Brave New World: Professional Hong Kong Copywriting in 2022
Brave New World: Professional Hong Kong Copywriting in 2022
We’re living in a brave new world.
COVID forever changed how (and why) we work. As the pandemic raged across the world in 2022 and remote working became a temporary recourse to keep the planet ‘working’, its knock-on effects saw in-house staff question the norm and reconsider their values.
The once-temporary ‘remote working’ solution is now establishing itself as the future of work, with a recent Owl Labs study revealing 16% of companies globally are fully remote. Those numbers are only set to increase over the next few years; coupled with global inflationary concerns, the resurgence of travel, political issues among world superpowers and the personal pride of running one’s own small business – and it’s easy to see why remote workers are seeing writing as a safe haven for a decent salary.
All you need is a laptop plus a decent vocabulary (or thesaurus) and you’re good to go – or are you?
Hong Kong Copywriting Trends in 2022
In Hong Kong, the past two years have seen the local economy take a massive hit. With borders largely closed and a strict quarantine still in place, the city’s importance as an international hub is starting to stagnate. Corporations have cut back to essential staff and those unemployed are seeking alternate opportunities to meet the city’s notoriously high cost of living.
The rise of freelance and remote working content creators is no bad thing for the city – Hong Kong’s content standard has largely paled in comparison to major English-speaking global hubs – but while this new breed may be more affordable, those without an innate understanding of the city’s particular dynamics aren’t able to deliver what local Hong Kong businesses need most.
Above all, great copy needs to speak to its audience – and Hong Kong’s audience is incredibly unique, with three official languages, alongside a diverse history shifting from Asia to the west and back to Asia again. For businesses existing within this epitomized East-West city, establishing a brand voice, emotionally connecting with your audience and ensuring your content finds its balance across language barriers are all essential.
It’s a painstaking process and as Hong Kong’s leading copywriting company, for over a decade we’ve assisted businesses both big and small to cement their reputation within the city’s distinctive marketplace. We’re also embracing the rise of remote working Hong Kong copywriters and content creators, taking on new freelance and part-time staff to ensure the latest developments in the content world are part of our larger gameplan.
That combination of longstanding market experience and enthusiasm to embrace new developments, is essential to separate existing businesses and those seeking to break into the market – and will place a noticeable role as Hong Kong copywriting evolves.
Professional Hong Kong Copywriting vs Artificial Intelligence
Outside of Hong Kong, a number of important global factors are also starting to affect quality copywriting. Chief among them is artificial intelligence, often dubbed as the evolution of work. From the way we live to the way we work – self-driving cars, the metaverse, computer generated NFTs – the hype surrounding AI and its possibilities is boundless.
In the content world, AI writing bots such as Jasper and Rytr are being touted as the future of copywriting – with some claiming they’ll all but replace humans in the field. We’d like to think our value as professional content creators isn’t so easily dismissed, but we’re of course, biased – and the numbers are revealing. In 2018, statistics showed only 28% of marketers used AI; in 2020, that number jumped to 84%.
The concept of an AI writing bot is simple: enter a short series of phrases or prompts and out spits content reformulated from billions of other words, sentences and paragraphs. The quality is readable, but the copy generated is often far from clear, concise or compelling. Which is to say, it lacks the human touch.
There are benefits of course, chief among is that AI writing bots will do away with keyword-stuffing content farms (and good riddance, we say). If your business doesn’t rely on quality content, or if you lack the native-language skills to produce simple copy, an AI writing bot might be for you. But keep in mind, the generated content is far from engaging, won’t ever consider such essential services as SEO and is often riddled with grammatical mistakes.
For professional Hong Kong copywriters as well, there are benefits to using a writing bot, including quickly summarizing large portions of text or revealing new ways to consider a topic. But these still require the expertise of a Hong Kong content specialist – be it editing said text or developing copy from the ideas generated.
Professional Hong Kong Copywriting vs Freelancer Sites
The rise of freelancer sites is being touted as offering remote work possibilities to everyone. Sites like Fiverr and Upwork promise to connect clients with talent around the globe, allowing them to narrow down criteria based on subject, location, language and other factors.
There are incredible benefits to using the platform and in cases where specialization is required – be it a deep-level understanding of forensics or the latest breaking developments in blockchain technology – its worth is apparent. But when it comes to customer-facing content, where engagement is key, the sites often fall short.
The short of it is, you get what you pay for. Statistics reveal there are18 million freelancers on Upwork and almost a million on Fiverr, competition is cutthroat and talent regulation is hard to maintain. Plagiarism is also noted as a major problem, both in the work produced, as well as talent portfolios. And when all is said and done, reputations can be wiped clean with a new profile.
Working with a smaller business might limit your pool of talent, but our reputations are on the line. At Writers.HK, we consider client communication and satisfaction as the most essential facets of our business. As Hong Kong’s leading copywriting company, our long track record coupled with an impressive portfolio ensures that your business receives the personal attention is deserves – as well as quality content that delivers important results.
Read more about our services and when you’re ready, reach out for a free quotation.