Are they ghosting me? Why did they cut half of what I wrote? If they have such strong ideas, why don’t they just do the writing themselves?
If you’re a tech writer, you’ll most likely cross paths with a marketer. If your background is in SWE or product management like a lot of our writers, you might not know much about their world.
Just as you need context to write a good document, it’s helpful to understand what’s going on in your marketing buddy’s world. I was a marketer for fifteen years before turning my focus to writing, so here’s a brief on the person sending you the briefs.
Different types of marketing
The first step to understanding the marketer you’re working with is knowing where they fit within the team.
First of all, know that every company does it differnetly. Some companies put some marketing functions under other teams, like when product marketing reports to the head of product, or they might use terms like GTM or Growth as if “marketing” is a dirty word. That said, here are some important role distinctions.
The type writers work with most often is content marketing. They’re responsible for the strategy, creation, and (to some extent) distribution of various materials. More on them later.
Growth marketing sounds redundant (isn’t all marketing focused on growth?!), but it essentially means getting people closer to buying what you’re selling. These are the folks who run the ads, email campaigns, etc. Associated titles are user acquisition and demand generation. When you market to your existing customers—to retain, upsell, increase usage, or get referrals—that’s called customer marketing.
Product marketing is responsible for the messaging, launch, and sustained promotion of part or all of a product or product line. They often lead go-to-market (GTM) strategy, which is a fancy way of saying they figure out who to sell to, what channels to reach them through, and what to say to them.
As with many other departments, tech marketers follow a progression of Manager > Director > VP; at bigger companies there may be layers in between. “Head” is a title you sometimes see, which typically but not always refers to an individual contributor (so, not a people manager) who’s in charge of something.
Writers work with folks all over the career spectrum. If your contact is less senior, often their manager will be more involved, sometimes in the assignment and editing process and typically helping to prioritize around budget and hours. Recognize that a more junior person may not have the full story or context for the piece they’ve assigned to you, so be understanding if info comes later that occasions some rewriting. On the other hand, they tend to be more teachable, so you can be a little bolder in guiding them to write good briefs.
Content marketing’s hopes, dreams, and realities
A content marketer’s job arguably has more ups and downs than even the average marketer’s role. By keeping in mind their ambitions and anxieties, you can ask better questions, intuit the motivations beyond requests and constraints, and in general build a better rapport. Some of the realities your counterparts in this role may be facing include:
Lots on their plate. While the work we do is definitely important for them, most content people have a lot on their plate: strategies to draft, calendars to update, freelancers to manage, roadmaps to keep up with, and so, so many meetings. Their attention to our work will likely vary based on factors completely unknown to us, and part of your value as a freelancer, agency, or colleague is adapting to their needs. That said, gentle nudges when they’re slipping on their own deadlines might be very welcome. It’s something you’ll have to feel out.
They’re creators too. Most content marketers are writers, whether or not they’re still doing it as a part of their current role. This means they sometimes have strong opinions about style and format, but if they’re new to editing others they may lack the vocabulary and finesse to convey their opinions. Try not to take it personally, and ask for examples of what they mean if you’re having trouble aligning.
Strategy often trumps creativity. Content marketers generally have to prioritize head over heart. They are constrained by the initiatives and success metrics that matter to their fellow marketers, often resulting in briefs for content that’s shorter and more action-oriented at the expense of thorough explanation. Try not to comply in advance too much; better for the client to reel you in a bit than to find your work boring.
Agony and ecstasy of SEO. Keyword strategy, domain authority, backlinks, and so on are generally on a content marketer’s brain. It’s hugely gratifying when a piece lands right on Google, and suddenly you’re at the top for an important keyword, but frequently frustrating to see content from your competitors beating yours.
Managing resources. Many content marketers need help to get stuff made. (That’s why they’re working with you!) It’s a lot of work to find freelancers and agencies, negotiate contracts, balance capacity, and control quality, in addition to the core work of strategizing, calendaring, briefing, editing, and distributing. Not everyone who got into a content marketing role was thrilled to become a project manager too, but that’s their reality. A little joking or kind understanding around the realities of work-about-work may endear you to them.
Many stakeholders to navigate. Some pieces, especially for thought leadership and product launches, may involve people beyond the content marketer, such as execs (in whose voice you might be writing!) or product or eng leads. Ideally, the marketer has gotten these stakeholders’ signoff on a brief before it gets to you so everyone’s aligned, but even then, these other folks might jump in with curveballs later on in editing. Buckle up.
Budget. Content budget can be among the first to get cut when times get lean. Because content’s contribution to revenue is tenuous at best, it’s an easy line item to cut or reduce, and ultimately may affect your own engagement with the company.
Writing discernment varies widely among marketers
Some marketers are amazing writers and editors. Others…aren’t. Similarly, their discretion around what makes for great written content can be all over the map. On one end of the spectrum are people who see the written word as a crucial part of projecting a premium brand; on the other are those who see copy as little more than fungible units to be optimized.
At Copytree, we’re fortunate that our clients tend to be on the high-discernment end, and they recognize and celebrate our quality work. But sometimes, they end up with us because someone told them to, or the person previously in their role brought us on. In this case, their choice to hire us is less intentional and, therefore, may not indicate an esteem for the written word that matches ours.
In instances where your client doesn’t hold you to high standards, it’s up to you (and your editor, if you have one), because great writing is core to your brand. Even if your name isn’t on the byline, the only way you’ll maintain and improve your quality is to keep doing producing at that level.
Harder is when the client’s feedback leads to what you think is worse writing, especially if motivated by marketing priorities like SEO or efficiency. You can try to have a frank conversation, but if someone doesn’t see why excellent writing is worth the time and money, it might not be a great fit for someone who takes their craft as seriously as you.