What is a Content Writer and Does Your Business Need One?

6 min readJun 21, 2021

No matter what industry your business is in, your target audience is online. They’re surfing the web, Googling questions, and consuming tons of content. One of the most important things in digital marketing is content creation. That’s why businesses need a content writer or even a team of them.

What is a Content Writer?

A content writer is someone who, well, writes content. “Content” includes things like articles, blogs, social media posts, newsletters, press releases, and more. They’re responsible for helping your business find and keep customers through interesting and entertaining content.

Content writers are both scientific and creative. They need to serve many purposes. Business content should entertaining or informative. It needs to be useful while also encouraging consumers to remember or even buy their product or service.

Content writers need to find the perfect balance of guiding people to do business with you and inform or entertain them. This is called content marketing, and all big brands do it.

So does your business need a content writer? How exactly would that benefit your business?

How Do Content Writers Help Your Business?

Content in general helps your business with growth. It’s a key aspect of digital marketing. You likely run a blog for your business, and if you don’t, then get on it. Blogs are great for expanding your reach on the web.

Many content writers know how to write content for SEO, or search engine optimization. This means that if someone googles an industry term or question, optimized content shows up. AND THEN, that leads to more exposure for your business… which then leads to more profit.

So SEO content writers help your business with growth online. But then why would you use a content writer for a press release or a newsletter? Because they know how to make your brand look good.

Your brand’s reputation is incredibly important. A reputation isn’t just how your business treats other businesses and customers, it’s how it conveys itself to others. Your business needs to look, feel, and sound like a business. Great writing is key in that.

Skills that a Content Writer Should Have

Content writers have a lot to balance to help your business succeed. Here are some of the most important skills that a content writer needs.

Research

Research is very important in content marketing. Writers need to understand the target audience. For example, a travel backpack company wouldn’t be putting out the same content that a landscaping service business does. They have different target audiences.

Understanding your target audience is key to putting out great content. If your audience feels like they’re directly being spoken to, then they’re more likely to explore the site and maybe even buy something. Or share it with their friends who are also a part of the target audience.

An audience can also sense when things aren’t properly researched as well. 59% of consumers stop doing business with a company immediately if they lie or spread misinformation.

Tone & Style

Part of speaking to your target audience is using appropriate tone and style. Having a consistent tone across all brand platforms is also important. It affiliates your brand with a feeling and feelings sell.

According to Time, the average person only spends 8 or fewer seconds reading a post before they decide if they should finish it or not.

Spelling & Grammar

Writers should know how to use proper grammar, obviously. People can get confused with complicated grammar or misspelling of words.

SEO

This one isn’t a requirement, but so many content writers already know about SEO so might as well have one that does. This is only necessary for article/blog writing. This is because this is where most of your search engine traffic will be coming from. There’s a lot that goes into SEO and a great content writer that’s knowledgeable about SEO is necessary if they’re going to be writing articles.

All of these things contribute to the overall quality of a post. Only high-quality content can compete with the 7 million blogs being posted daily.

Where to Find a Content Writer

We’ve explained why a content writer is critical to your business’s growth, but where can you find one?

Businesses can either hire a writer in-house or outsource the work. Let’s take a look at both options to see which one is the right fit for you.

In-House Writers

In-house writers are writers that work for your business and only your business. You are responsible for their salary and any benefits that other employees receive.

There are many pros and cons to hiring an in-house writer:

Pros

Will only focus on work for your business
Will have a better understanding of your business
Will do great with learning the business tone and style
Can convey business values
Easy access to any resources needed within the business

Cons

It may be more expensive than outsourcing
Huge commitment
Won’t offer outsider insight after a while

Hiring someone that’ll stay onboard is a huge commitment, but it might bring some benefits. Most companies wait until they’re very large to hire some in-house writers.

If you decide to hire someone in-house, then the process is very much like the hiring process you’ve done before. Post on LinkedIn, Google, and tell your connections that you’re looking for a content writer.

Outsourcing the Work

Outsourcing the writing work could be a great option for your business. This comes with a lot less commitment and other benefits that in-house writers can’t always offer.

Pros

Very flexible
Offers outsider insight
Easy to find
Will be able to adjust to business tone and style
Will work very hard to continue doing business

Cons

Might not be able to fully commit again once the project is done
Won’t be able to focus all their effort into your business only

If you decide to outsource content writing, then there are two options for you: working with an agency or hiring a freelancer.

A content marketing agency is a business that writes content for its clients. A freelance content writer is an individual that does the same thing.

An agency might be able to focus more on your business as they have a team of writers instead of only being one person. 84% of B2B marketers prefer to outsource their content marketing. Don’t shy away from freelancers, though! They can definitely be the person you need.

Ready to Get More Exposure? Rosayo Can Help

Businesses need to have great content marketing if they want to get more exposure. They need well-researched, informative, and engaging content. And that’s a huge responsibility.

Are you ready to start dominating your industry with awesome content marketing? Rosayo can help you do that. Our team of writers and designers can help you build a more profitable business with articles, social media posts, and more.