7 Marketing Experts Reveal The Top Qualities of A Great Content Writer
The demand for content writers has increased, especially since more marketing teams are investing in blogging as part of their content marketing strategy. Research done by Hubspot shows that “48% of companies that have a content marketing strategy leverage blogging.”
And they don’t blog on a whim. They actually reap the harvest of their investment with “56% of marketers who leverage blogging saying it's effective and 10% saying it generates the biggest return on investment.”
Despite these interesting statistics, I often wonder if companies understand what to look for in a good content writer and why they should invest in one. It’s easy to find a content writer on Upwork who will charge you $30 to write a 1,000-word blog post.
But will you get a high-quality piece that causes your target audience to love and trust your brand? One that truly grabs attention and gets people to keep reading? Probably not.
I share the sentiments Rosemary Egbo expresses in the tweet below.
A great content writer is an investment — one that pays off in actual customers! In this article, I share insights from seven marketing experts about the top qualities of a great content writer. These experts have been in the marketing industry for several years and have worked with content writers.
Let’s hear what they have to say so that you can hire a great content writer for your business.
The Top Qualities of a Great Content Writer
1. The Ability To Transform Facts and Data Into A Story
Writing is as much about storytelling as it is about information sharing. Have you ever read some blog posts that basically put you to sleep before you scrolled down the page? I sure have and usually end up just briefly scrolling to look at the headings and get a gist of what’s being said. There are rare cases when an article has been so beautifully written that it grabs my attention. Those articles infuse stories, examples, and thoughts from subject-matter experts that inspire me to pay attention.
Those are the types of articles you should be creating for your brand. Maeva Cifuentes, CEO of Flying Cat Marketing, says “Data-driven marketing doesn’t mean plopping a bunch of stats into a piece. It means taking data and understanding what the meaning of it is, how it impacts the reader and their businesses, and how everything is connected and putting that into a story.”
How Can A Content Writer Develop This Skill?
Maeva suggests two ways a content writer can develop this important skill.
Great content writers spend time thinking about the data their collecting. Is it recent? Is it accurate? Is it relevant? These questions will help them really consider what the data means for the topic at hand.
Discussions with subject-matter experts (SMEs) help enrich content and inspire content writers to present the data they’ve discovered in interesting ways. Think of it like getting words of wisdom from people who’ve been there, done that. SMEs can provide the content writer with useful quotes from their insights and help the content writer find ways to understand how the topic ties into the readers’ lives beyond just citing numbers.
2. Excellent Journalism Skills
This point ties in well with what Maeva mentioned about storytelling. Journalists are some of the best storytellers in the commercial space. They know how to find reliable sources and present a balanced perspective on a topic.
When I think of a great journalist, I think of someone like Jessica Pressler who wrote the renowned article about fake socialite Anna Delvey. Her article became a limited Netflix series entitled Inventing Anna. Idon’t know if you’ve ever watched it but that Anna girl…she was something else.
You want to hire a writer who not only writes articles that help your audience achieve their goals, but also captivates your prospects and gives them something to really think about. Jessica’s article tells a captivating story that puzzles people’s minds about how Anna could have done what she did. Similarly, your articles should captivate your audience too by helping your readers put the puzzle pieces that have been forming in their minds together.
Director of Content Marketing at Leverage, Joseph Rauch, shared his thoughts with me.
“People often assume content writing is separate from traditional journalism, but there is a lot of overlap. Content writers should still be working with sources, blending quotes and paraphrases, backing claims with research, etc.”
How Can A Content Writer Develop This Skill?
Think like a journalist by having an inquisitive mind and always looking for the story behind the content. My podcast interview with Melanie Deziel, author of The Content Fuel Framework, sheds light on how a content writer can do this well.
3. The Ability To Strike a Balance Between Writing for Google and Writing for Your Audience
I recently wrote an article about how to become a better content writer. One of the points I highlighted was that writing for SEO doesn’t mean you have to sound like a robot. I’ve read articles where it’s blatantly obvious that the SEO content writer was trying to force keywords in. Sure, that approach gave the article a boost and put it on page one of Google Search. But it also affected the reading experience.
That’s why a great content writer knows how to strike the balance between keyword usage and writing in a way that appeals to the target audience. At the end of the day, what really matters is creating content readers will feel motivated and inspired by rather than just getting more eyes on the content through page one rankings. That’s how you’ll increase conversion rates from blog posts linked to solution-aware search intent.
Jordan Zenko, Content Manager at Versapay, explained that “good writers put their readers first but great content writers recognize that Google is one of their readers.” He went even further to say that…
“Readers who access your site through organic means have expressed highly specific intent and it's our jobs as content marketers to capitalize on that intent.
Good writing solves for one thing: engagement. Good content writers can keep an audience engaged. Great content writers get content in front of the right people at the right time AND keep them engaged.
Understanding foundational principles of SEO will separate good content writers from great content writers. Great content writers have grown our ranking keywords 257% in the last year. Great content writers have grown our organic traffic to our blog 43% in the last 4 months.”
How Can A Content Writer Develop This Skill?
Do keyword research that provides a bird’s eye view of competitors. Jordan explained this process well during our conversation. Here’s what he said…
“Select a target keyword or phrase and see what content currently ranks on the first page of Google for that query. Then, instead of crafting a scintillating story--there's a place for that, but we first need to rank--critically examine what's making that content rank: what are they literally talking about, what questions are they answering, have they used the target keyword in headings and subheadings, is their on-page SEO structurally sound, are their meta (titles and descriptions) locked in, etc.?
What's most important is that your content has no gaps. If you're targeting a particular keyword, you'll want your content to cover everything that's ranking above you, and then some. Make your content 10x better than anything surrounding it, but give Google exactly what it wants.
Then, make it engaging. Remember, great content writers are still writing for two audiences.”
4. Conciseness
Raise your hand if you’ve ever experienced this. You give a content writer an assignment and that writer decides to add a lot of unnencessry fluff to the piece just to meet the word count. Yes, a lot of content writers are paid by word count but that doesn’t mean they should pad up an article to get their desired payouts.
As Takeshi Young, Growth Marketing Lead at Didi, states…
“For me, conciseness is the number one quality of a great content writer.
People on the internet have short attention spans, so it's important to keep content as clear and concise as possible.
That means breaking down complex ideas and explaining them clearly, using clear language, and using short paragraphs to communicate the most amount of information possible with the minimum amount of text.
I love that he mentioned breaking down complex ideas and explaining them clearly. This is such an important skill to have in the B2B space. It’s a niche that’s filled with a lot of high-level ideas that, if not broken down correctly and simply, can turn away prospects.
How Can A Content Writer Develop This Skill?
Content writers should work with editors who provide a critical eye to their work and help them view it through a different lens. Sometimes, content writers may not perceive what they’ve written as fluff so it definitely helps to have a second pair of eyes critique the work before it’s sent out. Even great content writers need editors.
5. Strong Work Ethic
You could have found the greatest content writer on earth to work with but that professional relationship will quickly break down if that person has poor work ethic. A great content writer is dependable, communicates well, and takes the initiative to get things done. Director of Operations at Audience Ops, Sara Robinson, explains that writers with a good work ethic do their jobs well consistently and professionally. They:
Want to create strong content on an ongoing basis
Meet deadlines
Communicate clearly and proactively
How Can You Figure Out If A Content Writer Has This Skill?
It’s difficult to know from the getgo whether a content writer will consistently have good work ethic. But Sara shared that you can pick up on clues during the application and interview process. Here’s what Sara shared about what the Audience Ops team does to sift out the clues during the hiring process for content writers…
“To help learn about work ethic, in an interview and even on the initial application, we ask about previous projects they’ve worked on, challenges that have come up and how they handled those, and how they tackle learning about a new industry.
We also look at the samples they sent and how they’re answering the questions on the initial application. All of these responses help give clues to how they work and the effort they put into something.
You can’t always tell about someone’s work ethic long-term even with all of this. Also, the person could have a good work ethic but the role doesn’t end up being a good fit. But our longest-term content writers have great work ethic.”
Want to learn more about how to create, manage, and empower your content marketing team? Check out my interview with Sara.
6. Curiosity
Great content writers are curious about everything. Why is the sky blue? Why was this said this way? What does this really mean? Why is avocado so mushy and weird (I’m not an avocado fan)? You get the drift.
It’s important for content writers to have an insatiable curiosity for learning new things both within and outside their niches. That curiosity is what motivates them to keep searching for the best material to use in whatever they write. As Ross Simmonds, Founder of Foundation Inc. states,
“Curiosity is the most important quality for a content writer to have because without it, you’re never going to be able to improve your writing skills or develop assets, content, and stories that push people into realms, concepts, and ideas they’ve never thought of before.
When you have a natural curiosity about you, it makes it easy to get lost in the work. And when you get lost in the work, you can come across the great discoveries and observations that the rest of the industry and other writers that you’re essentially competing with for attention will not uncover.”
How Can A Content Writer Develop This Skill?
A content writer can become more curious by engaging with all types of content across industries. Watch new Youtube videos. Listen to more podcast episodes. Read more books and articles. Subscribe to newsletters that share valuable information. These are the consistent practices that will transform a good content writer into a great content writer.
7. The Ability to Write A Strong Headline
I spoke with Chantel Soumis, Global Marketing Director at Indeavor, last year about how content writers can write catchy content titles. The title of any piece of content you create provides a first impression to your audience. If you’re trying to get an article to stand out on a search engine results page, the title needs to grab the intended reader’s attention.
That’s why Chantel shared with me recently that she believes a great content writer should know how to write a strong headline. She says, “If you don’t have a strong headline/hook, nobody will read the content. Writing these pieces requires time and expertise paired with a decent amount of research.”
How Can A Content Writer Create Better Headlines?
Follow the advice of some of the greatest marketers. Buzz Summo has an excellent article about creating great headlines. The article features insights from six leading marketers and provides these tips:
Be specific while revealing enough detail to attract readers.
Use no more than 11 words for article titles.
Dive deeper into understand human psychology. Understanding how your buyers think and make decisions will definitely help you create better titles.
Use more instructional headlines such as “everything you need”, “why you should”, and “this is the best”.
Chantel also recommends being more targeted in your approach towards headlines. She says,
“Make sure you know who you’re targeting and the keywords that resonate with them by performing a digital audit. Where do they spend their free time? Which topics interest them most? What are the biggest pain points they have that you solve? This targeted approach will feel much more personal and connect deeper with your audience to make an impact.”
Final Words: Work With Content Writers Who Display These Qualities
There you have it — seven qualities of a great content writer. Adding either a full-time of freelance content writer who has these qualities to your team will make your brand a force to be reckoned with. It’s easy to find someone who can write a mismatch of ideas, but it’s much harder to find a great content writer who will take your content from good to amazing.
After a little over nine years as a content writer, I’ve developed the seven qualities listed in this article. Sure, I’m still a work in progress because there’s always room for improvement. But you can be certain that you’re getting a great content writer when you hire me. Don’t believe me? Take it from Saad Zora — a Customer Success Specialist at Foundation Inc. who I work with directly.
