What comes to your mind when you think about copywriting? Is it a professional writer taking pen on paper and transforming your spoken words into engaging texts which you can use on your website, social media accounts, or emails? Or is it a computer algorithm spitting out flawless prose according to your instructions?
While all of the above are useful tasks, copywriting is more versatile than that.
In today’s world, copywriting is used in all sorts of ways, for example:
- Digital Marketing & Advertising: Creating engaging content for websites, landing pages, social media, and email marketing can be quite challenging. To make matters worse, the industry is evolving at a fast pace, demanding the need to stay ahead of the game. For these reasons, digital marketers and ad agencies turn to copywriters to produce outstanding content that will engage and convince potential customers to convert them into paying customers.
- Content Creation: Content marketers, brand content strategists, and corporate communicators need engaging content to bring in more leads, grow businesses, and ensure brand loyalty. To that end, they too turn to copywriters to help bring their vision to life through blogs, case studies, and other types of content.
- PR: Public relations practitioners need compelling arguments and well-researched evidence to back up their positions and achieve the best possible outcomes when representing a brand or corporate body.
- Editing: Human resources professionals, business researchers, and copyeditors can use copywriting to validate and clarify their findings. Often, they will need to recreate content from scratch, using previously published material as a basis, or simply polish what others have created.
- Technical Writing: Engineers, scientists, and other technical writers need material to educate their readers on complex topics, often relating to their specialist fields. Some of the tasks can be fairly straightforward, such as the need to create a how-to guide or explainer video. But sometimes it involves going above and beyond, such as when you need to create a lengthy proposal or white paper for a client.
- Fashion Copywriting: When you have a niche in fashion, style, and beauty, the need to write about the hottest trends and most fashionable products becomes essential. At the same time, product reviews and case studies can also be useful in boosting sales at a brick-and-mortar store.
- Medical Writing: This is a broad category that includes all types of non-fiction content that pertains to healthcare, such as medical guides, how-to-articles, treatment plans, and more. When writing for this audience, you need to keep in mind that patients, doctors, and other professionals in the healthcare industry are more likely to read about your subject matter in detail. Hence, the need for extensive research and a thorough understanding of the field.
- Legal Writing: Regardless of your industry, you can be sure that at some point, you will need to write legal documentation. From contracts to shareholder presentations and shareholder proposals, there will always be a need for a keen knowledge of the legal system and how to effectively navigate it.
- Marketing & Advertising: From print ads to billboards and banners, print media still wields a lot of influence in the marketplace. To grab the attention of potential customers, you need to create effective advertisements that will provoke an emotional reaction or action. In today’s world, marketing and advertising practitioners turn to copywriters to craft winning campaign content for their clients in an ever-evolving digital landscape.
The list of the above examples could go on and on. But the point is, no matter your area of expertise, marketing, or industry, you will eventually need to write copy for your website, social media accounts, email campaigns, and perhaps even for your printed materials.
As you may imagine, having the ability to write engaging, thought-provoking copy is a skill which many people find useful in many different jobs. However, having a clear idea of where you might need to use this skill can help you identify your perfect job.
The Evolving Role of the Copywriter
In today’s world, the role of the copywriter is evolving, along with the rest of the digital marketing and communications world. Gone are the days when you would simply type up what you were told to by a senior manager or brand director. These days, you will most likely be asked to come up with the creative ideas and concepts behind the content you produce.
To bring in more revenue and become a more flexible professional, marketers are looking for content marketing strategists who can bring an additional skill set to the table. Most importantly, marketers want someone who can understand and relate to their target audience. For this reason, marketing professionals are turning to copywriters to help them craft engaging messages that will resonate with potential customers and inspire them to take action.
The Ultimate Guide to Finding Your Perfect Job
If you’re looking for a job in marketing or communications, it’s important to understand how the hiring process works. Since these fields are so broad, you will most likely have to job search in a bit of a “wild west” fashion.
Marketing and advertising agencies typically work on a project basis. That is, the project manager will set the budget for the campaign and hand over the creative brief. From there, the copywriter will take the reins and create engaging content which will then be tested, evaluated, and, whenever appropriate, modified or supplemented by the project manager and/or designer.
As a rule, projects can be anything from a few weeks to several months in duration. During this time, you will be expected to come up with a comprehensive content strategy for the agency’s various platforms, such as websites and social media. Furthermore, you will need to prepare and present pitches to potential clients, secureing deals and winning campaigns.
On a more positive note, the role of the copywriter can also be seen as an extension of the above jobs, as content strategists and marketing executives increasingly look to the freelance writer to help bring their vision to life through compelling arguments and well-researched evidence.
Where do you use copywriting?
The best place to start your job search is online. With so much information available online, job search is a much easier process. Furthermore, you can use job search websites such as LinkedIn to easily and efficiently connect with other professionals.
Depending on where you reside, you may need to adjust your search results depending on the language you are searching for. For instance, if you are based in the US, you may want to search for English-taught jobs, while European jobseekers may want to search for German-taught positions. This being said, all positions should be available for remote work.
Top 5 Places to Find a Job in Marketing and Communications
In the field of marketing and communications, there are a number of different roles that you can take on. Here are five of the most in demand positions.