What is Copywriting?

Copywriting is about creating relevant and engaging content through the magic of—some would say—storytelling, whether for digital marketing purposes or personal projects. It involves research. Lots of it. It takes time, effort, and energy to craft a piece that requires more than just a mere post or two. It’s a process.

This so-called process starts with figuring out "The What." After that, you'll move on to the next step, "The Why."

In this article, you’ll learn how copywriting works, what copywriters do, and the process it takes to get your call-to-action up and running.

What Does a Copywriter Do?

First and foremost, if you're looking for something specific or have more than a few projects in mind, there are several services that copywriters cover. What’s really cool about copywriting is that it’s more than just selling or promoting; the real nitty-gritty of the job is to create meaningful and informative content. Simply put, it could be a post about the features of a product or even just wishing everyone “happy holidays.”

Essentially, I believe the purpose of copy is to help brands stand out from digital clutter, engage with the online community, drive traffic, spread awareness, and/or generate leads.

The projects you can expect from a skilled copywriter include, but are not limited to:

• SEO

• Press Releases

• Social Media

• Newsletters

• Blogs

• Creative Campaigns

• Google Ads

• Promotions/sales

  
  

These projects will vary in time and cost. Each project (no matter how big or small) can take a lot of effort and profiling—we want to maintain quality work and keep revisions to a minimum.

Side note: For each project, a copywriter should always have a brief to work with; it’s like our bible.

Writing the Copy

The copywriter will establish their copy around the 4 C's—these are normally found within a marketing strategy as well as the brief. They are:

• Clear:Are we speaking to the wants and needs of the audience? How do we sound?

• Concise: Less is more. Get to the point. How much do we want to say about X?

• Compelling:What are the pain points? How meaningful is the copy?

• Credible: How can we use content, such as thought leadership, to build trust with our audience? Customer testimonials could work here too.

Depending on your brand’s CI and demographics, the tone of the copy will vary.

For example, if your target audience is professional male athletes, your copy will sound motivated and inspirational. If your target audience consists of working women who like to shop for healthy food for their families, your tone will be more easygoing, nurturing, and informative.

The Brief

A copywriter will refer to the brief given by an account manager and/or the client. The brief consists of a list of requirements that must meet the goals and objectives, tone of voice, target audience, call-to-action, deadline, and more. Without the brief, it’s a recipe for disaster. One cannot function without a good brief.

Side note: You can find detailed information [here] on how to write a copywriting brief.

For example, once I have the brief, I will follow the steps and tailor my copy accordingly. The brief will specify how many posts you need, who it’s for, when it will be posted, how many words the article should have, etc. It might also include brainstorming with designers, strategists, and community managers. The process can sometimes feel long, but in the end, it’s definitely worth the wait.

Just remember, if you want quality copy as part of your marketing efforts, patience and planning are key.

Digital Marketing & Copywriting

When it comes to digital marketing and copywriting, there’s a lot to unpack. First, we need to establish what industry we’re looking at. Second, a copywriter should be flexible and know when to apply best practices based on a client’s request, locally and internationally. These clients can range from various industries, such as banking and finance, retail and fashion, education, photography, and more.

B2B and B2C Marketing

Most of us know that business-to-business (B2B) is when one business deals with another, while business-to-consumer (B2C) is when a business deals directly with consumers. The point is, they’re used differently. Even if you utilize both models from one business, the tone of voice for B2B and B2C is different by nature.

For example, a printer company wants to sell ink in bulk to large corporations (B2B). The same company also wants to sell home-approved printers to families via resellers (B2C). How technical do you think the approach should be? Not very. Just different strokes for different audiences.

You can have one business that deals solely with B2B or B2C, or you can have another business that is part of a network where everything starts at the top and trickles down to a third party—B2B2C. How do you conduct your business day-to-day? Are you B2B, B2B2B, or B2C?

Summary

Now that we’ve covered a portion of "The What" and "The Why" in digital marketing, you can see the bigger picture of how much work goes into writing copy. At the end of the day, all a copywriter really needs is everything and anything—a brief and enough time.

For copywriting services, visit my homepage.