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7 attributes of great financial copywriters

A great financial copywriter

Financial copywriters are a specialist breed and you need to make sure you are hiring the right one.

Some of the attributes you’ll be looking for from your financial copywriter are obvious, some not so and may surprise you.

But all of the things in this post are important to consider if you are about to trust your brand to a writer.

Copywriting experience

Well it goes without saying right?

But really, if you are looking for a copywriter then hire a copywriter, don’t think that someone from the office can do it because ‘it’s only a few words’.

Copywriting takes skill and is harder than it looks.

You might want to find someone who understands SEO or who has experience writing for an insurance company or someone who is really good at making techincal subjects accessible.

But whatever you want you’ll need a copywriter

Financial experience

This is always helpful.

OK so some financial copywriters are amazing even though they have never worked in financial services but not many.

Frankly if you want someone to write about your accountancy software or your B2C loans or your whizzy new fintech app then it’s going to be a lot easier if the person understands a chart of accounts and APR calculations.

It saves you a lot of time explaining things too!


Financial copywriter at his desk
5 ways a financial copywriter can help your business

Something to add

What’s the difference between a good financial copywriter and a great one?

No it’s not a joke.

Genuinely, the difference is that a great financial copywriter will add something to your business.

They’ll come with ideas, tips and tricks to make your copy stand out.

They’ll have something to add to the conversation and it might even be totally unrelated to the copy they are writing.

Good standard of English

You might think that this is a given in the copywriting industry but you’d be wrong.

I’m always amazed when I see work from other writers that just doesn’t make sense.

Or has speeling errors (just my little joke).

Or has clearly been written by AI.

If that spelling error is annoying you then think what it will do to your clients.

Attention to detail

This isn’t just the details that go along with copywriting; it’s the detail that goes along with the gig.

Answering emails

Asking questions is they don;t understand

Making sure their copy is accurate

Delivering on time.

This is one thing that gets my goat. You have a deadline and I’d expect to deliver my copy by then if not before.

Some copywriters just don’t bother.

They get you

This is one of those ‘soft’ things that can’t be quantified but it is absolutely imperative.

They have to get you.

They have to get your company.

They have to understand your tone of voice.

If there’s a mismatch then it’s likely that the copy they provide, whilst great, doesn’t quite do what you want it to.

A great financial copywriter will understand what you are about and how to add real value to your team.

You like them

People laugh when I say this but one of the reasons that I went freelance is that I wanted the freedom to work with people I like.

And you should like your copywriter too.

Life is too short for tetchy meetings and awkward email exchanges.

It’s Friday PM and you want to talk about your campaign but you don’t mind having a little bit of a laugh too.

You have to like the people you are working with, otherwise the time passes very slowly indeed.

Financial copywriters are a different breed

We work differently and we think differently but we’re not that odd!

Someone who has worked in finance for any length of time will understand that there are some things you can say and some you can’t.

They’ll be as invested in the work as you are.

And they’ll add to the project by bringing their knowledge and experience to bear.

If you’d like to have a chat and find out how I can help your business then click the button and let’s talk.

5 ways a financial copywriter can help your business

Financial copywriter at his desk

Using a financial copywriter makes sense for businesses that have products or services that are in the finance sector or for companies that want to speak to companies that are based in this industry.

In this post, I’m looking at just a few of the ways that a specialist financial copywriter can help and where they differ from a more general type of writer.

A financial copywriter knows the regulatory environment

If your company is a regulated entity then there are some things you can say and some you can’t.

Working in a regulated firm is different to other companies because everyone is aware that the way you treat your customers, the way you market your business and the things you say are all subject to review and can end up with some sizeable fines or nasty publicity.

Professional copywriters who have worked in financial services are fully aware of the need for care and you can expect that they will produce copy that is compliant with all of the local rules and regulations.

You shouldn’t have to find yourself explaining your products to your writer before the project starts either and they should know their way around the FCA website!

You don’t have to explain the products

I’ve never really understood why people employ non-specialists to work on their projects.

For example, I wouldn’t pitch for a job writing technical articles about ASP.NET for the software industry because I simply haven’t got the first idea of where to start.

I’d have to research every article and someone from the company would have to teach me what ASP.NET is for a start!

However, you won’t need to explain the different types of mortgage to me, the difference between whole-of-life and term assurance or what a bridging loan is because I spent years working with these companies.

It just seems a lot easier working with someone who has a grasp of the types of product available.

Copywriting for B2B

If you have a financial product that is useful in the B2B arena then having an expert write your copy helps you to match your output to your audience.

The finance industry speaks in a different way, uses different acronyms and has a language all of its own and so you want someone who can adopt these aspects and use them as a way of forging a better B2B connection.

For companies that provide say, bridging finance or invoice factoring, the ability of a financial copywriter to understand and empathise with the problems that your potential customers have (possibly because they have faced them) is incredibly powerful.


Financial copywriter for software company
Learn how a financial copywriter can help your software company here

A financial copywriter will ask ‘smart-stupid’ questions

When I worked as a Financial Director my favourite thing to do with a new team was to ask what I called ‘smart-stupid questions’.

These are the sort of basic questions which are obvious to everyone in the company but that might not be obvious to people outside.

I once worked with a business and in my first meeting someone used a three-letter-acronym (which is a personal bugbear for me) and so I asked them what it meant.

Nobody in the room could tell me!

But they were all nodding along like it was obvious a few seconds before.

That’s a smart stupid question, so if you are using jargon or company-specific terms then a really good financial copywriter will be able to tease the real meaning out of it because you don;t want to confuse or confound potential clients.

Professional copywriting with a professional attitude.

I started writing many years ago and one of the things that surprised me was when a client told me why they liked working with me.

“You always deliver by the deadline” they said.

This was a surprise because I thought that everyone respected deadlines but apparently not in the creative industries.

Since then I have worked as a collaborator and a buyer with other financial writers and I can always tell the ones that have a professional background.

Now I am not saying that every financial copywriter that you employ will hit every deadline, every time but I’d argue that you have a better chance of getting the outcome you want.

If you have a financial product then employ a finance professional.

Personally if i had a company that sold dresses then I’d want my stuff written by someone who had some experience in fashion.

Same with financial services.

Additionally, if I was trying to engage with a company that was in the financial services or fintech sectors then I’d want someone who thinks like they do.

It just seems like common sense.

That’s why I would always suggest getting your copy written by someone with a level of expertise and training that will allow them to really communicate with your clients.

If you’d like to find out more then why not message me and we can have a chat about whether I am the right financial copywriter for you.

How a financial copywriter can help your software company

Financial copywriter for software company

A Financial Copywriter isn’t perhaps the first person you think of to write content for a software company but read on, as you’ll find that there are some very good reasons why it makes sense.

You see you shouldn’t necessarily be writing for your own industry. (although it is possible you may want to, see below)

The people you are writing for are your customers.

It may seem obvious, but it’s actually a lesson that many people forget and they do so at their peril.

Technical feels good, but actually is bad

This is one of the main problems.

It doesn’t really matter what business you are in and we’re all guilty of this.

You see when I worked as an accountant I made the mistake of thinking that my clients wanted to know that I had completed the bank rec and that form CT600 was ready to go in…

It wasn’t until some way into my career that I realised that many of them wanted two things from me; they wanted me to tell them if things were good, or if there was something they needed to think about.

They genuinely didn’t care that I knew the HMRC code for the form I was sending in, and me telling them it was just me showing off.

Technical details interest people that are in the same industry, but they don’t excite clients to the same degree.

What interests clients is the effect that their application has on their business.

Tone of voice matters

Admittedly I am breaking my own rule here because tone of voice is a technical term used in copywriting.

It means the way things are phrased, the language used, the manner of writing.

The problem is that unless you are a member of the clan you are speaking to then you may not understand what the tone of voice should sound like.

We’re all members of clans and accountants are no different. We have a way of speaking but we are also customers.

I can promise you that if you start using IT type technical terms in a piece aimed at engaging accountants you will be wasting your time largely.


You can find out more about tone of voice by clicking on the image below

How do you choose your tone of voice
Find out more about tone of voice here

Credentials matter

So imagine this; you have an app that is designed to make running an accountancy practice easier.

You have two pieces written, one by your head of sales and one by an accountant who has run an accountancy practice.

Which one carries more weight?

Exactly. So having a copywriter who is experienced in the field as a guest blogger adds weight to your proposition.

Naturally you have to use their name and credentials and some copywriters may not be comfortable with that , but many are.

It’s not about features, it’s about effects

A technical or general copywriter can probably write a great blog all about the features of a piece of software.

But what your customers want to know is what the effect will be.

How will it help their practice?

How will it help their clients?

How will it help their staff?

If you aren’t able to articulate this in the tone of voice that your potential customer base understand then you can forget it.

Why you need a financial copywriter for your software company.

It doesn’t really matter what your software does, what matters is how you talk to your customers.

A great financial copywriter will;

  • Speak in the tone of voice your customers prefer
  • Use the language of your customers
  • Understand the effects and benefits of your app
  • Automatically understand the issues your customers are having
  • Add weight to your offer
  • Add credibility to your content
  • Be able to articulate all of this in an engaging piece of content.

So that’s it:- if you are wanting to sell into the accounting and bookkeeping space then you need a proper financial copywriter.

Now where can you find one of them?


Do I need a financial copywriter for my business?

Do you need a freelance financial copywriter

Although copywriters all do the same thing, a financial copywriter is slightly different.

So the answer to the question really is “What is your business?”

Truthfully, if you want someone to write product descriptions for your e-commerce site then no, you don’t need to pay for a finance copywriter.

Sure we could do the job, but we aren’t e-commerce specialists.

But if you run a business that deals with financial things like loans, insurance, investments etc then I would say you absolutely do need a financial copywriter.

There are a number of things that you can’t do in the UK when you are promoting financial products and a good financial copywriter will know all about these.

Importantly they will also know the value of great research and ensuring that anything they write is truthful and accurate.

When you are for any finance company it makes sense to have an expert at the wheel when you are looking to put information out in the public domain and employing a proper freelance financial copywriter is absolutely the way to go.

A freelance financial copywriter isn’t just for finance companies

This is one of the things that most surprised me when I made the move into full-time marketing.

It shouldn’t have because I had been writing for years and the vast majority of my clients weren’t financial businesses.

But they were companies that liked to work with financial companies.

And that’s where a financial copywriter comes in.

Because it’s important that you use someone who is able to use language and tones that your target market understands.

For example, if you produce financial software or maybe you are an insolvency practitioner then you will want to talk to accountants.

But accountants like a certain type of language and things to be phrased in a rather understated manner. I can say this because I AM an accountant!

So for enterprises that are in an allied sector and that has a target market that is professional and somewhat conservative, it makes complete sense to find a decent financial copywriter.

Technical jargon you want to get across?

As a Financial Director, one of the key parts of my job was to explain exceptionally complex financial information to managers and directors who all had different skills and aptitudes.

When you have to do this every day you start to understand the value of simplicity.

Having these skills are important because when you have an incredibly technical subject, but your decision maker isn’t necessarily an expert themselves, then you need to be able to put your point across in a suitable way.

This is another skill of a financial copywriter that is transferable to other sectors.

The ability to take complex models and transfer them into everyday language.

So do you need a financial copywriter?

Does your business have complex technical concepts that it wants to communicate?

Do you want to talk to finance professionals?

Do you have a need for professional and accurate content?

If you answer yes to any of these then you do need a financial copywriter.

And if you need a financial copywriter then you should get in touch.

Click the button or go here to get in contact