Effective, engaging copywriting is essential in every industry, and can help set your company and brand apart from the competition. But the right financial copywriter isn’t just “nice to have”—it’s critically important to the success of your company.
That’s because great financial copy isn’t just easy to read—in order to help your brand stand out, your copywriters need to be truly knowledgeable and experienced when it comes to the topics they’re writing about.
With financial topics, it’s difficult (if not impossible) for a writer to fake a knowledge base they don’t really have. And your audience can smell poor financial copy from a mile away.
But how do you go about finding the best financial copywriters for your budget? What skills and qualities should you look for in order to secure the best talent money can buy?
Here are eight ways to start looking at financial copywriting candidates through a different lens:
1. Industry Experience & Credentials
Any copywriter worth their salt can write well. But when it comes to hiring the best financial copywriter, you need more than writing chops.
Whoever you hire must also have a solid grasp of the topics your audience wants to learn more about, as well as their most common pain points.
Depending on your area of financial expertise, these knowledge requirements can vary, so it’s important to know what to look for and expect.
| If You Are… | Your Financial Copywriter Should Know… |
| A bank | Banking regulations, how internal programs work, what your unique selling points are, how checking and savings accounts work at your institution, etc. |
| A brokerage | How brokerages work, what they do, the benefits and risks associated with brokerage accounts, the transaction types and investments available for your customers, etc. |
| A financial publication | The type of publication, who the target audience is, what financial topics are covered, in-depth knowledge of current events, and a basic understanding of markets, investing, and money management, etc. |
| A family office | The services your office provides, what family offices are designed for, whether it’s a single or multi-family office, what risk management looks like for high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs), the pain points your clients care most about, the finer points of estate planning and tax, etc. |
| A financial services firm | Familiarity with various sectors within the Financial Services umbrella, familiarity with topical legislation and business news, an advanced understanding of economics, money management, and risk profiles, etc. |
| A fintech or blockchain company | A solid understanding of blockchain technology and solutions, how digital wallets work, familiarity with current crypto-related events, what non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are, the current pros and cons of crypto usage and adoption, etc. |
Note: This is absolutely NOT an exhaustive list.
You might consider looking for writers with relevant industry experience, who have written for household brands, or who have relevant certificates, licenses, or registrations (such as FINRA, CPA, and so forth).
Knowing what to look for can help narrow down your search for effective financial copywriters who are not only skilled at the craft of writing, but who are also qualified, knowledgeable, and confident in what they’re writing about.
2. They Understand Your Unique Value
Not all financial institutions are created equal. Whether you’re a bank, a hedge fund, or a blockchain company, it’s important to identify and capitalize on what makes your institution different, and why consumers should choose you over your competitors.
A big part of the puzzle is figuring out your unique value proposition, which a great copywriter can help with. The best financial copywriters act more like consultants during the initial onboarding stage, working with you to determine what sets your brand apart and create messaging based on your discoveries. Expect a great copywriter to ask questions like:
- What makes your business strategy unique?
- Why should your target audience care? Do they easily understand your value?
- Why should people choose your business over a competitor? (e.g., Why would customers choose your regional bank over a national bank?)
- What unique or turnkey services do you offer that you want to highlight?
- What does your brand have to offer that your competitors do not?
An experienced financial copywriter will guide you through these questions and help you come up with the best possible answers (and positioning for your brand). This step is critically important—if your core messaging is off, every piece of content you create downstream will just be a waste of money.
3. They Have A Successful Track Record
Asking the right questions and having the right pedigree is great, but they aren’t worth much if your copywriter has little ROI to show for their previous work. That’s why you should always ask for samples and metrics from previous campaigns.
Sometimes, a copywriter might not have access to this information—not because they’re being dishonest, but because someone else was handling the tracking and reporting. No problem. As long as you know what brands your candidate worked for, you can use sites like SEMrush to figure out how organic or paid traffic went up or down during the timeframe of their employment, for example.
If you aren’t sure how to do this, or just don’t have the time to, you can always ask the candidate to find out and get back to you with reports or screenshots that show metrics. For example:
- Blog posts: How do their keywords track over time?
- Advertisements: What are their click-through rates?
- Emails: What are their open and click-through rates?
- Websites: What kind of traffic do they see, and how much has it increased?
- Landing pages: What is the conversion rate of visitors to form fillouts?
- Social media: How much engagement do their posts receive across platforms?
- White papers: How many downloads do their white papers get?
Whatever the content type, there’s a way to measure whether it was effective. If the financial copywriter you’re interviewing can’t show any positive returns on investment, how can you trust them to write effective copy for your business?
4. Testimonials And Past Clients
What do past clients have to say? Testimonials can tell you a lot about what a candidate’s working relationships look like. After all, it’s not enough to write great copy—a great financial copywriter also has to know how to provide quality service to clients and communicate with them effectively.
Having big-name clients can indicate that a copywriter or agency is really worth their weight in gold, because larger companies won’t waste time with low-quality financial copywriters.
If your candidate’s website includes several positive testimonials and a number of brands you recognize, they’re far more likely to do a good job.
But if a copywriter or agency doesn’t have any testimonials or even a client list on their website, you may want to reconsider. The most common excuse we’ve heard is “My clients are confidential” or “I’d have to get permission to share anything.” News flash: 99 times out of 100, this is probably not true.
5. They Have The Right Voice
When it comes to promoting a business that offers regulated financial services, you want to make sure the copy you’re publishing matches the exact tone of voice and brand guidelines Compliance signed off on.
Because in an industry as sensitive as Financial Services, misusing even one word can not only put off potential clients, but it can also get you in legal trouble. Writers who aren’t that experienced with financial copy, in particular, are very likely to make these novice mistakes (and Compliance will have something to say during each and every revision round).
To avoid these bottlenecks, you want to first identify the tone of voice your brand is going for, and then determine what is okay and not okay to say. Whatever you decide, a great financial copywriter should not only be able to match the tone you’re looking for, but they will also be able to internalize your do’s and don’ts very quickly.
Consider the tone of voice for Morgan Stanley and Navy Federal on their websites:
Morgan Stanley’s copy, you’ll notice, is educated and professional. It gets straight to the point and directly addresses the needs and desires of potential customers. It also wastes no time with warmth, pleasantries, or flowery language.
Navy Federal, on the other hand, takes a slightly different approach. By focusing on its history, longevity, and growth (and by mentioning both its vision statement), this brand tone of voice appeals to a more emotional side in their target audience.
The copy is still informative, but not as concise or as informative as Morgan Stanley’s. Instead, Navy Federal focuses on making the reader feel connected to the firm. By calling themselves the “most preferred and trusted financial institution” for military families, the writer was clearly targeting a very specific demographic.
While the two voices are different, they both work because they fit within each brand’s identity and deliver on what they’re trying to accomplish through their copy. When choosing a financial copywriter, it’s important that you find someone who can write competently and effectively in the voice that works for your brand.
6. They Are Organized And Meet Deadlines
As with any profession, some copywriters are better at organizing and managing their time than others. Naturally, you’ll want to hire financial copywriters who demonstrate solid time management and organizational skills.
Financial copywriters with strong organizational skills will often:
- Use trackers (like spreadsheets or apps) that keep you updated on project timelines and deliverables
- Offer you realistic milestones that they’re able to then meet consistently
- Maintain frequent and timely communication without unexplained “disappearances”
- Utilize project management tools like Gantt charts to manage various projects effectively
- Understand and employ iterative development processes in their work
Making sure your potential hires are organized, professional and timely can save you a lot of time and money. Hiring a financial copywriter is no different.
7. You Have a Direct Line of Communication
When hiring a financial copywriter, you want to know who’s handling your work at any given time, so that you can communicate clearly with the right person who can get stuff done (instead of being bounced around by customer service reps or junior hires).
As an example, many agencies simply outsource their work to other writers, and even hire remote project managers to oversee things. That’s not the type of agency you’d want to work with. If you have a question, good luck getting a satisfying answer. If anything goes wrong, you’ll be the last person to know about it. And if you want to change anything at all, get ready to wait a while.
What you want is a responsive financial copywriter you can clearly communicate your brand and ideas to, someone who understands what you’re going for and who is readily available when you need them. Playing telephone with middlemen who aren’t actually the ones doing the work can lead to miscommunication and low-quality deliverables.
Notably, some agencies also have more of a flat management structure, one in which it’s very easy to reach the top and get your questions answered or your problems solved. An easy way to tell whether you’ll be working with a content mill or a boutique shop is whether their executive team is listed. If they aren’t? Forget about it.
8. They’re Willing To Learn
Every financial product is different, just like every company and business owner. Even the best financial copywriters have specific areas of expertise where they shine and some blind spots they might not be so eager to admit.
For example, your financial copywriter may have decades of experience writing for private equity, but know next to nothing about cryptocurrencies. If you’re running a VC fund with a portfolio of fintech startups that need copy, hiring this person may make a lot of sense. But if you’re doing the same thing for crypto startups, maybe not.
This does not mean you should give up easy, especially if you find a financial copywriter you like and trust who seems like a good fit for your business. But make sure that whoever you’re looking to hire is willing and eager to learn. The best copywriters are always learning new things on the job, and often pick up skills while writing they might not have gained otherwise.
If you find a financial copywriter willing to work with and learn with you, even if they are unfamiliar with the topic at hand, you can trust you’ve found someone worth their weight in gold.
Ready To Speak To Real Financial Copywriters?
So now you know all the key ingredients for a stellar financial copywriter—only now you’re wondering, “Where am I going to find a writer or team with all these qualities?”
Enter Tailored Ink. Our team of dedicated copywriters can handle whatever financial products you’re looking to market, from private equity and brokerages to insurance, hedge funds, crypto, and more. Whatever you need, we have you covered. Let us help your business shine above the rest.
