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What is a Copywriter?
Nikki Dale • 26 April 2020
What Does a Copywriter ACTUALLY Do?
Any writing produced for your business should be considered – and should be considered copy.
Copy can make or break your business – it is that important! I know you are rolling your eyes here – of course I would say that, it is what I do! But look at any big, successful business, and you will see the work of copy in action. Any written content is copy – from pithy one-liners in a TV campaign to the ‘listicles’ that adorn magazines.
Having looked at Google, there are some people that are asking about what a copywriter does. I thought I would create a short guide to help you understand a bit more about what I do and why!
Definition
The Dictionary.com definition of a copywriter is:
“a person who writes the text of advertisements, or publicity material”
Wikipedia, that wonderful (if often inaccurate) source of all knowledge, actually has a great definition:
“Copywriting is the act or occupation of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. The product, called copy, is written content that aims to increase brand awareness and ultimately persuade a person or group to take a particular action”
To me, and the way I write, copywriting and the copy I produce is aimed to inform and persuade your customers that you are the expert in your field, and should be the go-to business to solve a particular problem – that your business has services and/or products that your customer needs.
This means that I write in your brand voice, using industry specific terminology and information, to provide your customers with the answers they seek through Google.
Copywriting is more than just wordsmithing – words may be the output, but the input is research, conversation, writing, editing, proofreading and factchecking, managing multiple projects, sourcing images…
Copywriters create content with an agenda – promoting or selling a product, educating your audience or demonstrating your expertise.
Copywriters are not well-known – even the most prolific writers are not recognised by the public for their work. We create content for our clients as our clients so we are not credited – and that is the way it should be. If you can tell that the content is not written by the business, then the creator isn’t good at their job!
What is the difference between a copywriter and a content writer?
In today’s world, copywriter and content writers tend to be skills rather than separate roles – but there is a difference in definition if not practice.
Copywriter
A copywriter is the one who provides pithy one-liners for advertising on social media, through magazines, TV and/or radio, and direct email campaigns.
They are the sexy ones who mastermind creative campaigns with the intent to directly promote or sell – the instigators of well-known adverts like the Nike ‘Just Do It’ or the script for the Warburton’s adverts.
Content Writer
A content writer produces copy that is intended to offer deeper context. With keywords and SEO in mind, the content offers the reader information and advice, with the brand voice to give authority. It can be short blog posts, longer articles, or high-authority Content Pillars – but it is created to inform rather than directly sell.
Thanks to the largely online world we live in today, the lines between copywriter and content writer have become blurred.
Most of us now consume our information while online. Whether through adverts on YouTube, social media campaigns or through searching on Google, we are consistently seeing messages from companies.
This is part of the reason that a good copywriter has great content writing skills, and the absolute best content writers have copywriting knowledge too.
The importance of SEO in getting your business noticed means that your content has to be great (see my article on Great Content
for more about this) – but it also has to be well promoted, with copywriting skills.
Copywriting Types
Before Google, copywriters would have been dealing exclusively with the written word in brochures, press releases and other business literature, creating the scripts for TV and radio adverts, and creating direct mail campaigns.
Now the marketing landscape has exploded – online sources of information are at our fingers, and a quick Google of a question will find you hundreds of thousands of answers. Copywriters are more in demand now than ever, and they need to be able to produce content quickly and accurately in order to make an impact. Content for websites including landing pages, blog posts and articles, social media advertising campaigns and posts, white papers, reports… the list is endless.
Some copywriters focus on social media,
creating innovative campaigns tailored to the platform. You will find Facebook ad managers and Instagram story superstars – the best ones are copywriters at heart, able to find the right words to sell your product to that particular audience.
Some copywriters are direct email
ninjas that can create efficient sales funnels using your subscriber database, getting the people on your email list to not only open your emails, but to take direct action from them.
Industry-specific copywriters will create amazing case studies
and industry reports
– using their specialised knowledge to inform a specific audience – whether that is consumers or other businesses, tech leaders or upper management.
SEO copywriters create blog posts, articles
and white papers
that position their clients as the go-to expert in their business. The content is keyword-focused with Search Engine Optimisation in mind; detail-rich answers to searched-for queries allow your customers to be informed – and the more you inform, the better results you will get from inbound marketing.
Should you hire a writer on a freelance basis or create an in-house role?
This question really depends on what you need and when. Salary-wise, a great copywriter can attract a hefty payment to be your in-house writer. If you are looking for constant and consistent production of copy, then a full-time writer is an excellent investment.
Freelance writers offer more flexibility for those businesses who need copy created either on a project or ad-hoc basis. Freelance copywriters are usually paid per piece, with retainers and monthly invoicing the norm.
The difference between agencies and content mills
Many businesses will work with an agency to aid them in their marketing. This might include an entire strategy covering print, TV and radio and digital, or just SEO and online.
As part of that collaboration, content can be provided by the agency, and it is important for your business to ensure that the content you are getting is of sufficient quality.
You may not have heard of a content mill, but I am sure that you get the imagery. Content churned out quickly and cheaply, employing writers with a basic grasp of English to cram keywords into barely intelligible 500 words loosely tied in to your brand.
It is because of content mill crap that your content needs to be great – the internet is so full of this content that customers can spot it a mile off, and so can Google (other search engines are available).
If you are working with an agency that is only charging you £150 a month for SEO services, the likelihood is that content you get will be ‘churn and burn’ – quick, cheap and throwaway with no real value to you, your customers, or search engines.
How to choose a copywriter for your business
A good copywriter might have a degree in English, Journalism or something related. They might have experience working for content mills, agencies and as in-house writers. They might not have any of the above – but what they will have is a portfolio of work that demonstrates their range and abilities. This hands-on proof of what they can do will give you the reassurance that you need to make the right decision on using them.
As for me, I do not profess to be an expert on email funnels and landing pages, I am not an industry expert so would not claim to produce industry reports or case studies.
What I can do is create blogs, articles and white papers that will educate your audience, give them actionable information that will position you as the expert in your field.
If you are interested in my work, you can see examples throughout my website: link to blog posts
and articles
here, or you can access my portfolio on OneDrive
which is regularly updated.
Appoint me as your copywriter – call me on 07775 448838 or email me on nikki@nikkicobainwordsmith.co.uk
today.
New paragraph
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