In my earlier blog, we discussed about why any business whether small or large should hire an expert or a professional content writer. Hiring a content writer will not only saves your time but it will also help you to build a brand image in the market. In addition, it is also good to have a fresh perspective for a product or a service and the content writer will be the appropriate person for this job. But, you must be wondering how should you hire a content writer for your organization? Also, what are the skills that you shall look for in a content writer? With so many content writers available in the market, it becomes very difficult for you to choose one person who has the required skills who will meet your requirements. Apart from having basic writing skills that every content writer must have, you also need to look for other skills, such as soft skills and technical skills.
In this blog, I will provide some of the essential soft skills that you need to look for when hiring a content writer for your organization.
#1. EMPATHY
Before proceeding further on why it is a critical skill for content writers to empathize, let us first understand what empathy is. Empathy is defined as an ability to understand, and even share the feelings and emotions of someone else. In other words, empathy is an ability to imagine that you are someone else. So, when it comes to content writing it is essential to empathize with the audience for whom the content needs to be written. It is the responsibility of a content writer to understand the emotions of a target audience so that he/she can write well. This will help them to relate with their problem and try to solve them.
#2. COLLABORATION
Gone are the days when a content writer need to work in alone as they need to collaborate with different stakeholders, such as customers, subject matter expert, designers, and so on. So, collaboration is another must have skill for a content writer. As a content writer, you need to get involved with the people around you. Ever heard of the popular proverb, “Two heads are better than one”. In today’s scenario, it will be even better to say that more heads are better than just one of them. Today’s content writer need to get together with the team, and brainstorm and collate what may be best and relevant content for the users or audience. This happens through effective collaboration skills because this way they are able to offer content that is related to what the audience is looking for.
#3. COMMUNICATION
Ofcourse, every content writer need to have excellent communication skill whether it is verbal or written. As a content writer, your work has to take your thoughts across to the audience in an effective manner. You need to pay close attention to the sentence structure, grammar, and prose while writing the content for your audience.
#4. ADATABILITY
Another important skill that is needed by the content writers in the workplace in “Adaptability”, which means to adapt at a rapid pace. A content writer cannot follow a “One size fits all” approach and need to adapt to new environment quickly.
#5. STORYTELLING
What makes most brands so powerful than others is that they are able to sell more than a mere product. The reason is that they sell stories. Yes, you gotcha that! Storytelling – is a powerful tool for content writers today because it helps you to connect with the audience. A good story helps a content writer to attract the reader’s attention and build their trust, and then convert your readers into your customers. A common fact is that people are not interested in knowing the hard facts but rather in stories.