When you hire a copywriter to work on your website you have taken a huge step towards growing your business. However, not every copywriter is the same and you cannot shop for the cheapest copywriter and hope that you will get powerful, compelling copy that will make you money. I’ve compiled a 9 point list of essential questions that your newly hired copywriter should know or be asking you about before they start to write. Make sure that they understand your business inside and out before they begin to write.

9 Critical Questions Your Copywriter Should be Asking

1. The first thing your new copywriter should ask for is an overall objective for your project. Are you planning on making sales, educating consumers, increasing brand awareness of your product or company or are you doing internal communications. This objective determines writing styles and content.

2. The next item should be related to who the target audience for the project is. How old is the audience, what gender, what ethnicity, where are they located, what is their main concern in life and how much do they know about your product/service or industry?

3. The copywriter should then ask for a product description. This description should include all the technical aspects of the product including the production and delivery processes. They should also ask for and be provided all former marketing materials and the results of those efforts.

4. Understanding the benefits your product or service provides should be the next area of questions and often the best answer for this will come from either the owner of the company or the number one salesperson in the company.

5. They should then ask for supporting proof of the claims that your product makes. Any tests, consumer testing and recommendations from current customers are all a part of these questions.

6. Knowing who the major players in your field should be the next piece of information the copywriter seeks from you. They should also look at not only your local or immediate competition, but also the major players who are on the top of the food chain in your particular niche.

7. Then comes the marketing considerations you will ask them to observe, such as budget, government regulations, time schedules and design needs.

8. How your product or service is distributed will also help the copywriter to determine the best way to promote a product. Brochure distribution is much different than a radio campaign which is really different from direct mail and email marketing methods.

9. Finally, and probably most important, is what makes your product different from every other similar product or service. This is your Unique Selling Proposition and it is what makes you stand out from the crowd.

I think you can see that not only is this list for your copywriter, it is for you as well. These questions take time to answer completely and the more information your copywriter has the better job they can do for your project. However, if they are not even coming close to asking you these questions run away from that copywriter quickly.