Let’s say you’re ready to onboard an external team of writers to help out with everything. Good. We’ve already discussed the importance of clear and well-written cybersecurity content as part of your marketing strategy.
In this blog, we’ll explore the key aspects you need to consider when hiring a team of writers for your security company. Let’s get straight to it!
1) Always check references and portfolios
Seems obvious, right? But as part of your vetting process, you should always ask for writing samples and references from other clients. If the agency that you’re looking to hire has already written a lot of content in the cybersecurity space, chances are it will be high quality.
For example, if the agency has extensive experience writing content for Data Security Posture Management (DSPM), you will likely save a lot of time and headaches by working with a team that understands the topic and has already conducted thousands of hours of research for its other clients.
2) Only hire writers who are subject-matter experts
Hiring a fitness writer or a cheap freelancer on Upwork will not result in quality cybersecurity copy. You need to make sure that you interview the team of writers thoroughly and ask the right questions:
– Does your team have experience with data security/cloud security?
– How long does it take your team to write a first draft?
– Do you have someone in your team with compliance and legal writing experience?
– What does your research process look like before writing a piece?
– How will your team communicate with our team?
– Can we review the content before it is published?
– Do you have certifications or a formal background in cybersecurity or software engineering?
If the agency is able to answer all of these questions without hesitation, you’re on the right path.
3) Make sure the agency you hire uses SEO and other best writing practices
There’s no need to spend thousands of marketing if no one will read the content. At the end of the day, less than 1% of searchers click on the second page of Google results, according to Backlinko. Thus, we suggest that you ask questions related to what are the tools and strategies used to identify keywords and include them in the content. A few target words can make a big difference in ranking on Google’s search results.
4) Look for a copywriting agency that understands the big picture
If you truly want to work with a winning team that will complement your VP or Director of Marketing, you should find a team that has experience beyond writing blogs — like publishing e-books, running ad campaigns for their clients, translating content into different languages, creating email nurturing campaigns, and also running lead generation strategies. At the end of the day, you want a content marketing partner rather than a few blogs on your site. The long-term value of a full-service agency will be very, very high.
5) Understand how the writers incorporate gen-AI to create content
Efficiency gains! Although ChatGPT is still not on par with an expert writer from our team, we still use it every day to bring MORE value to our clients. In fact, Emarketer reports that 58% of US marketers said increased performance is a benefit of GenAI. When you look for a content writing team, you should work with one that is smart and efficient. AI is one of the most revolutionary technologies of the century, so why wouldn’t you want to leverage it?
According to McKinsey‘s latest 2023 report, generative artificial intelligence (gen AI) is being used by marketers to craft first drafts, personalize the content, and summarize documents. If the agency that you want to hire is not using AI, chances are that they won’t have an efficient workflow. Thus, your organization won’t be able to fully drive out unnecessary costs!
Note: Our team does not use ChatGPT to create content, as we believe that original and organic content will always be more effective. ChatGPT should only be seen as a complement to work better. Instead, we use it to paraphrase our original content for clarity, grammar checking, and summarizing key information.
6) Scout for pricing AND quality
According to the Daily Beast, poor-quality writing is estimated to cost American companies $400B per year. Content quality is super important, and we suggest measuring quality in the content pieces that you read from the agency’s portfolio — but also make sure you work with a team that is affordable enough to create lots of content in the long term. At the end of the day, the company with the most amount of quality content is likely to win. Instead of working with US writing agencies that charge astounding retainers of $10,000+ for a few blogs, try to see if you can find a good agency in other parts of the world.
On that same note, our agency Copyriders has team members from all over the world, with a majority of focus on hiring top talent from Latin America. We work with our clients in a nearshore copywriting services model. Here are the many benefits:
- Budget-friendly: we have top bilingual talent who have lived and worked in the USA and Canada and are prepared to write any content piece for a fraction of the cost of a local agency in North America.
- Specialized backgrounds: our top writers are engineers with post-graduate degrees in cybersecurity, as well as lawyers with 10+ years of experience writing about compliance topics.
- Same timezone: our writers mostly work in EST and CST time zones. This means we have full timezone coverage and can provide real-time updates and perfect sync with your content managers.
- Scalable teams: Need more writers for your software projects? Scale up or down based on project requirements. We can create entire teams of marketers in a staff augmentation model, so you can outsource your needs on both a temporary and long-term basis.
Copyriders is the leading cybersecurity content writing agency. We promise to provide affordable nearshore cybersecurity copywriting services without compromising on quality.
If your organization lacks the manpower and expertise to write impactful and well-thought-out cybersecurity content, reach out to us here or at [email protected] to learn more about our writing services.
