All businesses, whether they sell physical products or provide services, need to communicate effectively with their target audiences. Traditional advertising, consisting primarily of billboards, magazine spreads and ads on the radio, is no longer enough to reach young people, suburban moms and soccer-moms who feel strongly about their causes and want to take action.
Even traditional print publications, which often eschew the use of data in their content, can’t afford to ignore the call for action in a world where the majority of content is now consumed digitally – and increasingly so.
Accordingly, businesses need to find a way to communicate with their customers using digital tactics and strategies. And one of the best – if not the best – ways to attract visitors to your website is through the power of words.
What is copywriting for money? It’s a combination of the two seemingly opposite worlds of marketing and advertising – marketing being the strategy of getting people to buy your product or service, and advertising being the act of getting people to do something – in this case, visit your website.
While there are many definitions of copywriting, it generally refers to the strategic use of words in combination with visual and/or interactive elements to evoke an emotional reaction in the viewer that will encourage them to take some kind of action – whether it’s to buy a product or service, register for a website, or enter their email address to receive weekly tips on how to be healthier individuals.
Why Use Copywriting to Market Your Product or Service?
Traditional advertising, consisting primarily of billboards, magazine spreads and radio ads, was originally developed to communicate brand messages to the general public. While the mediums and messages have changed significantly over the years, the goal has not.
It’s a form of advertising that is still highly effective, if not more so now than ever before, and one that is ingrained into our psyches as consumers. After all, if you’re reading this blog post, you’re probably already familiar with the approach.
But now, with the rise of the “influencer” and the “content creator” – individuals whose roles are defined by the amount of content they produce rather than the products they promote – the focus has shifted. Instead of appealing to the public at large with generic advertising messages, businesses are now appealing to a more specific audience with customized content – often in the form of articles or blog posts – pitched at the right level of interest to maximise engagement and minimise the risk of the reader clicking away without taking action.
As search engines and social media continue to evolve and change the game, attracting and engaging customers becomes ever more important. If you can’t convince them to buy your product or service, you at least want them to visit your website so they can take action, whether it’s to leave a review, subscribe to your newsletter, or simply learn more about your company.
How Does Copywriting Fit With Other Online Marketing Activities?
If you’re reading this, I assume you’ve heard of SEO (search engine optimization) and Digital Marketing, which together make up the field of Online Marketing. In general, these are the methods and activities used to optimize and measure the effectiveness of websites and blogs on the Internet – effectively managing the content on as many websites as possible in order to get the greatest possible exposure and, hopefully, drive as much engagement and action as possible.
While SEO is a great way to directly get traffic to your site, and offers a number of tools and tactics for digital marketers to get the most from their content, copywriting, as discussed above, is an essential part of any digital marketing strategy. Without it, you’re simply throwing up a static website with no follow-up or engagement – effectively doing nothing.
Why?
Because copywriting is all about the words on a page – whether it’s a blog post, an article or an email pitch.
The content you create doesn’t have to be complex. It just has to be consistent, easily readable and engaging. When someone visits your site, they’ll either be happy with your words or they’ll be bored silly – which, needless to say, is no good at all.
When someone is bored or confused while on your site, you’ve lost them as a customer, no matter how effective your other online marketing efforts may be. In today’s world, consumers have numerous options for finding information and engaging with businesses – and they’re often quite happy to click away from a site that doesn’t deliver value.
As a business owner or marketer, it’s your responsibility to ensure that your site contains all the necessary information for the consumer to be able to act. However, simply putting a bunch of content on a webpage and calling it a day is quite often not going to cut it.
Instead, you need to follow the traditional copywriting methods discussed above, utilizing the power of words to draw in and engage the target audience – and, in so doing, grow your firm’s brand, improve your SEO and drive more leads and business.
The Importance of a Strong Call To Action
An effective call to action is an element of any good copywriting project. When someone discovers your website, they will hopefully have an immediate desire to do something – and, hopefully, take action right away. But if they aren’t given the opportunity to do something immediately, you’ve failed in your duty to convince them to take action.
In the example below, we can see that the author provides a clear call to action at the end of their article – in this case, to visit their website for more information.
Above all else, a business website’s copy should be streamlined and easy to scan. As the saying goes, “users should be able to comfortably browse your site, determine its content and, most importantly, find the information they need quickly without having to hunt for it.””
Now, the question is: What do I do with all this information?
How Can I Use This Knowledge To Further My Career?
If you’re interested in furthering your career in copywriting, there are several options – all of which can be found on freelance writing websites like Upwork, Fiverr and Amazon Mechanical Turk.
You can take on small assignments for businesses, or you can create content for blogs or websites – depending on what suits your skillset best.
If you’re looking for a stable, sustainable income, you might consider trying out copywriting for money – the vast majority of freelance writing gigs are actually paid for by businesses, so you’re essentially getting paid to do something you’d be doing anyway.
In the meantime, if you’d like to stay in touch with your readers (and maybe even attract new customers), consider creating a blog for free that you can use to share your expertise and attract new customers. If you can grow your blog to have a decent amount of content, you can then start charging for your expertise – or for individual posts on your site.
Now, if you’re looking to take your career to the next level – whether you’re just starting out or you’re looking for a new challenge – here’s a chance to jump in and prove yourself. Don’t be afraid to apply for jobs that interest you.
If you meet the qualifications, there will be many opportunities for you.