What is ghostwriting?

A ghostwriter is a writer hired to create content (books, publications, articles) on behalf of another person or entity (or brand), without receiving public credit for authorship. Traditionally, ghostwriting was seen as a discreet practice, but it is becoming increasingly common and even valued, especially in the world of digital writing.

It’s the magic of writing: it can be devoid of vanity or glory.
It is also the embodiment in profession of a job that many think everyone can have: writing.

The Ghost Writer

And this is not a profession of this generation.
It is, in fact, the name of a movie. In SEO terms, it can hurt us. We’ll stick with the term ghostwriter.

A ghostwriter is a figure that has been around for a long time and is not limited to the current generation or modern marketing. Historically, the term “nègre littéraire” was used in French to describe this role. This type of service has since been hired by celebrities, executives, entrepreneurs and politicians to write autobiographies, memoirs, speeches and opinion pieces. It has always been a way of helping public figures express their stories or ideas when they don’t have enough time or writing skills.

The professionalization of ghostwriting is evident and credible in the many publishing houses that offer this service for new works. Many of these writers already have their own authorial experience, which allows them to write for other people effectively. Ghostwriters gather material through interviews, research or documents provided by their contractors, transforming this information into texts that will be credited to third parties.
Long story short: chances are you’ve read a book whose writer isn’t the name on the cover and… you’re fine with that.

Ghostwriting in digital marketing

In digital marketing, ghostwriters are often hired to write various types of content, from blog articles, e-books, social media posts, newsletters, to copywriting for websites or email marketing campaigns. The aim is to help brands maintain a consistent and professional voice. The content produced by ghostwriters is often the key to the success of a digital strategy, as the quality of the writing and the ability to convey the message clearly and persuasively are crucial factors in attracting and retaining an audience.

Shee the voice of a brand example

How can we write on behalf of the brand when we are not the brand?
In truth, this is where we recognize a good copywriter: when they know how to write for others and understand communication.

Shee is an online health platform with a website and mobile app. It’s an online pharmacy with direct contact with pharmacists from the Shee pharmacy chain. But Shee is much more than this, because it has a mission, a vision and an innovative concept in Portugal.
Such an idea could only have been created by those who work in the health sector and want a solution for the people who come to them in pharmacies and clinics. And Shee’s creators want to continue helping on the spot, which means that someone has to explain, in Shee’s voice, what Shee is. Because Shee has a personality, just like Siri or Alexa: her own voice.

Shee arrived with the slogan/motto ‘With health, life is easier‘.

Half the writing work was done, because the brand’s VOICE was decided. Not the voice you hear, but the voice in communication. Deciding on the brand’s voice is much, much more than deciding whether to call the customer ‘you’ or ‘you’.

Experiment of the day: watch the 8pm news on RTP1 and watch the news on TVI at the same time. You’ll notice that it’s not the same voice, that there’s more or less objectivity, more or less time for a particular news item, a choice of different facts to be prioritized: all for the same news item. It’s the same with newspapers, your favorite supermarket, your favorite clothing brands. We buy and consume brands because they speak to us and resemble our own form of communication.

Shee had a website under construction and we needed a line of communication for social media. We needed to explain what Shee was.

In a short video, there are hours of debate, discussion, attempts, writing and more writing, trying the text out loud and various versions. All the way to Shee’s voice.

To be Shee’s voice, we need to understand who she’s talking to, finding the balance with Shee’s dream.
A ghostwriter takes on the personality of the brand. Shee can be a girl, a boy, she can be 28 or 65. But she communicates everything with the same voice, the same personality.

However, however, however: the voice never changes, but the tone of voice…
Shee is happy when it helps, but feels bad when there is no stock. And such information cannot be communicated with the same TONE OF VOICE.

In this sense, we can say that a ghostwriter is the spirit of the brand, with the spirit having various moods, just like… the living.

What happened to Alexa when she lost her voice? Not everyone can communicate like Alexa, right?

Principles of ghostwriting:

1. Confidentiality and privacy: the text can be made public, but the whole process remains between the writer and the client;
2. Adaptability: adjusting the writing style and voice to the client is an art. It’s like buying a gift for a surprise friend at the company for Christmas: you have to know what they like, even if you’ve never talked to them for more than three minutes.
3. Research and fact-checking: just like a copywriter (who knows better than to use “just like”. More than half your working time is spent researching and investigating.
4. Discretion: working behind the scenes of the brand and not doing a TikTok behind the scenes.
5. Professionalism: meeting deadlines, maintaining clear communication and being able to manage the client’s expectations efficiently. It’s not about ghosting the client; that’s something else.
6. Flexibility: or not. There are those who write about everything, there are conscientious objectors and there are specialists.
7. Quality: ensuring that the work delivered is of high quality, without grammatical or spelling errors.
8. Sharing rights: accepting that the client owns all rights to the final work, without claiming credit for authorship.

5 reasons to hire a ghostwriter:

1. They tend to be more creative and don’t make clichéd sub-headings like ‘5 reasons to hire a ghostwriter‘.
2. Having a talent for writing does not mean having digital communication skills. You study the tone of voice and the structure of the communication.
3. Managing the brand and writing about the brand are different things. Knowing the difference is a sign of objectivity. If you have a brand, avoid the Titanic business model: spend more time with customers and less writing social media posts.
4. In crisis (or complaint) management, a ghostwriter is 100% more empathetic than a chatbot. The choice of words can prevent an even bigger crisis.
5. It’s your brand’s imaginary friend: and it’s always right.

This Halloween, the sheet disguise can take on another meaning.