Copywriting is the act or occupation ofwriting text for the purpose ofadvertising or other forms ofmarketing. Copywriting is aimed at selling products or services.[1] The product, calledcopy or sales copy, is written content that aims to increasebrand awareness and ultimately persuade a person or group to take a particular action.[2]
Copywriters help to createbillboards,brochures,catalogs,jinglelyrics,magazine andnewspaper advertisements,sales letters and otherdirect mail, scripts fortelevision orradio commercials,taglines,white papers,website andsocial media posts,pay-per-click, and othermarketing communications. Copywriters aim to cater to thetarget audience's expectations while keeping thecontent and copy fresh, relevant, and effective.[3]
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Many copywriters are employed in marketing departments,advertising agencies,public relations firms, orcopywriting agencies, or are self-employed asfreelancers. They may work at a client's office, acoworking office, a coffeehouse, or remotely from home.[1]
Copywriters also work in-house for retail chains, book publishers, or other big firms that advertise frequently. They also writeadvertorials for newspapers, magazines, and broadcasters.
A copywriter's job is related to, but different from, that of atechnical writer. Even though these jobs may overlap, the style guides for the end product have different purposes:
Traditionally, the level of education needed to become a copywriter is most often a Bachelor's degree in English, advertising,journalism, or marketing. That is still the case for in-house copywriters. However, freelance copywriters today can learn the craft from copywriting courses or mentors. Many clients accept or even prefer writing samples over formal copywritingcredentials.[clarification needed][4]
In 2018, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported an annual median salary of $62,170 for writers and authors. In 2019, PayScale.com stated that the expected salary for copywriters ranged from $35,000–$73,000.[5]
John Emory Powers (1837–1919) was the world's firstfull-time copywriter.[6][7][8] Since then, some copywriters have become well-known within the industry because they founded major advertising agencies, and others because of their lifetime body of work. Manycreative artists worked as copywriters before becoming famous in other fields.[9]
David Ogilvy (1911–1999) is known as the father of advertising. He is known for the headline: "at 60 miles an hour, the loudest noise in this new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock".[10] His works include books on the advertising field such asOgilvy on Advertising andConfessions of an Advertising Man.[11]
Leo Burnett (1891—1971) was named byTime as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century.[12] He was the founder ofLeo Burnett Worldwide. His memorableMarlboro Man is one of the most successful campaigns ever.[citation needed] His company was acquired byPublicis Groupe in 2002.
There are many ways advertisers try to appeal to their client base and have different types of advertising executions to do so. This includes a straight sell, scientific/technical evidence, demonstration, comparison, testimonial, slice of life, animation, personality symbols, imagery, dramatization, humor, and combinations.[13]
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The internet has expanded the range of copywriting opportunities to includelanding pages and other web content, online advertisements, emails, blogs, social media, and other forms of electronic communication.
The internet has brought new opportunities for copywriters to learn their craft, do research and view others' work. Clients, copywriters and art directors can more readily find each other, making freelancing a viable job option. There are also many new websites that make becoming a freelance copywriter a much more organized process. In recent years,Generative AI tools have opened up copywriting to small business owners and non-copywriters.
Experimenting and ongoing re-evaluation are part of the process.[18]
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Web copy may include among its objectives the achievement of higherrankings in search engines. Originally, this involved the strategic placement and repetition of keywords and phrases on web pages, but writing in a manner that human readers would consider normal, as well as their inclusion into meta tags, page headings, and sub-headings.[19][20] In the case ofGoogle, a copywriter would tailor content to its "E-E-A-T" algorithm, which ranks search results based on experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.[21]
Inbook publishing, the back of the book contains a blurb that presents a summary or details pertaining to the information inside. The author uses the back cover to grab the attention of the audience as well as provides the information for what the book contains and persuades the customer to develop an interest in the product.[22]
B2B businesses sell their products and services to other companies, instead of regular customers. For instance, the manufacturers sell their products to warehouses, factories, etc. Copywriters produce sales content to describe the benefits of purchasing the products. The tone is typically formal, conversational, and clear. Since businesses explore various vendors before buying the product, there should be a lot of engaging and appealing fresh content. B2B marketing materials include e-books, infographics, press releases, web pages, email sequences, scripts forpodcasts, webinars, and so forth.[23]
Brand copywriters help develop the tone of voice of a particular brand. They create and implement a writing style and personality consistent across all communications coming from the brand.
Brand copywriting helps increase brand awareness among the target audience so that a customer thinks about the company first before buying a product. The copywriters craft a unique story that resonates with the target audience, promoting or selling a product or an idea using creative campaigns for the target audience.
B2C businesses aim to sell products and services directly to customers. The main goal is to persuade the customer to take prompt action. Prominent examples are supermarkets, brick-and-mortar stores, online stores, and so on. The copywriters uses long content with consistent branding, bulletin points, sub heads, shorter sentences, and paragraphs to highlight the features of the products.
