Driving success

Building the right team and cultivating an effective dynamic between freelancers and in-house content marketing talent is an enormous first step toward overall success.

Managers and business leaders, however, must also ensure that they maintain that dynamic to keep processes running efficiently and production at an acceptable level. Freelancers, meanwhile, must also do their part to drive success – which doesn’t necessarily always mean delivering quality work.

Instead, we have found, managers value reliability – especially in terms of hitting deadlines and managing time independently – in their freelancers over writing skills and price, rating it a 4.6 out of 5 in overall importance. Managers, too, value developing and maintaining a culture of content, in which everyone in the organization sees the bigger picture of content marketing, rather than regular check-ins or standardized feedback.

In line with this, managers tend to focus on the total outcome of their content programmes, not on input from individual freelancers, rating conversions (4.5) and website visitors (4.3) as the most important performance indicators.

In addition to being reliable and delivering effective content, managers also seek freelancers who are curious and invested in their clients, striving to improve both the organisation and their personal skills.

“The ideal freelancer is a good listener, dares to ask further questions and is willing to learn about the topic or our business,” says Brian, a marketing manager from the Netherlands.

Managers value reliability in their freelancers over writing skills and price

Freelancers value client reliability as the most important driver of success

Digital and content marketing manager Tina adds, “We’re looking for freelancers who ask questions like an outsider but write with the insight of an insider, who are at all times aware of goals and who get to know the client enough to be able to do so.”

Getting to know the client, however, will require work from the organizational side – and is an area where in-house employees can be of great assistance. Says another Entrepreneur article, this one on blended teams, “When [freelancers] collaborate with full-time employees, their working styles may clash, and freelancers may not be familiar with terms used internally, which can be confusing. That means employees may be left to update their work, so it meets brand standards.”

In addition to a well-planned onboarding, the article states, in-house talent should be encouraged to “coach” freelancers, bringing them up to speed with organisation processes, terms, or other information that can help them function as a cohesive unit.

When it comes to driving success from a freelancers’ point of view, client reliability takes the top spot, also rated a 4.6 of 5 in terms of importance. Additionally, the ideal client, freelancers say, is one who gives good briefings and feedback, has realistic deadlines, and is appreciative of quality work. One way they can show appreciation? Pay invoices in a timely manner.

“The ideal client is the perfect blend of chilled and efficient,” says freelance copywriter Rebecca. “They give me absolutely all the information I need, tell me when my deadline is, then take a step back and let me get on with the work. And they pay on the day I send the invoice. Yes, there are clients who do this, and I hold them close!”

While prompt (or at least on-time) payments are a topic of serious importance among our freelance respondents, clients that look to establish partnerships are also of value.

“I look for clients that have integrity and work truly collaboratively, looking to achieve the best business outcome rather than, ‘Write me a white paper on XYZ.’ They also provide advance notice of projects to allow scheduling and pays on time,” says freelance copywriter Kate.