Things I Learned To Become A Better Copywriter

For those of you who have been following the blog for a while, you will know that I have made multiple allusions to my experience in becoming a copywriter as my example of how I grew in the workplace. Today, I want to talk to those of you in particular who are looking to get into this field.

There are many people who have never written a creative word in their life who believe that being a copywriter is easy. All you have to do is write a whole bunch of stuff that only makes some sense and you’re good to go. According to these types of people, the only thing that is important about your writing is that you’re producing volume rather than the content itself.

The truth of the matter is, there is a lot more to copywriting than just the writing itself. Here are a few things that I learned that can potentially help to make you a better copywriter.

Know Who You Are Writing For

If you have been studying specifically to become a copywriter, you already know that there is much more to your content than just writing whatever you want to. At the bare minimum, proper grammar skills and knowing how to write in different tones depending on who you are writing for. Chances are, you won’t be writing for only one company, you will be asked to write for a wide variety of companies in the beginning. There are many agencies that take on different clients to perform their online marketing strategies for a fee. Eventually, you may work directly for one company to develop their individual strategy full-time as an in-house copywriter. Take some time to understand the company that you are writing for and read some of their content. Figure out how they speak to their clientele and see if you can match their tone. Understanding who you are writing for can go a long way to successfully writing better copy.

Know What You Should Not Write

Although there is a particular structure to the English language that allows you to be fairly free in your expression, there are always ways that you can express a certain thought or idea in a clearer or more concise way. This is one of the things that I personally still struggle with, and I understand that I have a long way to go in mastering this particular skill. Cutting out unnecessary words helps you to get to the point quickly and effectively without any extra fluff. Your articles become clearer, which is highly important in a position where you are trying to reach as wide an audience as possible. See if you can cut out certain words or phrases that are exclusively filler words and add little to understanding your meaning.

Copywriting is also formal writing. This means that you should be doing your best to avoid using colloquial terms or phrases, and also avoid using contractions wherever possible. There are the rare occasions where colloquialisms or contractions are necessary to get the point across, or perhaps they just fall in line with the tone of the company you are writing for. It is still a good idea to be critical of your writing and really determine if the way you are writing is the way that you should be.

Never Stop Learning

If you ever get to a stage where you feel as though you have learned everything there is to know about copywriting, you must try to get out of that mindset. I graduated with an English degree and supplemented my education by taking courses on marketing, social media, and other relevant topics for copywriting. Coming into my first job, I had a good idea of what it was to be a content writer, but I still understood that I had more to learn. Even in my first week of writing, it astounded me as to how much I didn’t know and how far I could go if I absorbed the knowledge from those around me. Sometimes you underestimate the job you’re going into, and that’s okay. The important thing is recognizing that fact and adjusting your attitude so that you welcome new knowledge and grow. I believe that is important in any job, not just copywriting, as it means that you’re able to constantly improve yourself and do a better job of your job as time goes on.

Of course, this only scratches the surface of what it means to be a copywriter, and there is only so much that I can tell you before you just have to find things out for yourself. The real key to becoming a good copywriter is practice. The more you write, the more you learn, and the more your writing will benefit because of it.

Never lose your drive to write, and write for fun from time to time. Enjoy your craft and indulge in its pleasures, because there is a lot of fun to be had in writing.