Copywriting is the act of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. The product, called copy, is written content which aims to increase brand awareness and ultimately persuade a person or group to take a particular action.
Contents
Copywriters help create billboards, brochures, catalogs, jingle lyrics, magazine and newspaper advertisements, sales letters and other direct mail, scripts for television or radio commercials, taglines, white papers and other marketing communications.
They are generally known as website content writers if their work appears mostly on the Internet. A content writer helps create online advertisements, web pages, email newsletters, blog posts and social media.
Employment
Many copywriters are employed in advertising agencies, public relations firms, or copywriting agencies.
Copywriters also work in-house for retail chains, book publishers or other big firms which advertise frequently. They can also be employed to write advertorials for newspapers, magazines, broadcasters and cable providers.
Some copywriters work as independent contractors, doing freelance writing for a variety of clients. They may work at a client's office, a coworking office, a coffeehouse, or from home.
Copywriters are similar to technical writers and the careers may overlap. Broadly speaking, however, technical writing is dedicated to informing readers rather than persuading them. For example, a copywriter writes an advertisement to sell a car, while a technical writer writes the operator's manual explaining how to use it.
Famous copywriters
John Emory Powers (1837-1919) was the world's first full-time copywriter. Other famous copywriters who worked in advertising throughout their careers include William Bernbach, Leo Burnett, Robert Collier, Claude C. Hopkins, David Ogilvy and Lester Wunderman.
Many creative artists worked as copywriters before becoming famous, including:
Herschell Gordon Lewis, on the other hand, became famous for directing exploitation films before becoming a successful copywriter.
Book publishing
In book publishing, flap copy or jacket flap copy is the summary of a book which appears on the inside of a hardcover dust jacket; back cover copy is similar text, usually briefer, on the outside back cover; and catalog copy is a summary written for a publisher's catalog.
Internet
The Internet has expanded the range of copywriting opportunities to include landing pages and other web content, online advertisements, emails, blogs, social media and other forms of electronic communications. Writing for the web often tends to be more succinct than traditional advertising. Other stylistic nuances also come into play.
The Internet has brought new opportunities for copywriters to learn their craft, do research and view others' work. Clients, copywriters and art directors can more readily find each other, making freelancing a viable job option.
Search engine optimization
Web copy may include among its objectives the achievement of higher rankings in search engines. Known as "organic" search engine optimization (SEO), this involves the strategic placement and repetition of keywords and keyword phrases on web pages, writing in a manner that human readers would consider normal.