Giving Copywriters Feedback, Part One: How Not To Do It
How do you know if you’re a good account manager? You think you’re a good copywriter… but you’re actually crap at it.
That is a bit of a generalisation (although it grabbed your attention, so I make no apology for it). But from my extensive experience, a substantial number of account managers have very inflated ideas of their creative abilities.
This tends to manifest itself in the amendments and feedback process, after an initial draft has been written. Like any person whose job is creative, my first reaction to any correction, amendment or criticism of my work is always - and I mean ALWAYS - to take it personally. After 17 years of writing professionally, I have never been able to shake off this unhelpful affliction.
Eventually, once I’ve settled down and gone and made myself a cup of tea (Earl Grey, just milk, no sugar, ta), I inevitably remember that the client and I are ultimately on the same team. We’re both looking for the same result: a piece of content that meets the brief, is full of interest and insights, and is as engaging to its target audience as it possibly can be.
However, sometimes the nature of the feedback provided makes the task of executing the amendments a frustrating, vague and sometimes even impossible endeavour. I’ve realised that some clients and account managers simply don’t know what copywriters need and want from feedback. And while others do, and will actively seek out that information from a writer, it can be hard in the heat of the moment to put those ideas across - especially when there’s a deadline to meet.
So, as I sit at my desk on a quiet, rainy Thursday afternoon, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to give all you AMs and other marketing professionals some helpful, constructive advice:
Five things you should NEVER do….
Give feedback as questions
One of the biggest bugbears I have with feedback is when it introduces ambiguity. Imagine this as a hypothetical example: “Do you think we should mention IoT here?”
Well… no, I don’t. If I did, I would have mentioned it already, wouldn’t I? And if you’re asking me, rather than telling me, then that implies you aren’t sure if we should mention it either.
Leave ‘general’ feedback that isn’t attributed to a specific area
It’s the one thing I dread perhaps more than any other. The comment attached to the subject line with very general feedback ‘that should be applied throughout the piece’ or something similar.
This is a massive cop-out that implies - rightly or wrongly - one or a combination of three things: that you haven’t read the piece in full; that you can’t be bothered to mark up the amends properly; or that you don’t really have a clue what needs doing to it.
Create a ‘too many cooks’ situation
A couple of weeks ago, I posted a blog in which I recalled an eBook where I had 11 different stakeholders providing their own (often conflicting) feedback on the same draft.
Imagine you need to print out a vital report in your office to meet a tight deadline, but the printer is broken. You’re frantically trying to fix it, and you’ve got 11 different co-workers all standing around you, giving you different pieces of advice and shouting over each other.
No, I don’t like it either.
Provide short answers and comments
At the other end of the scale, I can recall one blog I wrote recently, where the client wasn’t happy with a particular paragraph I’d written. The feedback received - in its entirety - was as follows:
“no”
What am I supposed to do with that? Is that really helpful? What does that say to a writer like me? “Well, we don’t like what you’ve done, but we’re not going to give you any information or help on how to put it right.”
Use Track Changes for major amendments and rewrites
I’ve made my feelings on the Track Changes tool abundantly clear in previous blogs. And I’ve also conceded that it can be very useful in some cases, like human touch AI content editing.
But, just like the “Nightmare of the Eleven Stakeholders” again, it’s particularly difficult to use when the amendments required are substantial. If there are words, phrases and sentences rewritten here, there and everywhere, you end up with a colourful mish-mash of copy and corrections that is extremely difficult to decipher. It can be a hard job to work out what is what (and very demoralising, too…).
Rant over… so what’s the solution, then?
First of all, thank you for reading down this far and allowing me to get a few things off my chest about my job. I realise that I went off on one a bit there, so your patience is appreciated.
However, I don’t want to be a hypocrite. I don’t want to be like the person who just said “no” and not provide any constructive ideas on how to make feedback better. So in my next blog, I’ll be giving you five tips on how to do it right… once I’ve settled down and had that cup of Earl Grey.