It’s a common question: How much does copywriting for the entertainment industry pay? The short answer is, it varies. But before we get into the nitty-gritty, it’s important to understand what exactly copywriting is and the different types of roles it plays within the industry.
What is Copywriting?
Copywriting, or copyediting, is the practice of crafting text (including advertising, marketing, and web content) for a specific purpose. In the digital age, with content coming in multiple formats (e.g., images, videos, and audio files) and read by humans (rather than just computers), copywriting has become significantly more important.
In a nutshell, copywriting involves the following processes:
- Organization – You may be asked to organize your material into concise and compelling pieces, akin to a well-written press release.
- Editing – You will be asked to edit and shape your content to best communicate your message to your target audience. For example, you may be asked to perform sentence structure adjustments or fix spelling errors.
- Proofreading – You will be required to proofread and edit your work for spelling and grammar errors before submitting it.
- Copyediting – This is the stage where you will do additional copyediting (if necessary) to ensure that your content is ready to be published.
The Duties of a Copywriter
Depending on the size of your company, you will have multiple stakeholders that need to weigh in on the topic of your content strategy: marketing, sales, public relations, and more. A good copywriter will ensure that all parties are aligned and, most importantly, that nothing is lost in translation.
In addition to these core responsibilities, a copywriter may be asked to take on various other tasks, such as creating compelling content for social media or landing pages, or pitching and negotiating with journalists or bloggers. The list of copywriting tasks goes on, but you get the point.
With so much content flowing through your company, it’s important to ensure that customers know exactly what you offer and why they should care. A good copywriter will draw on their expertise in marketing, branding, and sales to craft compelling messages that push your product or service above the competition.
What you may not know is that, behind the scenes, the entertainment industry is heavily reliant on copywriters. From movie posters and movie trailers to album covers and magazine articles, the people who wrote the copy for these products and advertisements have often gone on to become famous in their own right. Here’s a look at the impact that copywriting has had on the entertainment industry over the years.
The Rise of Online Learning
Back in the early days of online learning, there were no textbooks. Everything was done via correspondence and live chats. Today, with the rise of video tutorials and MOOCs (massive open online courses), these methods of learning have largely been replaced by, well, reading and writing.
With the advent of online learning, more people have the ability to work remotely and independently, allowing them to hone their skills and gain experience while maintaining a flexible work schedule. The result? Today’s workforce is more frequently composed of freelancers, independent contractors, and remote workers. This trend has had a domino effect, as more and more people want to work remotely, and therefore need to learn to code, create marketing material, or write SEO copy to achieve their perfect work-life balance.
The Importance of Online Language Learning
Here’s another example of how copywriting is affecting the entertainment industry: With the rise of the sharing economy, a growing number of people are looking to rent furniture, house-share with friends and family, and even stay in motels or Airbnb rooms to save money. In this scenario, you may be required to communicate with people who do not speak English as your first language. This is where online language learning comes in handy.
Using online tools like Rosetta Stone, you can learn a new language quickly and effectively. What’s more, because you’re relying on digital content and you have a flexible working schedule, you can learn something new whenever you have a free moment. As a result, more and more people are relying on online language training to learn new skills and become more employable.
The Rise of Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing is a form of marketing that leverages popular personalities, bloggers, and/or journalists (the ‘influencers’) to promote a product or service. The goal of influencer marketing is to generate media exposure and interest for a product or service through the celebrity and trustworthiness of the influencers.
Forbes’ 2018 Best Workplaces for Influencers publication states that, while the gig can be lucrative, the majority of influencers make a decent living through advertising and brand partnerships rather than direct sales.
However, not all influencer marketing is created equal. Simply finding and working with established influencers is not enough. You need to look for those that can genuinely drive engagement and interest in your product or service, otherwise your investment could be wasted.
The Importance of SEO Copywriting
If you’re a business or entrepreneur, you’ll most likely be required to play a significant role in preparing marketing material for your product or service. What is SEO copywriting, you may ask?
SEO copywriting is a sub-specialty of copywriting that focuses on optimizing content for the major search engines – namely, Google and Bing.
The practice involves taking your traditional marketing material (i.e., the content that you’ve already created) and optimizing it for search engines so that it can be easily found and consumed by your target audience.
The process is relatively simple: You begin by preparing and publishing fresh content on a regular basis. You then implement a strategy to drive traffic to your content using the major search engines. Finally, you measure the success of your strategy and determine whether or not to continue pursuing it.
If you’re looking to get started with SEO copywriting, you can start with keyword research, which has become significantly easier thanks to tools like Google Keyword Planner. This free tool from Google allows you to find the keywords you’ll need, estimate their competition, and determine the general demand for your product or service. With basic information like this, you can begin to craft compelling messages that will draw potential customers to your website.
The Effect of Online Learning and Micro-learning On The Entertainment Industry
If you’re a teacher or trainer in the field, you may be required to take online courses to keep abreast of the latest teaching techniques and technologies, as well as to maintain your reputation as an expert in your industry. This is one of the many reasons why you should consider taking a MOOC (massive open online course) or an online learning course from a reputable source.
What is the effect of online learning and micro-learning on the entertainment industry? It means that more and more people are getting their knowledge and expertise from digital sources, frequently avoiding traditional classroom settings and even professors completely. As a result, your learning curve may be significantly shorter than that of your conventional learning counterpart because you’re able to quickly search and find the information you need, all from the convenience of your fingertips.
With the rise of online learning, it’s no secret that universities have seen a significant increase in online students, meaning there’s now a larger pool of potential job candidates. As a result, hiring managers are having to adjust their approach, and that means you may be able to jumpstart your career by applying for a job as an online tutor or professor.
Based on your expertise and prior experience, you may also be able to secure a similar role in terms of responsibilities, pay, and promotion within your company. If you’re looking for flexibility, a remote job can also be a great option. Depending on the source, you may be able to find work remotely for quite some time, as some companies will even grant you full healthcare benefits. As long as you have a reliable internet connection, you can continue to learn and improve your skills, all while being paid to do what you love.
In summary, the field of copywriting has undergone quite the evolution in the past few years. From being purely a ‘sales’ tool’ to becoming a form of digital self-improvement, the role of a good copywriter has changed significantly. From shaping the text in your movie posters and movie trailers to crafting compelling messages that will keep your audience interested, a good copywriter is definitely worth their weight in gold.