Has a bold statement on the side of a bus ever caught your attention? Has a branded post on Instagram ever turned you from idle scroller to serious shopper? You can thank a copywriter for that.
Good copywriters create impactful statements that convey what a brand is and what it offers in just a few words. If you have a penchant for snappy sentences and powerful wordplay, you might be a copywriter in the making. But how do you get into copywriting? Below are the steps to establish a career in this field.
What does a copywriter do?
The first step to becoming a successful copywriter is knowing what copywriting is and how it compares to other kinds of content creation. Copywriting is a form of marketing writing that advertises a product, service, or brand to potential customers. It differs from other writing styles (such as long-form journalism or academic writing) in that its goal is to direct the reader to take action.
Copywriting is clear, concise, and to-the-point. In a world where people have limitless choices and finite time, copywriters create work that cuts through the noise and makes an impact in very few words.
“People are so distracted,” Dustin Lee, the founder of digital asset brand RetroSupply, explains on an episode of the Shopify Masters podcast. “It helps to be clear and respect the fact that people’s attention is pulled in a lot of directions, whether they’re at home in front of a computer or at work.”
The job of a copywriter is to utilize a brand’s tone of voice, company values, and specific marketing campaigns to create persuasive and memorable content that sells. Copywriters produce a wide range of written materials, including website content, marketing collateral, social media ads, television commercial scripts, product packaging—pretty much anything from a business that’s consumer-facing is written by a copywriter.
Free Reading List: Copywriting Tactics for Entrepreneurs
Is your website content costing you sales? Learn how to improve your website copy with our free, curated list of high-impact articles.
Types of copywriting content
- Web pages
- Product descriptions
- Email marketing and sales letters
- Social media ads and posts
- Long-form copy
One of the biggest opportunities for using your writing skills for copywriting work is ecommerce. This type of copywriting includes all digital content supporting an online business. Examples span the sales funnel, from paid ad banners to raise brand awareness to emails for subscribers who want to stay in the know. Writing for social media platforms is another major area for ecommerce copywriting. Dig into more detail about these types of copywriting:
Web pages
Any webpage can benefit from a copywriter’s touch—from crafting compelling copy for the homepage to updating the About page to give customers a better sense of your core products and team. Copywriters also handle the smaller web page details like call-to-action (CTA) buttons, integrating search engine optimization best practices, and ensuring site navigation is clear and intuitive to use.
Product descriptions
A subset of web page copywriting, copywriters create product descriptions that succinctly describe to potential clients or buyers what a product or service is and what problem it solves. Product descriptions live on the product pages of a brand’s website. They are almost always paired with a CTA driving the customer to purchase, so this is a key area to convey value and persuade readers to add the product or service to their online cart.
Dustin says he aims to eliminate any uncertainty when it comes to the products people purchase, and this starts with the product description. “There are very clear bullets, short paragraphs, and in the very first sentence, I get to the point about what the product does. It’s really just about explaining the result before they lose interest,” he advises.
Email marketing and sales letters
Email marketing is a time-tested way for a company to boost revenue and customer retention. It allows a brand to directly communicate with subscribers about sales and new launches, and further educate them about products.
Email copy starts at the subject line and carries a consumer to the end goal of clicking through to purchase or learn more on the company’s web pages. This form of persuasive writing may be longer than a typical product description, but it still needs to be snappy and to the point—email copy shares space with graphics and visuals, and it needs to capture its target audience before they move on to the rest of their inbox.
Sales letters are a type of long-form email written in plain text. Brands often use these as a way to convey more information about a given topic than a standard marketing email. While often presented as being from a company’s CEO or founder, they are usually written by a copywriter.
Social media ads and posts
This type of advertising copy involves creating branded content for social media posts. These assets can be paid ads that appear to new customers or are posted on a brand’s own account for existing followers. Other forms of social media copy include scripts for videos and reels, captions, and copy for designed posts.
Long-form copy
While copywriting usually involves writing within tight parameters, copywriters are enlisted to help with long-form content, too. These could be internal communications, a press release for a big launch, or a blog post that tells readers how to use a product or service. Another common example is a white paper, an extensive report that explains what a product or service does and the problems it solves.
How to become a copywriter in 4 steps
If you’re an aspiring copywriter, here’s what you need to do to get started in your career, whether you’re looking to build a freelance copywriting business or get hired as a corporate copywriter.
1. Hone your writing skills
Copywriters often have degrees in journalism, marketing, creative writing, or business, which can help them hone their skills and learn about their subject matter. You can also take courses in copywriting basics, such as search engine optimization (SEO), social media copywriting, or digital marketing, which can teach you important tips and boost your credibility.
Look for courses that offer technical instruction, the possibility to specialize (medical writing, technical writing), and guides on how to build your brand and land jobs (cold pitching, portfolio building). A nice bonus is having a mechanism for feedback and asking questions or an online community that you can join to connect with students and mentors.
However, a degree and certifications aren’t a necessity, and you can practice copywriting on your own. Learn tips and tricks to sharpen your writing from blogs, online tutorials, and by analyzing what you like about particularly compelling marketing copy from experienced copywriters.
“I generally follow a formula over and over again,” Dustin says of his writing process. “It’s a very common copywriting formula, which is “AIDA.” AIDA is an acronym, standing for attention, interest, desire, and action.” The AIDA model involves grabbing customer attention in a highly visible way, creating interest so customers want to learn more, providing information that tells them how your product solves their problem, and finally directing them toward an action or purchase. You can use this model to enhance your writing, or consider other tested formulas like PAS (problem, agitate, solution) or the 4Cs (clear, concise, compelling, and credible).
2. Decide on your specialty
Another important part of figuring out your copywriting career is deciding on what kind of copywriting you’d like to do. Some copywriters specialize in specific industries that require building subject matter expertise, like tech, beauty, or health. Consider your interests, knowledge base, and connections within an industry to help you narrow down your scope and hone copywriting specialty. Or you can choose to work as a generalist, creating content across industries.
Depending on your interests, you can work as an ad agency copywriter, as a corporate copywriter in a marketing department at a company, or look for freelance copywriting jobs.
3. Build a portfolio
When you’re just starting out on your copywriting journey, creating an online portfolio can feel like a catch-22: You need samples of your work to show off your copywriting skills, but to get those samples, you need to have worked for some clients already.
To get around this, you can exhibit your writing chops by building out a blog on a subject relevant to your copywriting niche, then pitch written work to other online outlets. If you establish yourself as a knowledgeable writer within a particular field, you’ll have better odds of landing that first copywriting gig, and you’ll have samples of online writing to show potential clients. This kind of writing experience helps build up your skills and keeps you sharp for when that first job does come around.
“I’m not a copywriting genius,” Dustin says. “I’m inconsistent. I try things that don’t work. Sometimes I have spelling errors, I’m not perfect. The thing that has really helped me is just that I have consistently done it, and I try to leverage everything I have.”
As you write copy for real copywriting clients, remember to save and download work so you can add it to your portfolio even after it’s no longer available on a brand’s website or social channels. Experience will help you hone your writing chops and adapt to different companies’ brand voices quickly.
4. Network and apply for jobs
Now it’s time to start making money as a copywriter. If you’re completely new to the field, look for freelance copywriter jobs on job boards like Upwork or Fiverr to help you get a foot in the door and land your first copywriting clients. Share your portfolio on these platforms as well as on job search sites like LinkedIn and Indeed.
Build connections within the industry you want to join by attending in-person networking events and trade shows. Connect with other copywriters and marketing professionals by joining online groups on LinkedIn and Facebook. You can also meet other writers and writing professionals by attending writers conferences in your city. This type of connection can lead to a rising-tide-lifts-all-boats effect; if one of your writer friends hears that a brand is hiring but has too much on their plate, they can pass along the gig to you—and vice versa. Over time, this approach can lead to a steady stream of new work, making it continually easier to attract clients.
How to become a copywriter FAQ
How do I become a copywriter with no experience?
The best way to become a copywriter is to build a portfolio of writing so you can show your skills to prospective clients. Once you have your copywriting samples in place, you can apply for internships and entry-level positions or take on work as a freelance writer.
What qualifications do I need to be a freelance copywriter?
You don’t need a particular degree or certification to write copy, though having educational qualifications in journalism, marketing, or creative writing can help you develop your copywriting skills. You can also take online or in-person courses in targeted fields, including search engine optimization, technical writing, and content marketing.
What to look for in copywriting courses?
If you’re interested in taking an in-person or online copywriting course to become a professional copywriter, look for a course that combines teaching technique-focused instruction (like writing for social media and SEO) with courses to help you find and land jobs (portfolio building, pitching to clients). It’s also nice to have a course that sets you up with a mentor, has an alumni community where you can ask questions, or has other channels for receiving feedback.
