You’re at a crossroads trying to figure out if you should hire an in-house content marketer or team up with an external content squad. Going with someone in-house means they’re all yours, totally tuned into what your brand’s about, and working to make sure every piece of content fits your vision like a glove. But, sticking to just one person could box you in a bit, limited to what they know and can do.

Then there’s the option of bringing on an external team. They come with a wide variety of expertise, with experience in an array of tech projects and industries. They’re a breath of fresh air for your content strategy, ready to throw in a curveball of creativity and expertise that you might not get from just one person.

So, take a moment to think about what’s really going to amp up your brand. Is it the solo marketer, or the wide-ranging skills of a whole team? Your choice here is going to shape how effective your content is and – in the bigger picture – could affect your brand’s reach and impact.

Content marketing agencies usually have specialized teams with expertise in SEO, copywriting, documentation, and marketing. They help refine your company’s tone of voice, documentation, and content from a unique perspective while helping you save time and money. An agency always combines the best of both – the dedication of an internal team, with the expertise and cost-effectiveness of an external partner.

Years of combined experience

Agencies with experience in different industries like writing, and tech (AI, UX, fintech, healthtech, blockchain, and various software solutions) have exactly what you need to create content for your intended users. 

You get a dedicated team of UX messaging experts who understand many facets of the tech industry – and its audiences. These content marketing specialists often come with over a decade of combined experience to really help you get your messaging and content on point, knowing the most effective ways to get it out there.

Comprehensive expertise vs. limited skill set

Two (or more) heads are better than one, right? A team with a broad range of diverse expertise can offer more insight than a single employee. A tech company with different needs requires a variety of content marketing skills that one person alone can’t cover.

User experience (UX)

UX experts focus on understanding your users, their goals, and their pain points. A UX messaging expert creates useful, easily-understandable content for your target audience at every stage of their user journey. They improve readability, using in-depth research and insight to help users feel a connection with your product and brand.

Content creation

When it comes to marketing, advertising, and brand identity, having a content creation team helps you solidify your online presence. From digital media to blogs and articles, creating great content influences revenue and helps you to inform and educate your audience.

Strategy

A good strategy involves creating and developing plans for executing content, campaigns, and aligning with your sales teams. Having an effective strategy playbook is one of the reasons most companies are successful in content execution. Content strategy gives your company a foundation to create, curate, and distribute relevant, engaging content via the right channels. The result? More engagement and more leads that are aligned with your marketing goals.

Consulting

With so much content out there, agencies can help you to cut through the noise by guiding you to craft effective copy and messaging (from the ground up) and execute resonant content marketing campaigns that hit the mark.

Cost-effectiveness

Companies always try different cost-effective marketing strategies that bring the best possible result while optimizing resources. Hiring, training, and keeping an internal marketer takes time and money from your business. Partnering with an agency helps you save a lot of money:

• Increasing ROI and savings on resources and education. 
• You don’t have to pay for social insurance, recruitment costs, or other overheads associated with employees. 
• Agency B2B models give you access to a full team of experts at a fraction of the cost of building and maintaining an in-house team.

A team of experts vs. an internal marketer

When you’re looking at creating and executing your content strategy, you’d usually take a few other factors into consideration, too – ones that might not be so obvious at first glance. Looking at the following details may help you decide which your company requires.

Quick delivery

With more resources and experience, your marketing campaigns are executed and delivered faster with a content marketing agency than with in-house hires.

Scalability

By conducting content audits and business and customer research to improve business dynamics, you’re able to scale your marketing efforts with more impact. You can get insight into the current level of your business and provide services to grow your business and meet increased demand.

Consistency 

One way to ensure consistency is by creating foundational documentation and tone of voice guides. This helps make your brand and messaging consistent on all digital platforms. 

Objectivity

It’s always good to have an objective opinion to help see things from an outside perspective. This removes bias and helps us point out areas of improvement to provide data-driven insights.

Expertise and focus

Both internal hires and content marketing teams can provide expertise and focus. But your company’s audience may require an approach that understands the nuances of varying audiences. For example, an internal hire might be familiar with the sensibilities of a European audience, without realising that certain messaging elements won’t work for your Middle Eastern users. 

Outsourcing your marketing could quickly give you access to that broader viewpoint and offer the focus you need. Sometimes messaging is universal. At other times, a template just won’t cut it in your specific niche. With your diverse and dynamic content needs, partner with us at writelingo to clearly communicate your brand’s message.

What’s a brand story, exactly? Let’s think of it this way. Ever been to a party and met someone you couldn’t get away from fast enough? Nothing interesting to say – a real yawn-er. Or what about the new bestie you just met at an event, because they were fascinating! You’d want to hang out with them because they tell great stories, are super interesting, and there was just something about them that clicked.

Your brand is exactly like that. It’s your company’s identity and personality – it’s what helps potential users or customers know if they like you, trust you, and want to give you all their money! 

Brand communication is always evolving and your ability to continually sell your story is what helps you stand out. It’s not just a marketing tool. How you tell your story determines how your audience feels and connects with you.

Extend your reach beyond your channels

Looking for ways to capture your audience and tell your brand story goes beyond your website. You have to know where they are and how to find them. Telling your story through social media, podcasts, and videos expands your reach and impact.

Take Red Bull as an example. Apart from having one of the most popular advertising slogans: “Red Bull Gives You Wings,” this Austrian company has solidified its brand identity by having one of the most successful marketing strategies in the world. Their packaging, level of international awareness, and extreme sports event series have placed them in the top 3 in the energy drink game.

We don’t have to go as extreme as Red Bull and do stuff like a space diving project. You can learn how effective communication strategies are by making use of various platforms and meeting the audience where they are. This gives your brand a more dynamic presence by engaging with different people and maximizing storytelling.

Stand out in a crowded market

One of the best ways industry giants solidified their brand identity was through brand storytelling.

Companies like Apple have mastered storytelling as a powerful strategic business tool. Apple became recognizable because Steve Jobs, its co-founder, was known for his excellent storytelling. They continued this storytelling through the years and we can see that with ads like their Mother Nature ad.

A good story can make your audience feel good, but a great story makes your audience take action. Creating and writing stories will never go out of style. Storytelling in business helps you create a unique brand persona that makes you stand out from your competitors.

Connect with your audience using emotions

Two salespeople walk up to you. The first one says, “Would you like to buy a cold drink?” and the other one says, “It’s a hot day. Why don’t you relax and cool off with a cold drink?”. Chances are, you’d likely buy from the second person. But why is that?

One of the best ways to increase customer engagement is by creating content that reflects real-life situations and experiences:

• Don’t be afraid to express emotions in your communications because this makes your brand more human.

• Prioritize connecting with consumers’ emotions and create an identity for what they’re about.
• Be empathetic and understand the challenges and needs of your customers, creating a connection with them and fostering loyalty and trust. 
• Actively engage with your audience on social media platforms to show that there are real people behind your brand who care about their customers.

Use brand stories to attract the right audience

You need to learn how to reach your target market effectively. The main goal of every brand’s marketing strategy is to attract the right audience. Your brand story should be a magnet for customers who share similar values and beliefs. What’s the point of putting all that money, time, and resources into marketing if you’re targeting all the wrong people? 

Researching and understanding your audience is a great way to reach them. You can do this by creating user personas.

When you know who your customers are, you can market your brand to them and create relevant content to grab their attention.

Targeted messaging also helps you craft messages that speak directly to the emotions and motivations of your audience. 

Use language, tone, and imagery that resonate with them, making them feel seen and understood.

Communicate value effectively

Having value as a brand means knowing who you are, what you believe in, and how you work. You’ve got to take time to create value because it goes beyond listing features. It shows how your product or service addresses the needs and desires of your customers.

A company with value is a memorable company. Think Coca-Cola. Its values are leadership, integrity, collaboration, passion, accountability, quality, and diversity. 

Coca-Cola’s value has remained the same for many years and no matter where you are in the world, it always promises the same set of principles.

Communication improves customer engagement. Your message should be straightforward and clear for your target audience to understand. Your brand should also show what it’s offering and how it benefits customers. 

You can make your brand valuable by:

• Keeping it consistent on all platforms
• Developing an effective marketing strategy
• Engaging with your customers 
• Having a unique selling point
• Using different storytelling and content management tools.

Leave a lasting impression

When you effectively stand out, you create a brand identity and your brand becomes more memorable. Creating a connection with your audience will get you there because an emotional connection goes beyond a transactional relationship.

Communicating your value helps your audience understand what your product does and why it matters to them. By focusing on attracting the right audience, your brand story becomes a powerful tool for building a community of loyal customers.

Look into your current brand narrative and its effectiveness. In this journey of brand storytelling and identity, we’re not just selling products or services, we’re creating and shaping experiences, fostering connections, and leaving lasting impressions that turn qualified leads into paying customers.Contact us to help you tell your business’ story and build brand value.

Think of a UX copywriting audit like spring cleaning. Just as you would go through each section of your house organizing, decluttering, and revamping, a UX copywriting audit involves examining and refining the written content on your digital platform.

Whether you’re creating an app or building a new content strategy, it’s always good to have a UX copywriter or UX messaging expert involved in the process. They help build trust between you and your users, ensure that everything related to content is consistent, provide value to customers, and keep everything going in the right direction.

An audit doesn’t need to be for all your content. It can just be for specific pieces of content like your blogs, user journeys, a specific form, or just your website. It can also be done in steps, so it doesn’t feel like a huge overwhelming task.

Save on costs

Audits usually save costs related to extensive content changes. Regularly assessing and refining written content helps your business avoid major website or application redesigns.

If the content is clear, compelling, and aligned with marketing goals, it can positively impact the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. This, in turn, can lead to more efficient use of marketing budgets.

Aligning your content with user needs and preferences, and continuous improvement based on user feedback helps refine your strategies without resorting to costly trial-and-error methods. 

Elevate user experience

Your content should always be relatable and readable. Making navigation easier, fixing broken links, and ensuring your content makes sense helps create a more user-friendly environment.

A UX copywriting audit looks at user flows, user journeys, and how reliable and presentable your texts are to your users. An example is using concise, clear texts and bullet points to ensure users feel that they can connect to your posts, website, newsletters, or emails which ultimately generates more leads and sales.

Identify outdated content

Content is always evolving, and staying up-to-date helps you maintain your connection with your users. People evolve, and your content has to follow that trend. Putting out current and quality content makes your online presence reliable and increases your chances of ranking at the top in search engines.

Carrying out a UX copywriting audit allows you to identify and eliminate outdated or irrelevant content. With a clear understanding of what works, you can refine and update your content strategy, focus on producing more content that performs well and adjust or eliminate underperforming content.

Creating new content faster

Having a look at previous content and enhancing it can help increase user conversions even if they weren’t performing well before. 

An audit uses best practices to identify gaps in information or redundant messaging to improve content with important information, address important user concerns, and avoid unnecessary repetition.

Maintain a consistent brand identity 

Consistency is key and a content audit ensures a consistent brand voice across all platforms. By reviewing and aligning style guides, content templates, and tone of voice documentation, you can identify whether specific grammar rules or writing conventions are followed.

A UX copywriting audit also checks whether the content reflects the latest version of your documentation. It ensures that any updates or revisions are implemented consistently.

It gives a more unified and professional user experience, strengthens your existing brand identity, and establishes a trustworthy image.

Mobile experience 

Most people can’t go a few hours without using their phones. Chances are you’re probably reading this on your phone right now. 

An audit also considers the unique aspects of mobile interaction and makes your content easier to access through mobile devices, making sure your content makes sense on every screen.

A UX copywriting audit checks how well-written content is optimized for mobile platforms, considering factors such as limited screen space, different user behaviours, and the need for concise and impactful copy.

Competitive edge

No business wants to sound exactly like its competitors. They’re always looking to do something different and bring something new to their users. 

An audit can compare your content with that of your competitors and having a UX copywriter’s insight will help craft unique content and compelling messages. This insight can also set your brand apart from companies that rely on AI, which spits out generic content.

A lot of companies are starting to sound the same, and adopting a human-centred approach with a distinctive brand voice helps influence user perceptions.

When to conduct a UX copywriting audit

Annually: For many businesses, conducting a comprehensive content audit every year is a good starting point. You can get an expert to review your entire content inventory, identify outdated or irrelevant material, and ensure that your content aligns with your current business goals.

Quarterly: If your business undergoes rapid changes, a quarterly content audit may be more suitable. This frequency allows you to stay agile, adapt to market trends, and keep your content strategy current.

After significant changes: Whenever there are significant changes to your business, such as a rebranding, shifts in the target audience, or updates to your products or services, it’s advisable to perform a content audit. This ensures that your content accurately reflects these changes.

When SEO goals change: If you change your SEO strategy or focus on different keywords, conducting a UX copywriting audit can help align your existing content with your updated SEO goals.

After redesigns or migrations: If you redesign your website or migrate to a new platform, it’s crucial to conduct a content audit to address any issues that may arise during the transition and ensure a seamless user experience.

UX copywriting audits should happen as often as possible. Getting an expert to look over your content is a strategic investment that enhances user experience, conversion rates, and overall brand effectiveness.

The person who conducts the audit can also make fixes after the audit is conducted. They identify what’s wrong, and what’s going well, and use this info to make informed decisions for the fixes.

Audits help to set the foundation for business growth by ensuring that your content resonates with your audience, effectively communicates your value proposition, and is adapting to a dynamic market.

Picture this: You’re about to release a digital product. You’ve done extensive market research and competitor analysis, you know your users, and you have a thorough understanding of the problem you’re solving. Development and design are perfect.

After release, users start to complain about your product, or from your analytics, you can see they’re dropping off pretty quickly. They don’t understand how to navigate your app, or the copy on your website is long and complex.

That’s because there’s a final piece of the product that has been overlooked- the content.

High-quality content has the power to bring your vision (and digital product) to life and make it easily understandable to your users. That’s where a copywriting specialist comes in – specifically, a UX copywriter.

Let’s dive into the three vital aspects that every tech company should understand before embarking on its content creation and UX copywriting journey.

1. The power of great copy

In the fast-paced and competitive world of tech, it isn’t surprising that tech companies often focus most of their resources on the development and design aspects of their digital products. However, it’s not uncommon that they overlook the importance of the quality of the copy that goes into those designs. 

It’s like building an amazing house but not furnishing it. The design may catch your users’ attention, but the copy keeps them engaged and informed.

Having an aesthetically pleasing user interface (UI), cutting-edge technology and well-crafted UX copy are equally as important to the success of any digital product. We know it’s easy to focus on budget constraints, but having an expert UX copywriter to write your content is the icing on the cake; it makes all the other spending on development and design worthwhile. 

Great UX copywriting is the unsung hero of user engagement. Content carries meaning and creates a conversation between your product and your users. 

Having good, helpful content that guides your users every step of the way makes them want to use your product and recommend it to other people without you having to spend much on marketing.

Content is the bridge that connects your product to your users, and expertly crafted copy enhances the overall user experience. Investing in great copy improves the appearance of your design, conversion rates, user flows, and user journeys and gives the users the best experience when navigating your product.

2. The value of foundational documentation

A solid foundation is the basis of any lasting structure. Understandably, there’s a desire to get things done quickly and save costs, and this sometimes leads many tech companies to skip a very important step in content creation – foundational documentation. Sometimes, tech companies believe they can do the job themselves or that just anyone can do it. 

Foundational documentation serves as a guideline for those involved in the product, helps the product content stay consistent, and provides the basis for building a lasting product. Even this article is based on foundational documentation. 

It’s always good to start your documentation foundation with a UX copywriting expert who can create foundational documents such as tone of voice, brand persona, and buyer personas. That’s because the expert knows this document is the backbone of any successful content strategy. 

Bringing in a UX copywriting expert to create this document is both financially efficient and time-saving. UX copywriting experts usually see things objectively, things that might have been missed by those too close to the project. UX copywriters bring new ideas and an outside perspective that can reveal unique selling points and create content that resonates with your target audience and gives you a competitive edge.

Plus, they’ve created these documents for many other companies before, which means they know exactly what to include, what to exclude and where to really focus the most attention. 

Our experience with tech companies has shown that those who want to create their own docs usually discover that the process can be far more complex and time-consuming than anticipated. Bringing in an expert consultant can help prevent delays caused by missing crucial details or conflicts over the tone and voice down the road.

3. Not all copywriters are equal

Understanding that not all copywriters have the unique skill set required for UX copywriting is crucial, and this is where conventional copywriting and UX copywriting differ. 

A copywriter excels in conducting detailed user research, writing promotional materials, producing content that resonates with the target audience, and is skilled in search engine optimization (SEO). On the other hand, a UX copywriter understands user experience (UX), website flow, product telemetry, heat maps, conversion rate optimization (CRO), and A/B user test results.

Both skill sets require an in-depth knowledge of your product, service, or technology, and finding a professional with such insights is priceless. It saves you both time and resources typically spent on lengthy onboarding processes. Cooperating with a UX copywriter who can fulfill your vision in terms of copy brings your product to life and increases its chance of success. If you find a writer whose work aligns with your expectations, consider establishing a long-term partnership with them.

Hiring a UX copywriter 

Trying to find cheaper or faster options elsewhere costs more in the end… trust us, we’ve seen it a few times.

It involves the time-consuming search for the right fit, the onboarding process, and the risk that their work may not be up to your standards. If you’ve already got someone great, stick with them. It saves you time and money in the long run while making sure your copy is the high quality you expect.

Remember that great content is the unsung hero of your digital product, foundational documentation forms the bedrock of content strategy, and not all copywriters possess the specialized skills required for UX copywriting. By understanding and applying these three vital aspects, tech companies can streamline their content creation process and create products that captivate and engage users from the beginning of the product.

UX writing is the process of using simple, clear, and practical words to help users easily find their way around a digital product and have a positive experience while doing so.

Imagine your app is a city that tourists want to visit. You usually need a tour guide to show you around, help you with any unexpected challenges during the trip, and give you the best experience. 

In this case, the tour guide is the UX writer; your user is the tourist. 

Note: The terms UX writing and UX copywriting are often used interchangeably. We shouldn’t confuse them with tech copywriting or general copywriting, which are different fields.

UX writing is important to app interfaces, and it’s important to understand why you should have a UX writer in all stages of your app development and how a UX writer can make your app more customer-centric.

Research insights

UX writers are skilled researchers. They use techniques like conversation mining to dig through information and resources on forums and social apps to find similar language that a company’s target users often use. 

UX writers analyze and solve problems. They can also use analytics tools to determine and compare user language preferences. UX writers understand the needs of the users and the stakeholders and use this to design clear and concise copy, user journeys, tone of voice documentation, and writing style guides.

UX writing consultation

UX writers are often brought in at the end stages of design projects to fill in the copy or empty spaces with words within the app design.” But UX writers aren’t just space fillers; they bring way more to the table. 

Including your UX writer from the get-go will help you understand how users flow through your app and ensure that every piece of text fits into the user experience. They can also spot inconsistencies and gaps in user flow and recognize areas of improvement that developers or other designers might miss.

Making copy fit properly 

Imagine reading a mystery novel with missing pages or trying to solve a jigsaw puzzle with half of the pieces missing – you’re left feeling frustrated and unable to see the complete picture. That’s what encountering an app with bad UX writing can feel like. 

A UX writer has done a great job when users don’t notice the app copy. Unclear UX writing, however, causes users to notice anything and everything wrong with your copy.

This includes ensuring that notifications, buttons, and microcopy fit perfectly into your app’s design and knowing when to use the right tone and words. For example, a happy tone for a successful onboarding message or a serious tone for a warning message.

Expert collaborators

One of the core skills UX writers have is collaboration with designers and developers. Good communication with designers and developers always results in positive user experiences.

For example, your app’s onboarding process. Developers create the functionality, designers craft the visuals, and UX writers finesse the content. The result? A smooth onboarding experience that guides users effortlessly.

Crafting strings for clarity

In the world of app interfaces, “strings” refer to those pieces of text that pop up everywhere – from button labels to error messages to notifications. These strings might seem insignificant, but they’re the glue that holds your app together. 

Imagine you’re using an app, and a pop-up message appears saying, “Error 404: Operation could not be completed (WD GeneralErrorNetwork404).” Unless you’re a coding wizard, this message probably doesn’t mean anything to you. It’s a perfect example of unclear UX writing.

Now, let’s imagine you have a UX writer onboard. A UX writer can craft the error message to say, “No internet: Poor network connection detected. Please check your connectivity.” with a CTA that says “Retry.” This message helps you understand the issue and gives you a way out. It’s like having a friendly mechanic when your car breaks down.

UX writing is crucial for apps

Clarity & conciseness

Clarity and conciseness always go hand in hand. App interfaces usually have limited space, so UX writers take their time to write clear and concise words that convey information to users.

Engagement 

The language you use determines your user engagement. UX writers create microcopy that can turn mundane tasks into engaging user experiences and increase conversion rates. 

Consistency

UX writers play an important role in maintaining copy consistency. Using consistent language across your app creates trust and reliability and helps users feel connected to your product.

Empathy

UX writers understand the needs and emotions of users. Well-crafted language makes app copy relatable, addresses user pain points, and makes them feel understood. 

The power of UX writing for apps

Tech companies looking to create an app or that are currently building an app should never underestimate the power of working with a UX writer. 

A vital key to an app’s success is user experience. UX writing is about clarity, usefulness, and guiding users through your app’s interface.