A career in Copywriting
By: Abby Hindle, Halal Incorp
Are you considering making a career in copywriting? Perhaps you’re considering a new side gig? Maybe you’re just curious as to what copywriting is, and what such a job involves. Either way, this article will hopefully serve as a brief overview of what copywriting is, what copywriting as a career involves, what value a copywriter can bring to a company and how to begin your journey in this field.
What is a copywriter?
A copywriter is hired to write text as part of advertising and marketing. It’s their job to convince people to take action, such as by making a purchase, and to raise brand awareness. They may be involved in the creation of billboards, jingles, blog posts, social media posts, adverts, sales letters, brochures, or any other form of advertising you can think of.
As the examples above clearly demonstrate, copywriting is ubiquitous. You probably haven’t gone a day without seeing the results of some copywriters’ hard work. The extent to which copywriting shapes our daily life means that good copywriting is immensely valuable.
A career in Copywriting:
Why hire a copywriter? Hiring a professional copywriter offers great benefits to your business. A good copywriter shapes your brand’s voice and its presence in the world. They will help your brand stand out and draw in potential viewers. Your copywriters’ style will create your brand’s personality and forge a connection between your company and potential customers.
A good copywriter with an understanding of SEO will also help boost your position on search engines. Utilising things like keywords, link building and web crawlers, will raise your ranking, placing you higher where you are more likely to be seen when someone searches for something related to your business.
They will also have a range of experience in creating various content, from TV adverts to brochures to blogs to social media posts. They will have insight into the nuances that go into creating these different types of content, allowing them to get the most out of each kind. They will have the skill to create a wide array of content to suit your needs.
Finally, a copywriter helps you avoid bad copy. That seems obvious but it’s worth stating. Bad copy, riddled with grammatical errors, typos, poor spelling, and so on, is hugely off-putting. It makes you appear unprofessional and untrustworthy. Having a copywriter offering their expertise increases your credibility and presents your message in a way that will compel viewers.
A career in Copywriting
Becoming a copywriter: Copywriting is an in-demand field. Every business needs to hire someone to create ad copy for them and the role of a copywriter has only become more varied as new platforms have arisen. A well-trained copywriter is hard to find, however, boosting their value. If you want to enter the copywriting field, here are some ideas to get you started.
The first and most obvious is to learn how to write persuasively. This is the skill at the heart of all forms of copywriting. There are free resources to learn how to do this easily available on the internet. While writing is not a skill you can ever peak in – there’s always a way to improve – getting the fundamentals nailed shouldn’t take you very long at all.
Secondly, move on to skills more specific to copywriting. Learn how to craft a headline – crucial to all copywriting. Learn to write a good value proposition, a landing page, a sales email, an advert and a video script. If that seems intimidating don’t worry – you probably know more about how to write these things than you think. Copy is so common in our daily lives you probably have subconsciously absorbed how these things are meant to sound; you just need to refine your skills. Resources, again, are available freely and abundantly online.
Next up, choose your niche. This may be a type of copy you wish to write or a market you wish to write for. This increases your value as a writer – specialising makes you stand out in your field, allowing you to become someone people know. It also builds your skills in this area. The end result is you become a trusted specialist in your field, one people know to go to for good quality copy and one they are willing to pay more for.
A career in Copywriting
Now, get to know your industry. Sub to newsletters, attend industry events, go to seminars, read books, and pay attention to all. The. Ad copy related to that industry you can find.
Getting involved in your industry will also help your next step which is finding your support. Making it in any industry is hard without a group of people in that industry to help you. Stay connected to other copywriters and develop relationships with them whenever you can. Ways to connect with fellow writers include: joining critique groups, participating in forums, or joining a copywriting mastermind group.
Finally, figure out how to market yourself. This should be easy – you’re a copywriter after all. Think about what benefits you can provide. What makes you unique? Why should any clients want to hire you? And find a concise way to explain these things to potential employers.
A career in Copywriting: Copywriting is a vast and growing field with lots of room for new people to get involved. It’s important to understand the basics of the field and what it can do for you, whether you’re looking to hire a writer or become one.
Disclaimer: The view of the author does not necessarily represent the views of Halal Incorp