A copywriting agency is a business that provides writing and editing services to businesses and other organizations. Like individual copywriters, copywriting agencies may offer writing on a for-hire or per-project basis.
In addition, because copywriting agencies often offer the services of many staff members, they may offer a broader range of services than can individuals. These services include but not limited to writing, editing, content or marketing consulting, branding, naming, scriptwriting, speechwriting, information architecture, print and web design and layout, software development, social networking consulting and implementation, and project management. An agency may also partner with other businesses—for example, design or advertising firms—or with in-house client teams. Depending on the project, agency staff may work onsite with the client, from the agency offices, or virtually from any location.
Copywriting agencies may be designed on an employee model, with full- or part-time employees providing services to clients. Others may work with a regular team of trusted contractors, while still others function more like middlemen, connecting clients and editorial freelancers and taking a cut of the proceeds from each project.
Business and nonprofit clients often hire copywriting agencies for larger projects that fall outside of existing skills and time or staffing needs, or for projects that require expertise in a specific discipline or area of knowledge. Many agencies specialize in one or more industries—doing work for clients, for example, in publishing, finance, technology, biotechnology, medicine, agriculture, the environment, engineering, government, the military, education, the arts, or the nonprofit world. Others employ writers, editors, etc. with varying specialties, so as to work for a variety of clients.
Allowing for overall economic trends, job prospects for both individual copywriters and copywriting agencies expanded during the 1990s and 2000s, for reasons including an increased need for production and editing of online contentand an increase in business outsourcing and freelancing. As of 2012, employment for freelance writers is expected to continue to grow.