The first challenge any copy, creative or production team faces is proving to a business why it needs to exist in the first place.
Everywhere I've worked, I've had to promote the team and answer existential questions. Our archaic way of working means that people within a corporation don't know why we need to pay someone to write some words when they could easily write a sorry message and whack it online.
People don't understand that you need to write it in a way that doesn't sound patronising, disingenuous, bogged down with pointless details, doesn't give next best action, is clear and fits in a tight space. All this needs to be thought out by an expert in talking to customers. A copywriter.
The first person a new administration puts in place is a comms team, so they say the right thing in the right way (unless you're Sarah Huckabee Sanders), but corporations don't seem to think they need someone to help them have a human face.
Much like app and social media teams, they hire us to tick the "everyone else is doing it" box. They don't know what it means, how to implement it or what to with it. There's never any content strategy in place and you're constantly railing against "this is how we've always done it".
There are a few things you can do to make sure you get buy-in from the business and they see the value of copywriting - it's a bit like putting together a pitch:
- Get the buy-in from your team
- Use top-down-thinking to pose the problem the business it has with its comms
- Put strategies, process and governance in place
- Build a portfolio of before and after examples with analytics
- Present it to senior managers to get them onboard, changes should be led by them
- Go on a roadshow to tell everyone what you do you do, why you do it and how
- Write monthly newsletter to show-off what you've delivered
- Get into all the brand, marketing and comms meetings, even if it's not your department or remit
