What Is Copywriting?
Copywriting uses the written word to persuade someone to take action. This could be convincing someone to buy a certain product or try a new service. This is very simplified definition — in recent years, the world of copywriting has expanded rapidly to cover all forms of media and various types of industries.
Copywriting has been around for a long time. From newspaper advertisements to the trusted billboard sign, there’s a rich history to copywriting that goes back centuries.
Though it’s a crucial skill that many companies need to operate, copywriting is a relatively exclusive profession that, until recently, was slightly obscure. With the digital marketing industry booming, the demand for copywriters has increased, leading to many writers leveraging their skills to the art of copywriting. It’s becoming more popular, more mainstream, and yet, it’s still a bit of a mysterious profession.
Tell someone you’re copywriter, they’ll likely look at you a little funny. Sometimes, it’s hard to explain what you do — even if you are a copywriter.
What is a copywriter? What exactly do they do? Is this actually a sustainable profession? In this article, we’ll uncover the interesting art of copywriting.
What Does a Copywriter Do?
A copywriter writes taglines, call to actions, slogans, articles and even video scripts for the purpose of marketing.
Copywriting is located in the advertiser’s toolkit. As a business or service, actually building your business and getting good at your craft is only half of the battle — you also need to let people know that you’re offering those services.
Many of us might have done some copywriting in our childhood without even knowing. Say you’re a middle-schooler looking for some extra cash to spend during the summer. You live in a neighborhood with many busy families that need their lawns cut, so you tap into the old reliable business — lawn mowing. You get your lawn mower, fuel and have everything you need — but people still need to know about your business.
You can tell your friends you’re starting the business, go door to door to tell your neighbors and offer your services — you might even put some small signs up to let people know what you’re doing. You put your number for contact and the name of your business. Maybe you add a call to action — call now!
That “call now” represents copywriting in its most simplest and basic form. With two little words, along with becoming an advertiser, a marketing guru and a businessperson, you’ve become a copywriter all before reaching high school.
Obviously, the world of copywriting is much more complex than just a couple of words on a yard sign. Every year copywriting is becoming more skilled and more detailed, with various layers and types.
Types of Copywriting
Copywriting is an interesting profession in that it covers more than just one specific area. In the past, you may have only found copywriters writing ads in newspapers or magazines. Now, copywriters are writing for a huge variety of mediums and industries.
Generally, you can separate copywriting into two main types — content marketing and direct response.
1. Direct Response
Direct response copywriting is content that directly targets consumers. Its copy that aims to convert customers directly. The example of the “call now” copy on the yard sign, for example, would be direct response copywriting.
You’re speaking directly to the customer and using words to persuade them to contact you. Today, you typically see direct response copywriting in a few different places:
Sales Copy: If you’ve ever gone to a website and read product descriptions for clothes, then you’ve read sales copy. These are usually descriptions of the products that make them appealing and use a persuasive tone.
Promotional Materials: Flyers, letters for fundraisers — anything you read that is promotional would fall under this direct response category.
Sales Emails: Check your spam folder and you’ll likely find a treasure trove of sales emails from retailers and restaurants, all persuading you with enticing product descriptions or discounts on merchandise.
2. Content Marketing
Markets are finding new ways to leverage copywriting to convert customers. One of these techniques has become extremely popular — content marketing.
As you might have noticed, content is everywhere. From podcasts, videos to blogs, there’s no shortage of content. If you want to find something in your niche, you probably just have to do a quick Google search and you’ll find it.
Companies are leveraging this hunger for content to feature it on their own websites and social media platforms. One way they leverage this is through written content — that’s where copywriters come in.
Here are some ways copywriters help driver a company’s content marketing:
Blogs
They used to be something you heard about a boringly dull dinner conversation — someone had started their own travel blog and they couldn’t wait to share it with you. Today, blogs have become legitimate ways to make money and draw customers to your site.
Longform content has exploded across the internet, offering people access to valuable information on topics across the entire spectrum. Copywriters are the ones crafting this content, blending research, company voice and skilled writing to create content that converts customers.
A skilled copywriter can even pair blog writing with search engine optimization (SEO) tactics, which can use commonly-searched queries to drive searches for a certain page.
Ebooks
Some copywriters may specialize in writing ebooks, which are are usually around 2,000 words and cover a certain topic. Many of them are how-to books that may teach someone about a certain industry. An ebook will be split into various sections, each one containing around 300 words.
Social Media
Even social media needs good copy. All those tweets you’re seeing from your favorite band may actually be the product of a skilled copywriter. Instagram captions, TikTok headlines and Facebook postsa are all areas where copywriters can flex their creative muscles.
Whitepapers
Whitepapers are in-depth information documents that usually range around 2,500 words or more. Though it is often used in content marketing as a form of promotion, a whitepaper is mostly intended to let readers know about the complex workings of a certain product or service. The government also uses whitepapers as a way to let people know about certain issues.
The whitepaper is a great example of the wide breadth of a copywriter’s job — it can be something as simple as a “call now!” call to action on a yard sign to a deeply-researched, complex document that covers a particular issue in the world.
Email Newsletters
Email marketing has been growing steadily in recent years and has become cemendted as one of the most important parts of business owners’ advertising repetoriew. Weekly email blasts can help retain customers and even gain new loyal followers. But in order to create effective email newsletters, you need to have effective copy that attracts the reader’s attention. Copywriters can be perfect for those looking to craft engaging email newsletters for their audience.
Who uses Copywriters?
Any company that is looking to grow and flourish can benefit from hiring a copywriter. Huge companies like Coca-Cola and Nike can could potentially make millions from a well-placed tagline, whereas a small business may just be looking for a few extra customers to boost sales. Copywriters work on both ends of the spectrum. Here are some industries that use copywriters.
Retail
Go to any retail store website and you’ll likely find descriptions of clothes and about pages describing wha they offer. Copywriters can do wonders for a retail company. They can create a bridge from what the company offers to what the customers want using a few well-placed sentences. Healthcare
Healthcare is fast becoming one of the most popular industries for copywriters. The public is hungry for knowledge about the helthacre industry and how to navigate all its various intricacies — copywriters can help break down that complicated, jargony subject matter down into manageable bites. Writers can also help describe what a certain healthcare company does — a lot of times, even just describing what a particular company does in this industry can be difficult.
The healthcare industry can also be extremely profitable for copywriters — there are many clients who are willing to invest a seasoned writer.
Finance
Finance is huge world that covers everything from the stock market to a blog about how to save money. Like healthcare, it’s another industry filled with complex issues and jargon. The right copywriter can cut through all the fluff and let people know what’s important.
Startup
Copywriters are great for startups — in order to let people know what you offer, you have to communicate it clearly. A lot of times, this is via the internet. A good copywriter will be able to sum up what a new startup offers and show why they’re worthy of becoming successful.
New Tech
This is an exciting industry for many writers. New tech covers anything that’s on the horizon — cryptocurrency, blockchain, virtual reality, the metaverse, and much, much more. Even though many of these are in the starting stages, many people are hungry for more information and want to know about these exciting, somewhat vague technologies. As a copywriter, you can let people know what these new innovations offer. If you’re lucky, you may even become an authority on the topic and have a reputation when the new technology takes hold in the mainstream.
Education
Recently, the education system has been upended and people everywhere have been thinking twice about traditional pathways to a degree. Other educational options have popped up. They just need to let people know why they’re the best option — copywriters can help.
Real Estate
The housing market will get hot and cold, but one thing will stay the same — it will always need copywritres to describe properties, lure customers to their listings and describe what a certain agency is offering.
Legal
There’s perhaps no industry more complicated and convoluted with words and jargon than the legal world. If you want to dip your toes into this deep pit of complex wordplay, the payoff could be big.
How Much Do Copywriters Make?
The average salary of copywriter is fluid and can differ widely according to who you ask. Obviously, someone who is just starting out won’t make millions — many writers have horror stories of pumping out multiple articles per day for content mills. But as you work your way up the copywriting world, you’ll understand your craft more, charge more for your work and even collect high-paying clients who will value what you do.
The great thing about copywriting is that how much you make is ultimately up to you — the more work you put into it and the better you become, the better chance you’ll of landing those bigger clients and getting paid.
Some of the best copywriters are making six figures and much more by simply writing great copy.
Is Copywriting a Good Career?
Copywriting is a great career — if you have what it takes. Many people might look at the description of copywriter and think, “well, of course I can do that!” But the true challenge of a copywriter isn’t necessarily writing — it’s sticking with the grind year after year, making those small strides towards improvement. Before you take the leap, it’s important to take a look at few key strengths you’ll need to become a great copywriter:
Researching Skills
When you’re a copywriter, you’ll sometimes need to take the role of a journalist — researching your industry, asking clients about what they do and maybe even interviewing sources. Sometimes, you may need to read through long, complex documents with jargon you’ve never heard before. This is especially true for healthcare clients — many times you’ll be scrolling through government health documents looking for reliable statistics. As a copywriter, you’ll need to synthesize this information quickly and then put your own spin on it, making it engaging, readable and simple.
Empathy
Though it might not seem that important, empathy is one of the most important traits you can have as a copywriter. This is because each time you write something, you’re writing it for someone — someone with thoughts, feelings, fears, ambitions, insecurities and passions. If you touch one one of those emotions even briefly, you can effectively hook someone to your copy, which in turn will hook them to your client’s brand. To be a good copywriter is to write good copy — to be a great copywriter is to step onto the other side of page and access what others are feeling. That allows you to breathe life into your words.
A Knack for Writing
Obiously, a knack for writing is going to help you become a great copywriter. Though it’s not a requirement, a natural love for the written word will propel you through those tough days where you’re struggling to get a coherent sentence down on the page.
How Do I Become a Copywriter?
The best wat to become a copywriter is to start writing. If you’ve never done copywriting before, the first thing you’ll want to do is start building a portfolio. Find a topic you’re interested in and start writing about it. Create a few different articles in a few different areas of expertise and soon you’ll have your own homemade portfolio that you can then send to potential clients. Often times the hardest part is finding that first client.
The first client doesn’t have to be Apple — it can be something as simple as writing a blog post for your family member’s lawn care website. From there, you can start gaining some traction, build visibility and turn your dream into a reality.
