Clients Who Cut Their Own Hair: A Copywriter’s Lament

Nora thinks she knows best – Don’t be Nora.

Here’s an analogy most people in advertising will understand:

Imagine a character named Nora. Nora hears about an award-winning hairdresser. This hairdresser is renowned, gaining lots of praise on social media, and their salon is the talk of the town. Hearing these rave reviews, Nora decides to make an appointment.

Finally, the day arrives, Nora walks into the salon and is shown to her seat. The rockstar hairdresser asks Nora how she would like her ‘do’ done. Nora describes the style her hair has always been cut. The hairdresser suggests something new, a style they believe will complement Nora’s features, but Nora declines. She wants it the way it has always been done.

As the hairdresser begins to work, Nora notices that the hairdresser uses their scissors in a way unfamiliar to her. She decides to take the scissors from the hairdresser and starts cutting her hair herself, thinking she knows best. How hard can it be, right?

When Nora is done, the hairdresser is dumbstruck. Nora goes home reasonably satisfied at first but later is shocked to discover that the back of her head is a mess. She couldn’t see what she was doing and didn’t trust the hairdresser to do their job. Nora calls the salon to complain and tells anyone who will listen that the hairdresser is terrible and undeserving of the hype.

When clients do cut it

This Nora scenario seems ridiculous. Why would anyone be so silly? Well, in communications and advertising, clients do it more often than you’d think.

As a copywriter, I’m fortunate to work for an agency with ideal clients. They trust us, often sending us a brief and then leaving us to get on with it. When our strategy team presents a way forward and explains why it’s the right direction, they listen and consider our recommendations. Together, we’ve created a substantial body of ground-breaking and award-winning work. This success is due to their trust in us to push the boundaries, get creative, and try new things. The result has been growth for all parties involved. The proverbial win-win.

When clients don’t cut it

Moreover, as a writer, I’ve also dealt with many clients who insist on “cutting their own hair.” In writing and marketing, everyone thinks they can do it. Like Nora, they’ve seen it done countless times before and feel confident they can do it too. They’re usually mistaken. They gravitate towards doing things the way it’s always been done but expect new and improved outcomes. They think that what they believe is unique and impressive about their business or services will automatically be engaging and attractive to their target market. They fail to empathise with their desired market and are blinkered by their agendas.

It’s odd. Most of us wouldn’t tell an electrician or an engineer how to do their jobs. We might challenge our doctor occasionally, but when it comes down to it, we usually follow their advice because they know more than we do. However, in writing and marketing, everyone seems to know better, which is why their campaigns often fail. They want to follow the same old formula.

Cut it out

To be a viable copywriter in advertising, you cannot be precious about your writing. There will always be changes, some for the better and some… not so much. The client has the final say, and you must be gracious about it if you want more work from them in the future. Some clients will completely rewrite everything you’ve written, no matter what you do, and others will ignite a creative flair that will remind you why it is you’ve chosen this particular profession in the first place.

Many people underestimate how difficult writing is. Writers don’t because we know it’s a moving target. Writing really is rewriting. You can never know enough, and there will always be more ways to learn how to become a better writer. As Aristotle said: "The more you know, the more you know you don't know.”

The major difference between an experienced writer and a novice is that the experienced writer has a larger bank of how not to write to draw from. The novice doesn’t know how much they don’t know and can be fooled into thinking it’s easy.

Common mistakes clients make include weaving clichés and overused adjectives into the copy just because they’ve seen everyone else do it. Suddenly, everything is “new,” “delicious,” “thicker,” “cheaper,” “creamier,” etc., and you can guarantee the reader’s attention is lost immediately. These descriptors are as effective as a toothless guard dog because we have become immune to them. Another common folly is assuming you know what your target market wants without considering market research. This is also surprisingly common. You know what they say about assumption and the colourful reference to the first three letters of the word. People will surprise you. Look at the data.

It amazes me how many middle-aged clients, for example, believe they know what today’s youth market wants, even when the data presented to them contradicts the copy and messaging that they want to push. Whose fault is it then when the campaign receives a lukewarm response?

My point is, that if you commission someone for their expertise and skills, you must trust them to do their job. Otherwise, you may as well grab those scissors and do it yourself, but be sure to ignore any sniggers coming from behind you.