writers, though, are the ones who bear the brunt of most of the scrutiny.
As freelancers, copywriters often accept rates that significantly undervalue their work. They do this for one simple reason: If they charged what their effort was actually worth, most clients wouldn’t give them a second glance. Sadly, this is true no matter how good their samples might be or how much or their work identifies them as a competent, talented content creator.
I think about this often, and I do believe there are many reasons why clients don’t see the value in the work they order. Here are several things that I have personally observed that, I think, can help put the issue in proper perspective, for both the writer as well as the client.
1. They’ve Been Duped Too Many Times
As much as I hate to admit it, there’s a good bit of validity to this reason. The vast majority of copywriters still play fast and loose with deadlines. Most have been guilty, at one point or another, of totally skirting the details in briefs and delivering drafts that are destined to be returned multiple times for revision.
When this happens, it slows the process for the client and begins to chip away at the value of the finished work. Think about it: When a piece is handed in late, that slows things down. When it doesn’t follow the brief, it slows things down. Who has the time or desire to deal with that?
If you are a marketer trying to stay on target with a major launch and you’re waiting endlessly for work to get done, it can have a profound effect on the success of that campaign and, ultimately, the bottom-line return on the investment made to produce that copy.
The end result, when a client has a bad experience with a copywriter, is that all future work becomes devalued whether he or she sticks with the same writer or not. It then becomes a matter of how much it will cost to work with a writer rather than how much money that writer’s efforts will bring in. When that happens, the purse strings start tightening significantly.
2. They Don’t Know Everything That Goes Into Producing Good Copy
Now that I’ve mounted an adequate defense for the client, I want to zero in on a few things which, I believe, some clients take for granted (or simply don’t realize when it comes to content creation).
Let’s say you are passing by a vending machine and you decide it’s time for a little snack. You see all the options in front of you but, like most people, you have your particular tastes and it doesn’t take long to decide what you want. You insert a dollar, press a few buttons, then commence to munch.
Who actually thinks about what it took to get that product into their hands? Who considers the number of people or steps involved in the process of manufacturing, shipping, and distributing the product? I think the same holds true for pretty much everything, copywriting included. Most clients approach copywriters knowing what they want and don’t think about the processes involved in getting the product delivered.
Clients don’t see don’t see the research the writer does on the subject. They don’t see the writer selecting the best keywords for SEO. They don’t see the piece go through editing and revision before a draft is presented for approval. Just like that candy bar, it took multiple people (or, at a minimum, multiple steps by the same person) to get the product to the consumer, but no one thinks about that long enough to see the real value in the work.
3. They Emulate What They See Others Do on Freelancing Sites
While I definitely see the value in freelancing sites (I’ve found some excellent writers for my team that way), the amount of money some clients are willing to pay for the quality they demand is downright insulting. The problem is, while some know precisely how badly they are taking advantage of their writers, many more are just trying to offer rates they believe to be competitive.
Even a client who knows that the work is worth more will likely undervalue it based solely on what he or she sees other clients offer for similar projects. Why offer to pay $500 for an e-book when other clients are getting bids on comparable e-book projects and are only offering $50? It turns good clients into bad ones whether they realize it or not.
4. They Don’t Look at the Big Picture
As I’ve said many times before: It’s not about the initial investment; it’s about the return. Content marketing is a cutthroat business. On average, one piece out of every ten will actually make money no matter how good the writing is. The other nine pieces exist to boost SEO and provide enough content to keep bounce rates in check.
That one successful piece, though, will usually pay for the rest with considerable interest. The problem is, most clients who don’t see instant results immediately devalue the work based on how one piece performs. To those clients, I issue this challenge: Stick with your writer or writing team at least long enough to determine how much of their content brings in a good return. Don’t immediately decide to shortchange your writers if you don’t get the results you want.
Also, if your writer or agent is delivering on what you order and you aren’t seeing results, it would probably be wise to look more closely at how you are approaching your audience and ask yourself what changes to your content creation strategy need to be made in order to get their attention. As painful as it may be to hear, sometimes the problem isn’t the writer; it’s the client’s inattention to what the market demands that is causing the shortfall.