What design agencies want from Freelance Copywriters
We think we know. But, maybe we don’t.
I was pondering why clients hire me in the first place and what it is that makes them come back for more (or not).
So rather than keep pondering, I asked some agency folk three questions:
a) What’s the best way for a Freelance Copywriter to grab your attention?
b) What qualities would make you go back to them again after the first commission?
c) What’s the worst thing they could do when they’re working on your brief?
And this is what they said, no editing and all anonymous so they knew they could be as frank as Sinatra:
Account Director – medium-sized design agency, South East:
What’s the best way for a Freelance Copywriter to grab your attention?
• To have an interesting and diverse portfolio, creative and one that shows ability to cater for different industry sectors and audiences.
• Strong website showcasing work, case studies.
What qualities would make you go back to them again after the first commission?
• Being versatile, can adapt to different tones of voice and industry sectors, takes time to understand the brief and clients brand / target audience / understand client’s vision.
• Being creative
• Meeting deadlines, punctual with copy requests, reliable
• Being competitive cost wise
• Good communication
What’s the worst thing they could do when they’re working on your brief?
• Misinterpret the brief
• Miss the deadline
Creative Director – small design agency, Glasgow:
What’s the best way for a Freelance Copywriter to grab your attention?
For me, two things. Showing personality and style in LinkedIn, intro emails etc. not just being ‘wacky’. And good copy in boring projects. It’s nice if they worked on Nike in 1996 but I like it when a normal project is taken to the next level with good copy.
What qualities would make you go back to them again after the first commission?
Flexibility and a fluid approach to the project. I personally like seeing loads of unfinished or almost-there ideas. It avoids unnecessary polishing of turds and the loss of hidden gems.
Have a conversation, ask questions. Don’t dissapear for two weeks then come back with the one option.
What’s the worst thing they could do when they’re working on your brief?
Think it’s all about them. It is the job of all the creatives involved to find the best way out of the problem. A campaign that is commercially successful AND all those involved are proud of the work is a real winner. Not one where someone forced their style on the project.
Senior Account Director – large design agency, London:
What’s the best way for a Freelance Copywriter to grab your attention?
For me it’s through the quality of work – there is nothing better than a copywriter that challenges a brief, researches well and has an opinion. I find this leads to better work and a better working relationship. Of course personality helps too, you have to work very closely with the project team and someone fussy, or difficult will never get a job over someone that’s fun, kind spirited and eager!
What qualities would make you go back to them again after the first commission?
Agencies (or the one’s I have been at) are always fast paced, deadline driven and can be (mostly is) stressful given the amount of projects that need delivering. For me, anyone that can help make this process easier get a big thumbs up and repeat work. Well considered and thought through work provided in a format that is easy to understand, and importantly brief into the studio is a real game changer.
What’s the worst thing they could do when they’re working on your brief?
Start work without fully understanding the brief, too often I have had briefings which seemingly went well, no questions were asked and then a week later something turns up that doesn’t resemble anything that was requested. It wastes time, it wastes money and it really knocks progress on a project – to your previous question this is why a good copywriter makes such a difference. I appreciate a more curious copywriter, one who isn’t afraid to send questions, make suggestions or ask for more information or access to project stakeholders that will make a difference to the work (architects, interior designers, developers etc). For me this shows real appetite to not just deliver copy that works, but elevating to something that works brilliantly.
Creative Director – small design agency, South East:
What’s the best way for a Freelance Copywriter to grab your attention?
Good copy, insightful insights, humour, originality.
What qualities would make you go back to them again after the first commission?
Them doing a great job that makes me look good. And they have to have been nice and easy to work with. Reliability is key.
What’s the worst thing they could do when they’re working on your brief?
Speak to the client directly without checking with me first – I’m all for initiative, but…
Marketing Manager – large design agency, Edinburgh:
What’s the best way for a Freelance Copywriter to grab your attention?
For me personally, keeping your LinkedIn active is key. Especially if you have connected with your clients on there as many of them can be mindless scrollers (I’m guilty of that). Also, make sure you appear on the first few pages of Google. Easier said than done, I know. But I trust Google and if Google says you’re a good match when I type in ‘Freelance Copywriter’, then I’ll probably trust you too.
I’d say be engaging and conversational with your own personality in your writing on your website, but also show how you can adapt to other brand voices through case studies and examples. I was on the lookout for a copywriter to help sort us out because everything we tried writing in-house was chaotic, bland and overly swirly, which made it hard to understand. Then someone kindly recommended Jonathan, whose writing was the opposite of ours. It was clear and concise with the perfect amount of wit.
What qualities would make you go back to them again after the first commission?
• Solid grasp of the first brief and delivered against it well, and on time.
• Friendly demeanour and easy to work with.
• If I feel I am able to lean on their expertise and build trust.
What’s the worst thing they could do when they’re working on your brief?
Ghosting me possibly? That or completely ignoring the brief and going off in their own direction.
Creative Director – small design agency, London
What’s the best way for a Freelance Copywriter to grab your attention?
I suggest sending me an email or hitting us up on Instagram with a link to your portfolio/case studies, along with a bit about yourself, availability, and rates. From there, if we need support, we can chat further about how we could work together.
What qualities would make you go back to them again after the first commission?
Communication, reliability, efficiency and attention to detail all play a massive factor. And, of course, skills in the role we hired you for. Having been a freelancer for many years, you can be the most skilled creative on the planet, but you also need to be able to estimate your time accurately, be available for feedback, communicate clearly, and be honest if things are not clear. A good mindset for a freelancer is to think of yourself as your business; your name is on the front of the shop, and you represent everything you produce and how you act.
What’s the worst thing they could do when working on your brief?
Refuse to come on calls with the project team and disappear without any communication. Take on multiple projects with different studios at once, thinking it will be ok to do the bare minimum and scrape by whilst earning a double day rate. This trend is on the rise, like my previous answer, your name is your brand. If scraping by is a bar that you set, don’t expect a call back again on the next brief.
Senior Freelance Marketing Strategist
What’s the best way for a Freelance Copywriter to grab your attention?
Do something either very clever, or very helpful.
Clever – like some great copy.
Helpful – like give me a 3 to 5 bullet list of how to check or improve my team’s copy.
What qualities would make you go back to them again after the first commission?
The work feels like we did it (on brand).
It’s done on time, with great communication; it’s your job, you’re on top of it, lay out a clear plan, chase us if we’re slow; be responsible for making sure it hits deadlines.
It makes us money.
What’s the worst thing they could do when they’re working on your brief?
Not understand us or our tone of voice
Creative Director – medium-sized design / experiential agency, London
What’s the best way for a Freelance Copywriter to grab your attention?
A LinkedIn post TBH sounds very dull, but is probably the most reliable way to get my attention as I browse it most lunchtimes. Highlighting a piece they’ve worked on or giving an eloquent two-penneth on something someone else has written is generally the way to catch my eye.
I think this is how I found you Jonathan? I filed you and then ‘dug you out’ when something relevant came along.
But equally if I then click on them and there’s the most leaden copy on their LI profile page, I’m gone.
Six months ago someone actually sent me a hand written envelope containing a pithy and amusing letter and foiled business card , which she extolled in her letter. Old skool, but being a rarity it got cut through as I probably get one piece of post a month, so it always gets my attention. And then not having a tidy desk it hangs around as a physical reminder too.
What qualities would make you go back to them again after the first commission?
Outside of nailing the brief, Chemistry. It counts for a lot. Is this a person who I feel understands me, the agency and is there some wiggle room when the client inevitably moves the goalposts. Do I enjoy working with them, talking to them. Ideally they need to feel like a natural extension of the team.
Or being sent giant hampers of booze….
What’s the worst thing they could do when they’re working on your brief?
Go off piste with the brief- fine to push the boundaries but only once the basics are done. Lack of enthusiasm, not meet the deadlines or expectations, chat GPT it…
Account Director – large international design agency:
What’s the best way for a Freelance Copywriter to grab your attention?
Probably email me with a few examples of their work, in context (so on visuals), that feel like they’ve actually been selected as relevant to what we do. If you email me your superbowl advert for cereals, no matter how clever, I’m not going to feel like you’ve made an effort to look into us! Plus a little intro (not a novel!) about who they are, how they work, and idea of rates.
What qualities would make you go back to them again after the first commission?
• Made my life as a project manager easy! Understood the brief, was reactive on emails, clear about what they could do/by when/for how much, were flexible on amends too as copywriting isn’t an exact science, and a bit of back & forth is to be expected. Managing clients is already high pressure, I need to feel like the copywriter is in my team!
• Got the brief right, understood what we needed quickly, and even offered suggestions on how to improve it/ possible original directions.
What’s the worst thing they could do when they’re working on your brief?
• Go off brief without our approval, they decide that both us and client are wrong when receiving our feedback and refuse to rework the copy… (yes, been there!) We welcome input and value the copywriter’s expertise, but debate about the brief should happen before the work starts, and at the end of the day… we know our clients!
• Accept a job, then not actually be available to spend the time it needed.
• Copy/paste from another job.
Co-founder – small creative agency, South East:
What’s the best way for a Freelance Copywriter to grab your attention?
I like to watch and read from afar – so linkedin posts, that make me laugh, that are written beautifully, that make me feel something.
I’m a sucker for an interesting title/subject line – but if someone is sending me an email or a message, I hate being sold to. So a personal message that is ‘meant for me’ will get through.
I appreciate that makes me sound like a proper princess. I’m not. But you have to remember, we’re all the same; doing the same creative stuff, trying to build our networks, trying to impress with our words (even if we’re not copywriters) so it has to be something special that makes me take notice.
I actually signed up to a linkedin newsletter from a copywriter the other day because the title made me guffaw. That’s very rare.
What qualities would make you go back to them again after the first commission?
I go back to people I trust. People who just get the job done with minimum fuss. On time, on budget.
But the ones I stick with for life, the ones I recommend to others, are the people I make friends with.
What’s the worst thing they could do when they’re working on your brief?
• Not keep me informed of progress.
• Charge more than agreed without prior communication (as a founder of a small business, if you charge more than expected, that’s straight out of my pocket/the mouths of my kids etc)
• Do a worse job than I could.
Founder – small brand strategy agency, South East
What’s the best way for a Freelance Copywriter to grab your attention?
I have been won over by two freelancers who emailed me not only with their portfolios but to tell me in a very authentic and passionate way what they liked about XXXXXXXX and why they thought it would be a good fit. Enthusiasm and flattery go a long way. They may have emailed 50 prospects that day, yes, but if they’re a writer, they should be able to think about how to make an email land well.
What qualities would make you go back to them again after the first commission?
Firstly, it’s got to be good work. But there are actually many other factors. I’ve worked with good people who are unreliable and good people who are unresponsive and good people who just don’t seem to be enjoying the work. I am more likely to go back to people who have a positive energy, are open to collaboration and are working at a similar pace to me (quite fast).
What’s the worst thing they could do when they’re working on your brief?
Cliched writing with no creativity.
Number one has to be contacting my client directly without discussing it with me.
Not being open to feedback, not seeing it as a collaborative process; two brains are always better than one.
Telling me about their other client commitments and making my projects seem less important, especially when the ‘other’ work isn’t even confirmed yet and I’m ready to go.
Needing so much hand-holding that I might as well do the work myself.
Being too mechanical and not bringing new ideas, challenges or insights to the table that take the work forwards. I like someone who will tell me I am wrong, bring it on, why, let’s discuss this.
Creative Director – medium-sized design agency, North West:
What’s the best way for a Freelance Copywriter to grab your attention?
Chemistry is everything. LinkedIn has no chemistry, it’s a cold calling-hell of a place.
However, an engaging hook with a link to a website, with well served up case studies is good for me to find new resource.
I can explore and consider and get in touch if I like what I see, without any pressure. Recommends from somebody I respect is also a killer ‘in’. That’s the beginning of the chemistry experiment.
What qualities would make you go back to them again after the first commission?
The personality of the writer is a key chemical component, as important as the work itself. I need to know I can work with this person and have a great time doing it. I’m not looking for ego, awards, barriers or attitude, just nice friendly folk who can add real value to the brief.
An excited approach to solving challenges, being able to compromise without tantrums, and in a reliable way.
Deliver by when has been agreed, but certainly not last minute.
Being patient, professional yet personable and with an open mind, taking direction whilst keeping their toys firmly in their pram are excellent chemical combo’s.
These are the qualities that would make me want to work with said folk again.
What’s the worst thing they could do when they’re working on your brief?
Simple really, the opposite of this: make the creative process enjoyable, surprising, and not in the least bit stressful [deadlines aside]. Nobody wants that. Btw, this goes for any freelance resource not just copywriters!
Founder/Creative Director – small digital design agency, London
What’s the best way for a Freelance Copywriter to grab your attention?
A positive approach with a sense of humour or hook that creates intrigue. It must be seen as a presentation of your work. I’m far less concerned by the clients you’ve worked for. If the humour is there the creative ability will come through. That said, a copy line for one of our clients could show you understand a style and can adapt without direction (but be cautious with this).
What qualities would make you go back to them again after the first commission?
A can do attitude and being able to see other directions in approach. Images to support a concept are always welcome. Being honest about not knowing or having worked with a type of product etc. This can be a benefit with a desire to understand and approach a brief from a different view.
What’s the worst thing they could do when they’re working on your brief?
Not the normal cold approach i.e with a ‘See word doc attached’.
Being open to all outputs is important. Most projects require copy for campaigns, email, social, website etc… Saying you only work on ‘Campaign’ concepts would mean I couldn’t reuse the copywriter for other projects.
– – –
Quite a lot to live up to, eh! But if you’re a Freelance Copywriter, I’m guessing you probably knew that already.
Socks, sleeves and chin up. Don’t forget to wear all the hats at once (creativity, consistency, punctuality, flexibility, likeability, dependability and availability) and you won’t go too far wrong.
Love and patience. And thank you to everyone who got involved (you know who you are).
Jonathan x
Jonathan Wilcock (that’s me) is a Senior Freelance Copywriter.
You can drop me a line here, or email jonathan@sowhatif.co.uk