Investment writers translate fund and market behavior for audiences of all levels, from the passive investor to fund managers. Their work ranges from pure reporting to editorial thought leadership.

When analysts and product managers are hard at work with daily operations, telling your investment fund story to the outside world is unlikely to be at the front of their minds. A skilled content team can support the effort to publicize your company’s work. The right investment writer brings their communication talent and deep industry knowledge to your particular fund and personalizes a narrative for your brand. How do you pick the right one?

When you interview a candidate, the questions they ask you are as important as the ones you ask them. So what does a strong investment funds writer ask her clients? Here’s our top five list of questions your contractor should ask to show they’ll be the right fit—and questions they’ll want you to be ready to answer.

What content gap are you addressing?
What is the main takeaway?
Who is the audience?
Who approves the text?
How do you measure success?

What is the content gap you're addressing?

This should be a straightforward question. It will inform your writer as well as search engine optimization (SEO) efforts, which should be part of the planning process. You or your writer should examine your content as well as competitors’ to look for content holes and chances to scoop up traffic from niche searches. Having an internal subject matter expert weigh in may also help the writer narrow down the topic.

What is the main takeaway?

What message do you want your readers to remember after they leave the page? Some writers subscribe to the “Tell ’em what you’ll tell ’em, tell ’em, then tell ’em what you told ’em” school of thought. Others are more subtle and weave a message quietly into the narrative. Land your key takeaway and make sure the investment writer understands it.

Who is the audience?

Is this for an internal newsletter? A blog post series? Are you trying to reach current or prospective clients? Are your readers at the top of the marketing funnel or further along the purchasing path? Is there a particular customer persona the piece is designed for? These audience details will dictate how long and in-depth the piece will be. The more information you can provide to your investment writer, the more precise their work will be.

Who approves the text?

This is a question that absolutely must be answered by you, not the writer. List the stakeholders and the level of influence they have over content. If you’ll be asking the writer to communicate with colleagues, make sure you notify your colleagues. This is also a helpful time to give your writer a realistic set of expectations for turnaround time on approvals and even some tips on dealing with different personalities in your firm.

How do you measure success?

Ask yourself what you want to achieve with content from your investment writer. Click-throughs to contact forms? Average time on page? Compliance with a new regulation? This is a learning process for both you and the writer, and if you want to hire them in the future, you can guide their next efforts with results from their earlier work.

Hearing these questions from a potential writer will give you a preview of one final question that you should ask them: how familiar are they with the investment fund industry and related language? These conversations will build rapport and trust between you and your new writer, which hopefully will turn into a productive working relationship. If you want to ensure you’re already picking from qualified writers, consider asking a language services partner to help you with staffing—for a one-off or even an on-site long-term contract. Here’s a partial list of what an experienced investment fund writer can create.