What is a copywriter?
The longer I work as a copywriter, the more I realise that most people don’t have any idea what a copywriter actually is.
So what exactly does a copywriter do? What’s copy? And does it have anything to do with copyright? Let’s set the record straight.
What is a copywriter?
In a nutshell: we write words for businesses to use in their marketing.
Essentially, we act as a ghostwriter for the businesses who hire us. What I mean is, we’re not usually named as the author of the words we write. We might include the writing in our portfolio, but our clients generally claim the words as their own.
What kind of stuff do we write?
Copywriters write words (which we call ‘copy’) for website pages, blog posts, email newsletters, social media posts, ads, packaging and plenty of other bits and bobs.
I typically write website copy and blog posts for my clients.
What about content writing?
Technically, copywriting and content writing are different services.
Copy is designed to persuade and sell – it’s the words we see in advertising and on websites.
Content, on the other hand, is designed to inform and educate – stuff like blog posts and articles.
Copy and content each need to be tackled slightly differently and some writers specialise in one or the other.
But most copywriters in New Zealand write copy and content for their clients (and the line between the two types can sometimes get a little blurry), so I don’t think it’s an overly important distinction to make. To keep things simple, I just call myself a copywriter.
Where does copyright come into it?
Copywriting isn’t directly related to copyright (i.e. the law that protects published work).
Copyright does apply to copywriting, in the sense that the words we write are protected by copyright law. We usually own the rights to our work until the project is wrapped up and the final invoice has been paid, at which point copyright is assigned to our clients and they officially own the words.
But for simplicity’s sake, let’s just say that copywriting and copyright are totally different fields.
Do copywriters just write all day?
Nope, there’s a lot of thinking, planning and research that happens before we do any writing.
Most copywriters spend a lot of time talking to clients before putting pen to paper.
This stage (i.e. the briefing stage) is our chance to:
- Gather information about your products or services
- Identify your point of difference
- Establish your tone of voice (so that we can adapt the style of our writing to suit your business and make sure it sounds like you)
- Define the key messages we’ll communicate to your target audience
- Pinpoint your audience’s problems, fears and desires so we can write copy that genuinely resonates with them
As copywriters, we’re not just here to save our clients time by getting the writing work done for them. It’s our job to help you communicate information in a clear, concise, compelling way.
