Using an Outside Writer Gives You Better UX

A graphic designer and I were at lunch mulling over a postcard we’d created for a local accounting firm.

This was a rush job**. They’d already approved the ad, but we felt it wasn’t quite right.

We looked over each of the elements (colors, photo, general placement of text, etc.). We thought they looked good. It was the first few sentences that troubled us.

As we sat trying different word combinations, a business associate came by. He commented on the “nice ad.”

We explained that it didn’t quite work, but we were stumped as to why.

He studied the ad for about half a minute. Then he placed his hand over some text and said, “This part is redundant. I’d leave it out.”

Eureka! That was it.

That was what was making us uneasy. We’d been too close to the project to see how it needed to change.

We needed a fresh set of eyes to overcome our blindness**.

Using a freelance UX copywriter gives you a fresh set of eyes

When someone within your organization creates content for your buyer’s journey, they know your product/service inside and out. They also have insider information about your customers.

This familiarity creates 2 obstacles:

1. Being in The Box, and
2. A Staid Attitude.

Being in the Box is seeing the company from corporate eyes.

For example, let’s say one of your employees creates a questionnaire asking customers how they liked their purchase. Are questions included about products from rival companies?

Most companies don’t ask these questions. But if you don’t ask about your competition, you don’t get a complete picture of what is important to your customers.

You’re only listening to opinions in the box.

A “staid attitude,” is having many things to do.

In other words, creating content is just one task on your long to do list.

And with AI creating a lot of that content, it’s easy to produce posts that get a lot of likes.

And being liked feels good.

It feels successful. And it feels like your doing better than the competition.

But the metric shouldn’t be getting 10,000 likes. It should be getting 100 new customers.

The only way you know if your content is doing it’s job is if you test.

Testing requires time. And if you got 10,000 likes, it’s easy to view testing as wasted time.

Until you test and discover you only made 1 sale!

These two obstacles don’t mean content created by in-house marketing departments are sub-standard.

It just means it’s harder to make your content sparkle and pull in new customers.

A freelance UX copywriter has a different perspective:

• They’re trained to look at your marketing through the eyes of your customer.
• They also write for many companies. This lets them see how others are tackling similar problems.
• Freelancers also love to learn about product nuances. They delve into the real reasons someone choses your product over the competition.
• A freelancer is also less biased because they don’t have to comply with the company line.

All these things give them a fresh perspective. The perspective of a customer.

One of the best ways to discover why your customers buy from you, is through case studies.

Uncovering Authentic Data

Case studies give you real, authentic data – if they’re done right. It takes developing great questions, listening, and perhaps asking some not anticipated questions.

I’ve discovered customers speak more freely to me, as an outsider, than they do to in-house writers.

Sometimes this is because they don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings – especially if the company is rather small.

Other times it’s because they love one product, but don’t connect with the company as a whole.

Or maybe the reason they buy is different from the reason the company thinks they buy.

whatever the reason for the discomfort, using an outside writer encourages the customer to speak more freely.

This means you get the real reason the customer purchased your product/service – not the reason you think they did.

And this authentic data is one of the reasons I encourage all my clients to have case studies. It is one of the foundations of maintaining good UX – which increases sales, retains customers, and makes for better SEO ranking.

If you’d like a fresh set of eyes to create case studies, product descriptions, etc. –  contact me.