Freelance copywriter or copywriting agency? Which is the best to choose?
Imagine that you are developing your company, the first orders are coming in, customers are getting to know your website – perfect time to take care of your image. An attractive offer, a beautifully presented company mission, encouragement to buy… these are the goals that can be reached by two basic paths – a freelance copywriter or a copywriting agency. Both solutions have their advantages and disadvantages, so today we will briefly answer the title question and use practical examples.
Freelance copywriter – advantages and disadvantages
Hiring a copywriter is, it would seem, the simplest and safest solution. Because who else will respond to orders sent late in the evening, advise and answer questions, and quickly implement any corrections?
This makes freelancers conquer the micro-entrepreneur market, usually cooperating with several permanent companies. Easy and quick contact, efficient implementation and flexible arrangements are features that are hard to imagine in a multi-person agency.
However, the situation becomes more complicated over time, as the company grows, more and more important clients arrive, and the client begins to have doubts. Is the requested content actually appropriate? Created based on the latest SEO principles?
As the company develops, new requirements and expectations arise that are difficult to meet alone.
Then a qualified team of copywriters takes over the initiative.
Copywriting agency – advantages and disadvantages
When income starts to increase and the client wants to invest in the development of professional content, a copywriting agency is just for him. The work is carried out several times faster, the texts have an expert tone, and the company receives developed copywriting strategies for further activities.
Although contact does not take place late in the evenings, and corrections are implemented within two days, not one – there should be no problems in this regard.
It is worth noting that in this case, the organization of work of individual agencies may differ, so it is worth specifying the conditions and course of cooperation when ordering texts.
Freelancer or agency – who wins in copywriting?
From the above example, it is clear that neither is a winner or loser.
The choice of an individual writer or a team brings specific solutions and a work culture that is adequate to a specific stage of the company’s development.
Hence, it follows that beginner entrepreneurs will usually be more satisfied with the services of a freelance copywriter, because high autonomy in arrangements, constant contact and a low price per 1,000 characters are the features that are desired at the beginning.
In turn, a copywriting agency will be better suited for copywriting for large companies, because the processing capacity, possibilities and quality of content are usually on their side.
The right choice is a matter of your own expectations and the company’s needs, and there is no universal answer to the question of which to choose between a freelance copywriter or an agency.
Freelancer or agency – example
Finally, let us present two opposing situations:
Mr. Daniel has set up an online store and needs descriptions for five top T-shirts. The budget that can be allocated for this purpose is N20,000. He would like to do it within two days and be done with the promotion of the website. After seeking advice, he decided to choose a copywriting agency, but problems immediately arose.
Signing a framework cooperation agreement would be easy, but he didn’t have a printer or scanner nearby. After returning from the photocopier, another problem arises – analyzing competing key phrases, developing the specificity and individual nature of the content and creating descriptions takes three business days. The final price surprised Mr. Daniel, because it amounted to N50,000 – for this price he could describe ten T-shirts!
As you can see, choosing an agency was not the optimal decision for him, even though the descriptions looked great on the website. Unfortunately, Mr. Daniel neglected other marketing issues and his store quickly went bankrupt. The agency, despite perfect texts, did not contribute in any way to the success of the novice owner.
Now the situation is completely different:
Karakata runs a thriving e-commerce platform. Growing revenues prompted the management to decide to invest in effective content that will increase sales. After placing an advertisement on a popular social media group, they chose one of the first candidates who, without any questions, got to work according to the guidelines provided.
Unfortunately, a moment earlier the legal department had to prepare an agreement on the transfer of copyright because the freelancer did not have one. After a short wait, they arrived – the ordered descriptions that were just waiting to be released to the world. They looked correct, there were only three errors and only commas, so it’s not worth spreading fear among the management. The description was well received, but with the next wholesale order there was a problem – the copywriter needs 40 days to complete it, which is unacceptable for a development platform. But the hard saliva has been swallowed and we need to continue working – however, it turns out that each subsequent description is different, there are no rigid patterns, and mistakes happen more and more often; after all, by the twenty-eighth description, the creative bulb in the writer’s head begins to overheat.
The management board of Karakata made a big mistake by choosing a freelance copywriter, because their needs required a team of qualified specialists.
Summary
- There is no ready answer to the question of whether it is better to choose an agency or a freelancer.
- Each solution has specific properties to meet the needs of entrepreneurs.
- To make the right decision, you need to specify what stage the company’s marketing is at, what content it needs, in what quantity and what the budget for such an investment is.
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