What it takes to be an advertising copywriter

Have you ever wanted to know what it’s like working as an advertising copywriter?

Well, the wait is over, you can find out all the secrets and skills from one of our advertising copywriters. This blog will give you an insight into the advertising copywriting world. Keep reading to find out all the confessions.

What is an advertising copywriter?

To simply put it, an advertising copywriter writes content for advertising campaigns for clients. You are given briefs to conceive, develop and produce effective advertising campaigns. The main duties of an advertising copywriter include:

• Creating headlines, slogans, catchphrases and body copy for digital or print advertising.
• Writing for the web, social media, and mobile applications.
• Creating scripts for radio jingles and TV adverts.

It’s a very creative role and you are expected to develop imaginative and original ideas.

The secrets are out

Our advertising copywriters are spilling the beans on just what it takes to write the perfect copy.

Identifying your audience

Whilst advertising copywriting is all about writing, you can’t produce content if you don’t know who it’s for. You’ll always be working on a number of campaigns, all with a different audience in mind. Your copy should be relevant to the reader, this means adapting your copy for your audience. For example, an ad campaign about children’s toys wouldn’t use the same language as an ad about contact lenses. They are two completely different audiences with different needs and concerns.

Good writing skills

 This may seem obvious, given the role is all about writing. This doesn’t just mean good spelling and using the correct grammar, although that helps. You must be able to write for all different topics and convey the right message to readers.

Whilst you want to show off your writing skills, don’t overdo it. If you start using complicated phrases or words, it may confuse the reader. Simple content keeps readers engaged. Keep words, sentences and paragraphs short.

Top tip: For SEO-friendly content, try and keep sentences under 20 words.

Create compelling headlines

As an advertising copywriter, our main aim is to sell things through our words. We can’t sell things if our content is flat. But it’s not just the content that is important but the headline too. After all, this is the first thing readers are going to see. If the headline doesn’t jump out at them, they aren’t going to buy your product. This is where we get creative. We spend time coming up with catchy and engaging headlines to draw the reader in.

Be original

As advertising copywriters, we aim to be original and creative, after all that’s how we create winning ad content. We regularly have team meetings where we brainstorm ideas. The more ideas you have, the more you have to work with. We love showing off our creativity and we aren’t afraid to be heard.

Social awareness

 Every advertising copywriter needs to stay on the ball with current trends around the world. Stay up to date with popular culture by subscribing to newsletters, reading blogs and following social media accounts. To write quality copy, you need to be aware of what’s going on around you and what’s popular with customers.

Top tip: We recommend following relevant industries on social media to keep up to date with what they are doing. Likewise, follow your clients’ competitors to familiarise yourself with who you are up against. It’s a great way to learn more about the industry you’re writing for.

Be persuasive

The whole point of ad copy is to get people to take action. That could be buying a product, enquiring about a service or making a behavioural change. Therefore, copy must be clear, persuasive and original. The copy should have a clear call to action that gets the reader to do something. For example, if you’re writing about what services you offer, add a ‘contact us now’ button. This directly persuades the customer to make contact with you.

Good communication skills

 As an advertising copywriter, we work on numerous projects each month. We have to liaise with multiple clients to help them achieve their goals. A core skill we possess is the ability to communicate with people effectively. We build professional relationships with our customers and make regular contact with them throughout the project. This will put the customer’s mind at ease knowing we are more than capable of delivering the task at hand.

Time management

We are often working on multiple projects and have many deadlines we need to keep up with. Managing our time is vital in order to meet our deadlines. We have to plan our time accordingly and make a plan for each project we work on. This is to ensure we don’t fall behind and we don’t waste any time thinking of what to write. It reflects badly on you if you don’t submit the content back to the client before the deadline date.

Research

 The more research you do, the more information you have to work with when it comes to writing copy. Spending plenty of time doing research can make the writing process easier. Get to know about the products and services you’re writing about. Spend time getting to know the audience that buys them.

Keywords are important

Keywords are essential when writing digital copy. If you want your content to be seen over and over again, you need to use keywords. Use keywords in your headlines and throughout your content. By doing so, you will increase your chances of ranking higher in search engines. Be smart with how you use keywords. If you overuse keywords, it will become too repetitive and won’t make sense.

The 5 benefits of our advertising copywriting services

As you can see above, it takes many skills to be a successful advertising copywriter. Not everyone is great at writing, but we’ve got your back.

So, why should you outsource your copywriting?

Access to a great range of talent

 Not to blow our own trumpet, but our advertising copywriters are good at what they do. They are highly experienced in creating engaging content that does the job. Advertising copywriters know how to write clever headlines and engaging copy to hook your readers in.  They have an excellent range of writing skills and a creative mind that can tackle any brief. You won’t find better talent elsewhere.

We do all the work for you

Why struggle through when you don’t have the required skills in-house? Just give Vocal the brief, sit back and relax. We’ll take care of it all for you. You can rest assured knowing our team of advertising copywriters will produce some killer content. We know you probably have a million and one other things to do. Let us produce the copy so that you can go and focus on your business. It will save you so much time.

Helping your brand reach its potential

As we’ve already mentioned our team of talented advertising copywriters can produce awesome content.  They can also help your content to become more visible online. They have fantastic SEO knowledge that understands how to use keywords. Their skills and knowledge can help your website rank higher on search engines like Google and Bing. Our advertising copywriters will help your business achieve its goals and grow.

It’s a competitive world. No matter what industry you’re in you’ll always have competitors to contend with. So, you want to stand out from the crowd. There are many websites out there with poor quality content. You’ve probably come across some yourself. It’s not a great way to connect with your readers. An advertising copywriter can create content that stands above the rest.

Making you look professional

We understand that not everyone has impeccable writing skills. It can be hard making your brand sound professional if you’re not a natural writer. Our team’s attention to detail ensures your copy is written to the highest possible standard, free from mistakes. Watch your brand go from strength to strength with the help of our advertising copywriters.

We know exactly how to write for a range of audiences. We know how to communicate effectively with readers, whatever the message.

Spend money to make money

The saying is true. If you want to succeed, you have to spend money to make money. Investing in an advertising copywriter may seem like a huge financial decision to make. However, outsourcing an advertising copywriter will only help your business grow. The content produced will see you connect more with clients and rank your website higher on search engines. That one advertising copywriter can generate a lot more income for your business.

Need our help?

At Vocal, we’re a loud creative agency that’s all about content. Check out our list of services and see how we can help you.

Contact a member of our team for a friendly chat. We’ll be happy to help. Let’s get loud and make an impact in your industry!