Copywriting is one of the skills that will be most in demand in the world of digital marketing. Copywriting jobs can pay more than $100,000 a year.
Why? Someone who can write great copy can help any business. Copywriting can make or break the success of any business, from start-ups to the Fortune 500 and everything in between.
The truth is that anyone can learn how to write copy. To learn this skill, you don't need a degree or special training.
Check out these facts about copywriting:
Copywriting is one of the few skills that is easy to learn and pays well at the same time.
Good copywriters can easily make six figures without much trouble.
Copywriters are in high demand right now.
Copywriters do not need to go to school or get training.
Most copywriters work from home these days.
Copywriting Defined
Copywriting is the art of writing advertising text. Its purpose is to sell your goods or services while giving your brand a voice.
The main goal of copywriting is to get people to do something, whether it's to buy something, sign up for something, or do something else.
Copywriting comes in many different forms, such as ads, web pages, brochures, white papers, social media content, and company taglines.
Copywriting is, at its most basic, the words a business uses to get a consumer closer to making a purchase.
This includes writing the words on a website, also called "copy." Copy can be on the back of a carton of orange juice or on business flyers that are handed out at events.
You can find copy on business cards, emails, sales pages, newsletters, ads, video scripts, Instagram posts, LinkedIn profiles, landing pages, billboards, and so much more.
Copy shows up in one way or another almost everywhere you interact with a business. Without copy, it's hard for businesses to tell customers anything at all.
Copywriting can at first feel like a small part of marketing. But the more you go into it, the bigger it gets. After a few years of copywriting, you realize how much goes into this job.
However, it is best to understand that writing copy isn't just about words. Great copy tells an interesting story and shows what your brand stands for. It pulls at the strings that make people decide what to do when they read what you write.
Industry experts point out that copywriting doesn't sell goods or services. Instead, it sells feelings and ways of living.
Copywriting is more than just coming up with cute words for your next marketing campaign, and this is far from the creative writing class you took in high school. Copywriting is both a creative and a scientific process. Before we are writers, we are salespeople and marketers. There are business goals to reach, certain rules to follow, and customers to connect with.
But as we go on, you'll find out that the most creative writing is really just based on scientific methods that have been tested and improved for decades. You can also learn how to write scientific copy.
Getting to know the copywriter and his role in your business A copywriter is your expert who generates the written communications for your business, brand, or organization.
He develops written content for your business or organization, typically with the intention of selling or promoting a product, service, or brand.
Copywriters are responsible for all business, organization, and brand textual communications.
However, some mistakenly believe that "copywriter" and "copyright" are synonymous. Truth is, they are not. The legal term for intellectual property is copyright.
Copywriters devote the bulk of their time on... writing copy.
In writing copy, it’s important for copywriters to include this workflow process:
Ask pertinent inquiries to get essential details.
Select the suitable copywriting structure
Select the suitable copywriting structure
Investigate competitors
Get feedback from stakeholders
Plan every portion of the copy
Perform several rounds of editing
Meantime, a copywriter spends most of their time writing and revising the text. Copywriting will take up about 75% of your time as a copywriter. The other 25% will be spent on meetings, reviews of performance and feedback, and working with other types of marketers on the same project. For successful freelance copywriting, a word from the experts: write only 25% of the time. The other 75% of your time may be spent on pitching, managing customers, running your business, and marketing your brand.
Tips To Becoming a Good Freelance Copywriter
Freelancing is the only practical alternative available to you if you want to generate a significant amount of money in the next 12 months.
To tell you the truth, this is a very positive development.
People have a tendency to believe that their jobs are more secure than they actually are, but this is not the case.
Taking a closer look at the so-called "stability" of your job, you realize that your wage is not under your control in any way, and you don't have any control of your job security.
Furthermore, you don't control your workflow process, and you have no control of your time.
Come to think of it: you have no say in the matter of who your employer is or how they direct your work.
Meanwhile, when you decide to become a freelance copywriter, you automatically assume control and accountability for all of these aspects at the same time.
If you stick with it, despite the fact that it will be difficult, especially at first, you will realize that you have complete control over your professional life and your income, to a degree that you had never before considered to be feasible.
Tip #1 Learn The Art Of Persuasive Writing Good copywriting involves the ability to persuade. You have to write in a way that makes people want to do what you want them to do.
You don't sell watches, you sell luxuries. You don't sell insurance; you sell protection. Figure out what emotions you want the reader to feel, and then find the right words to make them feel that way.
At its core, copywriting is just writing to persuade. You are writing words with the goal of getting people to do something.
This is why copywriting is a skill that can be used in so many different ways. Writing persuasively is a skill that can be used almost anywhere, regardless of job, role, or industry.
The first step to becoming a copywriter is to learn the basics of persuasive writing. There are a lot of resources to help you do this.
If you want to be a copywriter, you will have to spend the rest of your life learning how to write persuasively. This skill has no limit, so don't think of it as a requirement. Just start with the basics and keep going down this list.
Tip #2 Perfect Your Grammar
Even though this should be obvious, you wouldn't believe that even the experts find mistakes in their copy. If you make spelling or grammar mistakes in your text, it could hurt your overall goal.
People have a bad opinion of a brand, product, or service when they find a mistake in the copy, especially if it is short.
True, a 3,000-word blog post can get away with one or two mistakes in grammar. Experts , however, point out that a few-line spelling mistakes on a homepage or in a sales email are much more important. So make sure to correct your grammar errors!
Don't give in to the urge to rush through your grammar-checking process. Use software to make changes to your text, and read it to yourself. Furthermore, check it twice and even three times before you put it online. If you need to, have someone else look over your work.
Tip #3 Create Channel -Specific Copy
Not every piece of copy you write can be reused or repurposed for another marketing channel. Billboards and landing pages should have different text. A social media post should have a different message than an email.
Even if you're promoting the same product or promotion in every way, you need to write something different for each one.
Depending on the channel, you'll need to change things like the tone, style, length, and delivery. In general, the further down the sales funnel you go, the longer the copy gets.
Even though this isn't a hard-and-fast rule, it works in most situations. A brand-building billboard won't have more than a few words on it. Your home page will have less text than a landing page inside your site. The information on a product page will be a bit more detailed than on a landing page.
The way email copy is written will be different from the way product pages and landing pages are written.
So don't just write copy without thinking about how people will read it. Always know where your writing is going and make changes accordingly.
Tip #4 Convey A Direct-To-The-Point Clear Message
Good writing gets right to the point. You should be able to say what you want to say in as few words as possible. Use short sentences and paragraphs, and don't use fluff or filler words.
Learn how to write punchy copy. When you write in long sentences, it's easy for the reader to get lost or confused.
If you are clear, there are times when you can break the rules of grammar. For example, to make a point, you could write three one-word sentences in a row.
The best copy starts with a powerful hook, a captivating lead. You need to find a way to get people's attention, whether it's in the headline, subheading, subject line, or first few words.
Use action words to draw people in. You could begin with a statistic, a number, or an interesting fact.
An old saying about writing copy says that the point of a headline is to get people to read your first line. Your first line should make people want to read the second line, and so on. So, if your lead doesn't grab your readers' attention, the rest of your copy won't work.
Tip #5 Be SEO-Friendly and Jargon-Free
It's always best to write text that makes your content easy to find with a search engine. Use keywords that will help your pages rank well in SERPs (search engine page results).
High-ranking content is made up of a lot of different parts, and keywords are just one of them. Even though SEO-friendly text is important, it won't make or break you on its own. So don't force keywords into your copy if it makes it less good.
Also, don't use terms that are only used in your industry.
If you're a lawyer, even someone who hasn't studied law should be able to understand what you say. If you're a doctor, make sure that anyone who isn't a doctor can understand your copy.
Don't use any slang or acronyms. People usually think of slang as unprofessional, unless it's part of your brand's image. You also can't assume that everyone knows what your acronyms mean.
Great copywriters can take a complicated topic and explain it so that even a fifth-grader can understand it.
Keep Improving To Reach Your Goals
For all you beginner copywriters, take heart!
Take it one step at a time, continue learning, and surely you’re headed in the right direction.
Like with anything else, practice is the best way to get better at writing right now. Not every piece of writing you do will be the best ever. But the more you do it, the better you'll get.
As a beginner, you should get good at writing short pieces before taking on bigger projects. Before you move on to landing pages or white papers, you should start with headlines and value propositions.
One quick tip from industry insiders, be conversational. How you talk is how you should write. Spend more time planning and doing research than you do writing.
Take note of the good stuff we mentioned in this guide, continue improving and learning from the experts. And yes, please stay tuned and continue following our website to be always in the loop for copywriting trends, innovations, and updates in digital marketing.
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