FreeCopywriting.com - 10 Things Customers Expect from an IT Copywriter

By Glenn Murray, Director of Divine Write Copywriting

Anyone who’s ever tried marketing IT products or services knows that it’s a specialist field. IT clients know they have very unique and specific requirements. And they know that if they want compelling copy around their offering, they're going to need a specialist IT copywriter to do the job.

The following 10 tips will give you a good understanding of the qualities clients are looking for – the things that make a copywriter an IT copywriter.

1) IT background

Perhaps the most beneficial quality in an IT copywriter is a solid background of some sort in the IT industry. If you share an understanding of the client's domain, they'll spend far less time explaining the benefits of their product or service (and you'll spend far less time trying to understand). Clients don't want a copywriter who'll glaze over as they wax lyrical about the wonders of their latest technology! More importantly, they don’t want that happening when their potential customers read your copy!

2) Technical writing experience

Good technical writers are experienced in bridging knowledge gaps. This means they have to understand the technology, but they also have to be able to talk about it in the layperson’s language. A copywriter with technical writing experience in the IT industry is likely to have domain knowledge and an ability to hit the ground running. They’ll be quick on the uptake, so they’ll understand the client's product or service more rapidly than most.

Of course, not every technical writer is an IT copywriter. You need to prove you can write compelling copy – not just dry instruction manuals. Be prepared to offer some samples and testimonials to help the client make their decision.

The other important consideration for clients - especially those who are after a website copywriter - is the difference between the online medium and the print medium. They'll want to know if you have online writing experience. Online and print readers have different requirements and objectives, and reading conditions are very different. If you're an ex-technical writer, you'll probably have written online help, so you should know how to cater to these differences. Make sure the client knows this. Perhaps recommend a maximum page length or word count per page. The correct answer should include some comment on the trade-off between the problems of scrolling and the need for a high keyword count for SEO. Explain your preference for short sentences and scannable copy.

3) Further Education

IT products and services are generally very complex in themselves. What’s more, the needs of the end-customer are also very complex and unique. This means there’s normally quite a steep learning curve for anyone new. The client will want to know if you have tertiary qualifications. It’s not essential, and – by itself – it’s no guarantee of quality copy, but it’s generally a good indicator of someone who’s been trained in the art of learning (i.e. researching, information filtering and modelling, knowledge retention, etc.).

Ironically, some clients are also wary of people who are technically qualified. They may not discount them on sight (many technical people have made great IT copywriters); but they have a suspicion that technically trained people have a tendency to take a lot of things for granted when speaking to lay-people. If you're technically trained, you need to convince the client that you're able to understand the technology and its complexities, but still able to relate to the issues of the non-technical customer.

4) Management Experience

If you have management experience – at any level – you've dealt with decision makers. You may even have been a decision maker yourself. Clients will value management experience because they need to appeal to the decision maker. They'll want their IT copywriter to develop an understanding of the needs, influences, pressures, problems, work environment, and constraints of the typical decision maker(s). The more understanding you bring to the relationship, the less time your client will spend educating you.

5) Marketing Experience

Actual marketing experience is a big plus. It brings with it a broader understanding of strategic marketing and the realities of working with a range of challenging people and evolving products and services. Many clients look for an IT copywriter with corporate experience as a marketing manager or marketing coordinator, or someone who runs a copywriting business with a heavy marketing focus.

6) Testimonials

Anyone can call themselves an IT copywriter; few have the client testimonials to prove it. Many clients rely on testimonials to validate your claims of IT copywriting expertise. So be ready to supply some - preferably some that relate to the type of work you’re being commissioned to do (or something with similar requirements).

7) IT Samples

The proof is in the pudding. Nearly all client will ask potential IT copywriters to send them samples of previous copy. As with testimonials, try to ensure you can supply samples that are relevant to your project at hand. Do they convey a clear understanding of the subject matter? Do they convey benefits or just features? Are they written in a style that the client will find easy to read, yet compelling? And remember, some clients will want to know exactly how much input you had in the writing of the samples. They know that not all copy is written from scratch, that some copywriters work in teams, and others do more editing than writing. Make sure you give them a clear understanding of what you contributed.

8) Understand Benefits

Your client's audience isn't interested in what the client does. They're interested in what benefits they deliver. How will your client's product or service make their day easier, more enjoyable, less stressful, safer, or more profitable? Identifying benefits is one of the hardest tasks in any advertising project. In fact, many people rely on their copywriter to help them uncover the most compelling benefits. It's imperative that you prove to prospective clients that you have a clear understanding of the benefits they want to promote (or at least an understanding of the fact that they need to promote benefits).

9) Contribute value

As an IT copywriter, you're expected to have solid professional experience. Clients expect you to bring value to their marketing push which goes far beyond the written word. Strategy, tactics, imagery, contacts, anecdotes, corporate identity… You must bring more to the table than grammar and punctuation. Your clients will expect you to make suggestions, not simply take notes and say “Yes”.

10) Plus all the normal copywriter requirements…

Of course, as an IT copywriter, you'll be expected to satisfy all the normal copywriter requirements. Clients will probably ask for a contract of works to be completed, a time estimate, a plan of attack, a CV, and SEO copy experience.

Conclusion

Traditionally, copywriters have been seen as a small cog in the big advertising machine. As a result, many copywriters have risen through the ranks of generic advertising agencies. These days, however, more and more clients - especially small business clients - are side-stepping the agencies and going direct to the copywriter. This approach gives them consistency across all of their written collateral, more compelling and engaging copy, and more responsive service. But in going direct to the copywriter, they want to know you can do what they need of you. So be prepared to prove it.

Good luck.