What is copywriting?

I find that when people think of copywriting they think of two things:

• Madmen style advertising - full of crazy million pound headlines and agency geniuses 'creating' whilst they sit on beanbags.
• Lawyers working on the legal copyright that protects brands, images and products.

Of course, one of these is plainly incorrect, and the other is wrong for many other reasons...

Copywriting is simply the creation of a message that resonates with a target audience to achieve a desired effect. 

The message can be:

• Long or short - as long as every element communicates something that the customer needs to know in order to drive them to action.
• Communicated through many different channels - from video scripts to Twitter posts, opinion pieces and website pages.

But the message must ALWAYS be focused on a desired outcome, whether that be getting the customer to buy a product, change their opinion, share your message or book an appointment.

Effective copywriting is central to any marketing campaign. When it's done well, copywriting will communicate everything that your business stands for and tell your customers exactly why they need you and why no other company, service or product will do. 

A really good copywriter will combine a tenacity for accurate and grammatically correct language with the creative flair for developing and communicating an exciting marketing message. So, depending on the audience and the purpose of the piece, a copywriter will take on the appropriate tone and use of language to communicate most effectively. 

Your copywriter will need to understand your market, your products and your services well so that they communicate as you. Although many copywriters work across multiple sectors, it makes sense to find someone who already understands your business or has experience in communicating within your sector.

Your copywriter should be a sponge, soaking up all of your company, product, customer and sector information so that they can write with authority. A great copywriter will ask a lot of questions about your target audience; they should be trying to get inside the head of your customer and asking the pertinent questions:

• What are your customer's urgent needs?
• How does your product or service meet those needs?
• What drives your customer to make a decision?