Copywriters and Copywriting - The Key sorts
25/11/2011 21:05
If you are thinking of employing a copywriter (or changing into one), it is vital to understand that there's over one kind of copywriting and over one kind of copywriter.
Different writing comes need completely different skills, and writers evolve completely different skillsets, whether or not deliberately or just because the natural results of their operating expertise. therefore the terms 'copywriting' and 'copywriter', though simple-sounding, really encompass a spread of specialisations and capabilities. This post lists a number of the foremost common kinds of copywriting and copywriters.
Note that a number of these copywriting disciplines have parallel job titles/descriptions, and others do not. for instance, whereas 'SEO copywriter' is currently a recognised job title, I've never heard anyone describe themselves as a 'long-copy copywriter'. Also, remember that a number of these labels are versatile - whereas there are completely different strands inside copywriting, the distinctions between them are not perpetually therefore clear-cut as my headings imply, and folks might use these terms in numerous ways in which.
The freelance copywriter
The freelance copywriter writes in any medium directly for shoppers, typically operating as a sole trader or one-person company.
Businesses and organisations want a broad vary of things written: websites, brochures, case studies, product descriptions, user manuals, press releases, displays, internal documents and additional. whereas several can merely use internal resource to induce the writing done, several flip to a contract copywriter to assist them out.
Freelance copywriting is typically managed on a poster hoc, job-by-job basis, though some shoppers do strike retainer arrangements or discovered longer contracts with freelances. Typically, the freelancer provides a value or proposal, will the work, revises the copy in response to feedback, and submits their invoice on approval.
Freelance copywriting generally needs 'broad however shallow' copywriting skills. for instance, within the course of writing a company web site, the copywriter may realize themselves writing long copy for data pages, snappy selling copy for high-profile pages and journalistic copy for news pages. At an equivalent time, they may contribute an organization tagline and maybe name a product vary or 2 - in some cases, while not even being asked, since the consumer might not have realised that they even want this stuff.
As a results of operating for several completely different shoppers, the freelance copywriter additionally tends to develop broad however shallow data of various business sectors, permitting them to induce a handle on new clients' necessities terribly quickly. this {can be} one space where older freelancers can consistently outdo their younger counterparts - expertise can't be faked, nor bought.
Conversely, some freelances concentrate on writing for a specific business or sector - prescribed drugs, charity and therefore on. this might be as a result of they previously held a salaried position in that sector. it's going to be a deliberate selection, or it's going to simply emerge as a results of the roles and referrals that return along.
Since the freelance copywriter deals directly with shoppers who might have very little or no selling expertise, they additionally want some skills in project management, consultancy and diplomacy. Like business data, these skills take time to accumulate.
Freelance copywriters return from a spread of backgrounds. Some are ex-agency copywriters who wished a modification of lifestyle; some have expertise in connected industries like selling, journalism or publishing; some are simply individuals with a talent for writing who have set to administer freelancing a go.
The agency copywriter
Agency copywriters work in-house for graphic style studios, full-service selling agencies, digital agencies, search agencies, PR agencies and copywriting agencies, where they manufacture text to order for the agency's shoppers. they will typically be briefed by an account handler, or maybe a designer, and can manufacture regardless of the consumer needs. In some cases, they will wear down the consumer directly.
While freelance copywriters pay lots of your time on the nuts and bolts of their business - selling, accounts, new business - the agency copywriter can do hands-on writing for the majority of their day. Some writers like this, seeing it as their true vocation, whereas others may worry regarding the pressure of delivering inventive ideas and high-quality content below the pressure of the clock - and also the management.
Agency copywriters, notably those that have worked in London or another media hub, can generally be able to show some spectacular national or multinational brands on their cv. However, massive firms need a spread of content sorts, and also the comes concerned might not are high-profile selling campaigns. Also, the agency copywriter is given his shoppers and comes on a plate, whereas the freelancer needs to withdraw and shut deals directly with real-world firms, all on their own. Arguably, this provides the freelancer a higher grasp of business realities.
The in-house copywriter
In-house copywriters are used by giant organisations who have their own selling departments and want the services of a author, or writers, full-time.
The in-house copywriter, obviously, works just for one consumer, which can limit their opportunities in terms of selling completely different merchandise or operating in a very vary of media. However, they will get the chance to develop a brand's tone of voice thorough, and that they also are seemingly to fancy a productively shut operating relationship with their internal 'clients' - those that use their copy and transient them on necessities.
Advertising copywriting
This is maybe the sort of writing that almost all individuals consider once they hear the word 'copywriting': writing the content of press, TV and different varieties of advertising. Ad copywriting includes the creation of memorable headlines, slogans and taglines that folks keep in mind from broadcast media - however it additionally includes the drafting of long-copy advertisements like typically seem in Sunday supplements or on underground (subway) trains.
Since slogans are such a crucial a part of any ad campaign, the ad copywriter can pay a protracted time obtaining them right. The words in ad slogans are most likely the foremost time-intensive writing to be found anywhere.
In short-copy work, the particular words that finally seem in a poster could also be more modest than the central plan. therefore ad copywriters typically do 'creative concepts' or 'copy plots' (brief outlines of what a poster can cover) as separate tasks from determining the particular content.
Since a billboard may be a highly targeted format, where words, pictures and style work along terribly closely, the ad copywriter usually works with a designer or art director to develop ideas that use each verbal and visual communication.
Ad copywriters who work at the very best level ought to be inventive, lateral thinkers who will return up with terribly robust, original ideas fraught. additional down the advertising food chain, the copywriter's work might involve a trifle additional pragmatism and compromise. however whoever they work for, advertising copywriters ought to be able to deliver ideas and content that sell merchandise.
Long-copy work
'Long copy' refers to any advertisement (or different medium) that contains lots of copy - no matter 'a lot' means that in context. for instance, a long-copy sales letter would be many pages long, instead of only one page; a long-copy press advertisement would have many paragraphs of text instead of simply one; and a long-copy web site might need longer articles (1000 words and up) instead of the same old 100- or 200-word sites.
There's no such factor as a 'long copy copywriter'. i am using this heading to tell apart long-copy work from the kind of highly inventive, targeted writing that goes into writing a shopper selling slogan - as a result of the abilities needed for every are terribly completely different.
As noted, the ad copywriter is probably going to be a free inventive spirit who will return up with an arresting, original and memorable three-word slogan which will work across a whole campaign. however they will not be the proper person to supply all the content that is related to it - the web site, the packaging copy, the press releases and no matter else is needed. Doing therefore needs skills in structuring and coming up with content, achieving normalized|an identical|the same|a regular|an even} tone of voice and maintaining a high linguistic standard - the key talents of the long-copy specialist.
The long-copy copywriter is a smaller amount of an artist, additional of a craftsperson. instead of leaping to peaks of inventive brilliance, their work is all regarding sustaining the proper level of quality over long wordcounts.
Copywriting for publishers
'Copywriting for publishers' may be a little bit of a misnomer, since publishers don't see those that manufacture their text as 'copywriters', however rather 'authors' or 'journalists'. However, several copywriters have all the abilities needed to jot down for on-line and offline publications: researching facts and turning them into readable prose that a 3rd party then publishes, maybe for profit.
Writing for publishers is typically a case of operating to a quick. The consumer can want a writing or book a few specific subject and can raise you to jot down it, either for a set fee or a royalty (payment per copy sold).
One key distinction between copywriting for business shoppers and writing for (say) a newspaper is that the further level of editorial management concerned with publishers. whereas an advertisement consumer would expect their copywriter to submit editorially correct text (i.e. to proofread it, or have it proofread), reporters and journalists are additional at home with having their work rigorously checked, and sometimes rewritten wholesale, by sub-editors. Hence they'll crank out the copy far more quickly, for instance by dictating it over the phone ('phoning in' their copy).
Increasingly, however, as content moves on-line, publishers also are putting the burden of accuracy on their writers, moreover as trusting to luck by publishing unproofed content within the data they'll perpetually amend it later. Sic transit gloria mundi.
Website copywriting
Website copywriting is just manufacturing text for websites. However, the abilities of the net copywriter do not finish at merely manufacturing the copy. they are seemingly to induce concerned in structuring the positioning, coming up with the user's expertise, setting tone of voice, making certain usability and obtaining style and text to figure along. As a result, net|the online|the net} copywriter desires an honest operating data of web style and value, and ideally technical aspects like HTML, CSS and SEO (see below).
Although some copywriters do gift themselves as specialist internet writers, all they are very saying is that they are robust in these connected skills and have expertise of writing lots of websites. The core talent of copywriting is that the same despite the medium concerned.
SEO copywriting
SEO copywriting is that the creation of internet text with 2 aims: appealing to readers and achieving prominence within the results listed by search engines for specific results.
Views on SEO copywriting and its relationship to 'ordinary' copywriting differ sharply. Some regard it as a very completely different discipline, whereas others feel that writing robust, well-structured copy that works for users can make sure that SEO takes care of itself.
My own read is somewhere within the middle. whereas SEO copy has to do all the items that each piece of copy will - interact readers, communicate advantages, make a case for data, prompt action - it additionally has to be written within the terribly specific method that indicates relevance to look engines. And, crucially, which will need some compromise in terms of phrasing and expression - for instance, by employing a keyword repeatedly instead of varying the usage through synonyms as a copywriter normally would.
SEO copywriters want a broad vary of skills, some aesthetic and a few technical. they have to be able to write fairly sensible internet copy that appeals to readers and generates sales. however as a result of SEO is basically a perform of the method an online page is coded, moreover because the content it options, SEO copywriting shades into internet style and internet development. SEO copywriters ought to perceive technical problems like meta tags, heading levels, anchor text, word-stemming and keyword density. These ideas can be a very closed book to an advertising copywriter.
Online article copywriting
On the face of it, writing on-line articles is that the same as writing for offline media - there is a transient, maybe a word count, and also the copywriter produces the text. However, as a result of some SEO ways need the creation of enormous amounts of on-topic copy, there is a giant marketplace for mass-produced, comparatively low-quality articles and sites that are posted at article sites or used to feature search-friendly content to clients' sites. Sometimes, on-line press releases also are used to create search profile, and these also are churned out with a watch on speed and amount instead of quality.
To satisfy this demand for content, so-called 'content mills' like Copify and Demand Studios have emerged. These act as middlemen between shoppers (often SEO or digital agencies) and freelance copywriters, setting rates (usually by the word) and taking a share of the fee as their reward. it is a high-volume, fast-turnaround business.
Writing on-line articles could also be an honest thanks to start in copywriting, however it is vital to stay your eyes open. as a result of the content could also be meant additional for search engines than human readers, you are not planning to be widely scan or build up a winning portfolio by making it. and since the rates are low, putting an excessive amount of care and a spotlight into your copy merely reduces your effective hourly rate - doubtless well below the united kingdom minimum wage.