“Words can tell you, what your world doesn’t know"
-Dr. Shyamala Peesapati.
Did you really know this?
In a survey conducted in France in 2018, 84 percent of respondents stated so.
“Written communication is the key to success in the future”.
The global medical content writing market was valued at USD 3.58 billion in 2021.
It is expected to grow at a rate of 10.5% during the forecast period.
(Add a graph)
The point that I’m trying to make is this.
The healthcare content writing industry is huge! It’s HUGE!
However, there are only a few healthcare content or copywriters. They are on par with the increasing growth trend.
A single content writing job application at least receives over 100-200 applications.
That is only the minimum I can say!
It can get really challenging to choose the best fit.
This wonderful piece of content will solve that problem for you.
In this blog post, you will learn about
What is content writing?
What is the difference between content writing and copywriting?
10 points you must keep in mind before hiring a healthcare content writer?
Conclusion.
What is content writing?
Content writing is the process of writing, editing, and publishing content.
This is in a digital format.
Pay attention to the word “digital”.
This, also implies that the content they write is easily accessible to the entire world to read.
This content can include blog posts, video or podcast scripts, ebooks, ad copies, website copy, product category descriptions, landing pages or social media copies, and anything and everything that is to be written for the Internet.
What is the difference between content writing and copywriting?
Here you go!
10 points you must keep in mind before hiring a healthcare content writer?
1) Know about them.
This needs a special mention.
Know about your writer much in advance.
Know about their skill set. What kind of digital writing are they good at?
One who is skilled in blog writing may find it difficult to write an Ad-copy.
Know what your organization wants and shortlist the applicants
Make sure to check their portfolio thoroughly.
Read their sample articles to look for readability, relevance, and structure.
Look out for the keywords that they use in the articles.
Have a special place to look for experience and feedback.
If possible, check out their social media handles too!
Whatever ethical hacking is possible to know about your writer, please do that.
The content writer is directly responsible for your organization’s digital presence. So take this job seriously!
2) Get a relevant person to interview them.
There is nothing that pisses the professional content writer more than this. Having an irrelevant person interview them.
This usually happens in big organizations. A person with a different background is made the interviewer.
This person doesn’t know anything about Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) or the different types of digital content writing styles. All they usually ask is this, “What are your expectations?”, “What are your charges per word?”.
Let me tell you something upfront. This is extremely unprofessional and disrespectful to dive straight into this question.
Know more about how to conduct an interview here.
3) Decide on the type of writing that you want them to write.
Make sure you are clear with what you expect your writer to write for you.
It can be blogs, podcast scripts, YouTube scripts or descriptions, social media posts, website copy, Ad-copies, email newsletters
Get clear. Never ever finish your interview or decide on a candidate before getting this clear.
4) Define your goals clearly.
Now that you have decided on the style of writing, the next thing to do is, define your goals.
Know by now that the content strategy is different for each of the goals that you specify.
For example, your goal can be brand awareness, getting more website clicks, generating leads, building a loyal community, getting more conversions, audience engagement, or simply awareness creation.
You see, the goals are different. Decide why you exactly want to do, what you want to do!
5) Let them know what you exactly want.
Get specific about the language style that you want your writer to use. It can be a casual style of writing or a more formal approach of writing.
Get specific about the tone of the language and the style of writing.
Let them know if you want a specific font or a font size.
If you want them to work on a specific template, let them know.
Remember not to leave them vague.
I understand it’s difficult for you to decide this all by yourself. In that case, please be open-minded to discuss this with the content writer whom you hire. Let them bring their ideas from their experience to the table too!
Also, let me burst the bubble for you, sometimes they know better than anyone. The secret lies in their work experience.
6) Always inform them about the company guidelines.
Now, this is again seen with organizations and less likely seen with freelancers.
The interviewer has to be clear if they can allow the content writer to continue freelancing.
For example, it’s likely possible that a freelance content writer who is writing for a particular healthcare company is prohibited from writing for another healthcare company. Maybe, a different niche is allowed. So, get clear with your rules and the company guidelines too.
Get clear about the employee policy too,
7) Let empathy play a role.
A real piece of content that stands out is always driven by empathy.
The writer needs to be shoulder to shoulder with the reader to capture their hearts.
Whatever the digital content may be, always pick a writer who is driven by empathy.
The way they approach writing, and the intention that they set to write is different from the non-empathetic writers.
Come on! Who likes to read boring articles that they don’t relate to?
Also, coming back to the healthcare industry, the target audience includes patients. So always keep that point at the back of your mind. Be sensitive and mindful of what the patient's needs are.
8) Get their feedback too. Ask them why they write the way they write.
Always know the reason why an author wrote an article the way they wrote it.
Know the reason behind their words. Try to see the world through their lens.
Doing this helps you understand the content writing world too.
9) Tell about your SEO practices much in advance.
There are several SEO practices. However, an organization would be willing to only employ a few of them.
The basics of on-page SEO, off-page SEO, and technical SEO might differ from company to company. From organization to organization.
Link-building practices might vary from organization to organization.
So please ensure that you keep these in place.
10) Be mindful of their time. That looks professional too..!!
Respect people’s time, people will respect your time.
This goes without saying. Never hesitate or think twice to spread kindness.
Bonus Tip:
Be professional. Pay your freelancers on time. Set your deadlines and get as clear as you can before finalizing your content writer.
Check the authenticity and accuracy of your writer’s work.
Especially look if the work delivered is backed by evidence/research
Content / Copywriting demands research skills too. Finding the right information is the toughest task. Pay attention to the ‘research skills’ that your writer has.
Conclusion
The content writing industry is huge and blooming exponentially. Finding a content writer who exactly fits your requirements can be challenging. Following the steps mentioned in this blog post might make your job easier.
Remember, a content/copywriter is directly responsible for your brand’s digital presence.
So be 100% sure before you can finalize 'the' one.
The author is a rare disease advocate, a dentist by profession, and a blogger at heart.
She believes that words have the ability to change someone's life. She is also a freelance content/copywriter.
She's aiming to bring about a change in the rare diseases community, one blog post at a time.
So, don’t forget to share this blog post with someone you love.
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