The concept of “copywriting” can be a bit tricky to understand. After all, writing for advertising doesn’t sound all that different from writing for magazines or blogging for small businesses. But, it is important to note that there is a significant difference between the two.
As the name suggests, copywriting is all about writing for advertising purposes – typically for businesses who want to grow their customer base and boost their SEO. When you write for advertising, you are trying to convince the reader to purchase a product or service, and to do this, you are using a number of tricks.
Let’s take a look at how you can put this skill to use and how you can find copywriting prospects that will give you a great return on your investment.
Find The Right Niche
If you are new to copywriting or this type of work-for-hire, the first thing you should do is figure out what niche you are going to enter. Before you start writing, it is important to make sure that there is a demand for your product or service in your chosen niche. You can use tools like Google Trends to easily find the popularity of any niche or subject.
If you are looking for copywriting prospects, you should consider focusing on the following niche groups:
- Technology
- Fashion
- Health
- Beauty
- Sports
- Entertainment
- Politics
- Travel
- Lifestyle
- Finance
If you are able to prove that there is an audience for your product or service in one of these niche groups, you have opened up a pandora’s box of lucrative opportunities. From here, you can branch into multiple areas including product reviews, case studies, and more. When you are pitching your ideas to potential clients, make sure that you have a clear and concise pitch that sticks out above the rest.
Develop Your Pitch
The name of the game is sales, and at the end of the day, you are selling your services as an experienced copywriter. To do this, you must build a strong connection with the reader by creating a pitch that is both engaging and interesting. To get started, you can use the following techniques:
- Short and sweet
- Personal stories
- Incredible offers
- Scenario-based storytelling
- Tangible benefits
- A memorable logo
- A memorable name
- A strong call-to-action
These tips will help you craft a winning pitch that will make your clients say “yes” without even asking what is your salary range.
Find The Right Kind Of Clients
Just because you have a winning pitch doesn’t mean that you will be able to convince every advertiser to hire you. To be effective, you need to find the right kind of clients who will value your services. This means that you need to approach advertisers who are already seeing some success, and who have a clear demand for your product or service in your chosen niche. If you can connect the dots between your pitch and their needs, you will be able to land some incredible clients. While you are at it, don’t just focus on big businesses either. Government bodies, non-profits, and academia can also be found in this category.
To find these kinds of clients, you can use a variety of tactics including;
- Researching trade journals, social media accounts, and websites that are related to your niche
- Following influential people in your niche on social media
- Looking up government contract work in your niche
- Contacting individuals at business schools and research centers in your niche
By knowing where to look, you will be able to find many different kinds of clients who could use your services. Once you have lined up some initial clients, continue to pitch to other businesses in your niche to get a better feel for the market.
Increase Your Chances Of Getting Work
One of the best things about working as a copywriter is that you will be able to pitch your services to the various businesses in your niche. When you are pitching your ideas to potential clients, make sure that you are using a proven pitch deck. Having a proven pitch deck makes your job a lot easier because you don’t have to waste your time coming up with new ideas all the time. When you are getting started, it is important to learn how to use a pitch deck effectively so that you can maximize your results. To become an expert, you can study the techniques of successful pitch decks from companies in your niche or look up pitch decks for inspiration.
Along with effective pitching, another important element to consider is research. Since you are writing for advertising, you will typically need to do extensive research on your subject matter. Make sure you do enough research to write succinctly and scientifically. Before you start pitching, you should already have a good idea of what you are going to write about and how you are going to write about it. To get started, you can use the following techniques:
- Research via blog articles, case studies, white papers, and more
- Look at what other companies wrote about the product or service that you are promoting
- Contact the companies that you are learning about to see what their perspective is
- Visit the websites of prominent experts in your niche to take a look at what they currently write about
- Consult with libraries and online research resources in your niche to see what is available
These steps will help you get started writing for advertisers and build up a portfolio of work that you can use to start pitching your ideas. Once you have written a few pieces for advertisers, you can begin to network and make contacts within the industry. This will help you find full-time opportunities as well as increase your chances of getting work in the future.
As you can see, writing for advertisers isn’t as difficult as one might think. Not only does it require a logical mind, but a good bit of research can also put you ahead of the competition. If you can combine both of these elements, you will be able to land lucrative contracts that will give you a great return on your investment.