A 101 guide on the world of copywriting
Have you heard someone say they are a copywriter and thought to yourself ‘what on earth is that?’ Well I’m sure you are not alone. And no its not working with intellectual property and the legal rights and obligations of copyrights.
When I commenced my freelance copywriting business, ‘what is copywriting?’ was the most common question I received. So let’s take you through a 101 guide on the world of copywriting.
What is copywriting?
Copywriting is the art of writing content for advertising and promotional purposes.
Creating compelling content is a skill in itself. The important thing is to engage with your target audience – the people that you want your business to attract.
The aim is to create and produce content (also referred to as copy) that connect with potential customers. Words that provide informative information to its readers.
Why would I need a copywriter?
There are many reasons why you would need to hire a copywriter.
- You are starting a new business.
- Your business is going through a revamp.
- You are wanting to gain further exposure to a specific target market.
- You want to freshen up your existing copy.
Some people in business have all the knowledge about their products and services and have years of experience running a business. But they need help to sell using the power of words. Copywriting is all about marketing and advertising with the purpose to sell.
Today’s evolving digital world is a huge driving factor of why you would need to hire a copywriter. Online presence is as important as ever to make sure you keep up to date and compete with other competitors in the market. Search engine optimisation (SEO) is an important aspect of online presence and is an integral part in digital marketing. Copywriters research and use key words and key phrases that search engines favour.
What can a copywriter do?
Advertising and marketing is an essential element to any business. You may already have a steady stream of customers via word-of-mouth, but you want to grow your client base. A copywriter can write content that reflects a business’s brand and tone of voice, whilst influencing a reader’s decision making.
A copywriter writes content for many marketing and advertising mediums including:
- websites
- sales pages
- social media posts
- blogs
- brochures and pamphlets
- newsletters
- newspaper and magazine articles
- feature stories
- case studies
- product descriptions
And the list goes on…
If you are in business and have already written your copy, that’s great. You can use a copywriter to review and amend your existing copy and put in place SEO techniques.
What makes a good copywriter?
Copywriting is an art – one that takes skill, knowledge and of course creativity. A copywriter takes their skills and shows them off using words.
To do this well, a copywriter needs to have some marketing knowledge. They need to analyse a business’s target audience – who are the words for? It’s one thing writing copy, but it’s another thing writing copy that engages with the target audience. Looking at human psychology helps with this – reading into how people will interpret your words and whether it will be impactful.
Competitor research is an important element – understanding the market and current trends. Having knowledge of SEO can play an important role – after all, you want your words noticed online. A business needs content that will influence a person’s decisions. Content that is informative.
A copywriter needs to have a great understanding of the business’s products and services. Each business and brand has a different tone of voice and writing style – a good copywriter can adapt copy to be consistent with these.
A good copywriter can write clear, compelling and persuasive copy – copy that connects with potential customers.
Copywriter specialties
Copywriters often niche in various industries including:
- travel
- agricultural
- legal
- medical
- financial
- construction
- small business
These are a few of the common industries – of course, there are many more!
There are copywriters that specialise in the type of material they write for. Some specialise in website copy, blogs, case studies, social media and magazine articles.
That’s copywriting in a nutshell
The next time someone talks about copywriting, you will know what it means, what a copywriter does, and how they can help a business.
Over to you
What have you learnt about copywriting? Are you ready to take the next step and hire a copywriter? If you liked this article, please share and if you have any questions, please get in touch.
If you would like more information, please send an email to crystal@crystallobbancreative.com.au or fill in the contact form here.