What is copywriting? What kind of people are copywriters, and what’s it like to hire a professional copywriter?
The first one is easy. Copywriting is about persuading people. It’s using words in ways that encourage people to take an action. If you don’t know where you can find copywriting, you just haven’t been looking.
Businesses use copywriters to:
Tell people about their products and services
Build awareness of their brand or their people
Increase traffic to their website, or social media accounts
Generate ‘buzz’, win more business, and build a following of potential buyers
Build trust and show credibility
All with the ultimate goal to… make more money
Everywhere you look, you’ll find examples of copywriting. Some of it good, some of it so-so, and some of it mildly bewildering. Really great copywriting is harder to spot, but you’ll know when you see it: it usually prompts a reaction like “now that’s clever” or “I want one of those”.
Car companies are the undisputed heavyweights when it comes to pumping out toxic copy.
Photo by @LaurenGasser
Most examples of BAD copywriting get strangled at birth or consigned to the ideas bin fairly early on. But if you ever do get to spot a piece of cringeworthy, schadenfreude-inducing copy that has climbed over the fence and made it into the outside world, well it can be glorious.
This golden nugget from Hyundai demonstrates the point perfectly (credit for finding it goes to @LaurenGasser via Twitter).
Why is copywriting important?
Don’t let the social media age fool you. 😬
Words still matter. They matter more now than ever before. Technology has simply made it easier for each of us to put our words in front of lots of an audience of potentially millions of people.
But copywriting is the process of figuring out the right words so that whoever you’re hoping to reach your words will understand what you want them to do, think or feel.
Most copywriters work within an agency, but there’s a growing army of freelance copywriters operating across the UK. I’m one of them.
My life as a copywriter
I’ve been a professional copywriter for more than two decades. During that time, I’ve worked almost exclusively within the investment and financial services industries, as an investment writer. Why?
Because investment and financial services sell complicated products to the public which often come with a lot of strict rules attached.
Copywriting within the investment and financial services industry takes discipline. Not only are you trying to persuade people to trust you with large amounts of money, but there are no guarantees they’ll get their money back. You must be extra careful that you don’t over-promise or gloss over the risks that come with investing. Get the balance wrong, and the company you’re writing for could face a hefty fine, have their business suspended and get a public telling off.
So, if I was forced to choose, I’d say that investment writing is my copywriting ‘niche’.
Becoming a freelance copywriter
This is my second stint as a freelance copywriter. I’m having a great time so far. I love talking to new clients, writing copy that impresses them, and trying to building a freelance writing business, one sentence at a time.
Copywriting is a craft, and I’m learning more about my craft now than I did when I was working in a marketing team, where I was considered the copywriting ‘expert’.
Copywriting requires practice, and when you’re a professional copywriter you never really stop learning. And, because people are fiendishly contrary, hard to please, inconsistent and confusing, copy that works with some people will be hated by others. As a professional copywriter, you have to take this all in your stride and trust your judgement.
You can’t please everyone all of the time, and life would be a life more boring if we did.
The world of copywriting
You’d expect the world of copywriting to be very competitive and snarky, but that’s not the case. Most of the freelance copywriters I know are very supportive of each other, they love to give credit when it’s due, and they want everyone to do well. Perhaps that’s partly because copywriting is not very well understood, and not really valued by the wide world. Copywriters are one big community.
That’s also because copywriters have certain skills, such as empathy, listening, and they are experts at connecting different things. What do I mean? Here’s a quick shortlist…
Copywriters understand their audience
Empathy is one of the most important tools in a copywriter’s toolbox. You need to understand and care about your audience if you want to connect with them. Putting yourself in the shoes of someone else is one of the best ways to write really valuable, attention-grabbing copy. If you can understand that other person, you can appeal to their nature, and convince them. But writing with empathy is the starting point, not the end goal. Empathy isn’t about guesswork. It’s about listening.
Copywriters are always listening
When you write for a living, it’s important to write in ways that reflect how people live. Copywriters develop a finely tuned ear for conversation, because they know that conversational writing is easier to understand and helps you to build up trust quickly.
Why else is it important to listen? Because when you’re listening, you increase the chances of actually learning something. Listening is the best form of consumer research there is. Other people won’t have the same experiences as you, the same social background, education, etc.
Too often, businesses write like pushy salespeople. They want to get their foot in the door and overpower you with sales messages. Good copywriting is about engagement, and bringing people on a journey with you. With great copywriting, the other audience becomes the hero of the story, not you or your business. But to get to the standard of great copywriting, you have to know them well enough to make them the hero.
Copywriters never stop reading
When you were a kid, were you the type who read the cereal box in the morning, while you ate your cereal? Me too. It’s how I learned what Riboflavin is. By the way, did you know that Riboflavin (also known as vitamin B2) is good for curing migraines? There’s a nice helpful bit of content for you.
Copywriters are constantly reading, because reading means you never stop learning. And the more you learn, the more you can make connections that will attract, amuse, engage or educate your audience.
Copywriters are never happy with the first draft
According to Ernest Hemingway “the first draft of anything is shit”. He didn’t actually say that (never trust the internet). But the sentiment is valid. Here’s another one from Hemingway (possibly): “The only kind of writing is rewriting”.
A professional copywriter will never let you see their first draft. Instead, they’ll write it, and sit on it. Stop what they’re doing. Go for a walk, have a cup of tea. Take a nap. Walk the dog. Do anything else instead.
And when they are ready, or when the deadline is fast approaching, they’ll look at the first draft with fresh eyes, and make improvements here and there. The end-product may look unrecognisable from the first draft, or it may only have minor adjustments.
The point is that a professional copywriter loves what they do - writing is never a chore to them. So, you can feel assured they will take the time available to create the best possible version of the work before they hand it over to outside scrutiny.
Just make sure you give your copywriter a deadline, and tell them when the job is complete, or they’ll never feel truly ‘finished’.
Copywriters love words, and hate word laziness
One of the advantages of hiring a professional copywriter is that they are really good at writing. Who would have expected that? But the business world is full of non-professional writers who are ‘having a go’ and causing more damage to their business then they realise. You can spot their copy a mile off:
They pepper their websites and product brochures with jargon and acronyms, because they want to sound important, and cleverer than the audience.
They talk about providing solutions instead of describing what they actually do (because they don’t want to put people off).
They haven’t tried to figure out what makes their business different, or special, and they don’t have the time to explain it to their potential customers
What’s the best thing about hiring a professional copywriter?
In a nutshell, a professional copywriter will add value to any business by giving it the persuasive tools it needs to help win more clients, and to get your existing clients to keep trusting. It’s that simple.
They’ll help you articulate your messages in a way that resonates not with you, but with your audience.
They’ll sell your audience on the benefits of your product or service, because they know that this is the best way to get the customer to imagine buying it.
They’ll help you build a reputation for being helpful, insightful, opinionated and relevant. They’ll give personality and warmth to your website, your brochures, everything that a potential client sees.
They’ll help show your clients why they should trust you and keep buying from you.
Is copywriting all just about selling?
Someone recently asked me: “What does a copywriter actually do?” I gave them my standard response almost without thinking: “A copywriter uses words to persuade people to buy whatever you’re selling”.
But the words sounded cynical as I said them. Surely there’s more to copywriting than just persuading money to change hands? So, after, I made a quick list some of the best things I’d done over the past 12 months. Here’s what I came up with:
I helped someone overcome their fear of public speaking to give an inspiring and deeply personal presentation to a room full of hundreds of people (they got a standing ovation)
I helped a recruitment expert who didn’t feel confident writing emails to find a unique voice for his business
I helped a financial adviser who “didn’t know where to start” to build a successful email marketing programme to his client base
I created educational guides to help people feel better informed about potentially life-changing financial decisions
I helped small charities to promote themselves and recruit more volunteers
I helped companies win more business by putting their customers first, rather than just talking about themselves.
Across each of them, one word was consistent. Yes, copywriting is about knowing how to sell, but it all starts with being helpful. So, the next time someone asks me what a copywriter does, I’ll say this: a copywriter helps businesses get noticed, helps people to be their best selves, and helps everyone around them to see things differently.
If your business could use some copywriting help, call 07824 703101 or send me an email and let’s have a conversation.