If you’re unsure what copywriting is, don’t worry – you’re not alone. In fact, even some marketing professionals aren’t quite sure what it entails. Copywriting is a broad term that can mean different things to different people, but at its core, it is the process of creating persuasive content for marketing purposes. 

Copywriting has been around for centuries, but it wasn’t always called that. The term “copywriting” was first coined in the early 1900s by advertising pioneer John E. Kennedy. Before that, people who wrote copy were simply known as “writers.” Kennedy realised there was a need for a specific term to describe those who wrote the persuasive text for advertisements and other marketing materials. And so, the term “copywriter” was born.

Copywriting has come a long way since Kennedy’s day. Today, copywriters are responsible for creating not only ads but also website content, email campaigns, social media posts, and more. And while the copywriting techniques used have changed over the years, the goal of copywriting is still the same: to persuade people to take action.

How many copywriters are there?

There are over 4536 freelance copywriters currently employed in the United States alone. And many businesses have in-house copywriters on staff. This just goes to show how important copywriting is in the modern world.

In Australia, there are approximately 21,300 people employed as writers/journalists and approximately 2000 employed as copywriters. This seems like a relatively low number but doesn’t take into account that most copywriters are freelance and run their own businesses. 

Copywriting today

Today, copywriters continue to be an essential part of global marketing teams. 

Copywriting today is very different from what it was in the early days. In the past, copywriters often wrote long-winded and flowery prose to convince people to buy a product or service. Today, however, copywriters are likelier to use short, concise, and to-the-point language. This is because people’s attention spans are shorter than ever before, and they are more likely to respond to easily read and understand copy. Especially with the introduction of digital and social media when brevity is at a premium.

Why is copywriting important?

So why is copywriting so important? Simply put, it is the most effective way to communicate with potential customers. In a world where we are bombarded with marketing messages on a daily basis, businesses need to find a way to stand out from the crowd. 

Copywriting allows businesses to do just that by crafting persuasive and compelling messages that will grab people’s attention and convince them to take action. The right words can convince someone to make a purchase; the wrong ones can turn them off for life. 

Additionally, it works. Copywriting is an essential part of any marketing strategy because it is what drives conversions. Without compelling copy, businesses would struggle to sell their products and services.

If you’re running a business, it’s essential that you invest in copywriting. It is one of the most important tools you have at your disposal to convince people to buy what you’re selling — whether it’s a service, product, or you’re convincing a community or group of people to do something. With so much competition out there, you need to make sure your marketing messages are as strong as possible. Copywriting can help you do that and ensure that your business is booming.

What do copywriters do?

Copywriters are responsible for creating the text that appears in advertisements, brochures, and other marketing materials. The goal of copywriting is to persuade the reader to take a specific action, such as purchasing a product or service. 

And while it might seem like a relatively straightforward task, crafting effective copy is actually quite complex and requires a lot of skill and experience. 

Copywriting has been around for centuries, with some of the earliest examples dating back to Ancient Rome. In more recent history, copywriting has played an important role in advertising development as we know it today. 

So why is copywriting so important? Put simply, effective copy can make or break a marketing campaign. Good copy can persuade someone to take action, while lousy copy will likely result in lost sales and wasted money. 

Copywriters use words and phrases that trigger an emotional response to get people to take action. The best copywriters can understand what motivates people and what will convince them to take action. 

Copywriting is not only a vital part of marketing, but it’s also a complex and challenging profession. To be successful, copywriters must have a deep understanding of human psychology and know how to craft persuasive arguments. They must also be able to work within strict deadlines and budget constraints and have excellent client management, particularly if they are freelance. 

That clears up ‘what is copywriting’ a bit more. Now you can explore the world of copywriting and marketing confident in what a copywriting does and brings to the world.

The post What is copywriting? appeared first on Jones the Writer Copywriting Services.

While it can be unnerving at first, outsourcing your company’s copywriting allows you to put the best writer in charge of crafting words that will improve your brand identity and aid in converting customers or clients into satisfied buyers.

If you’re not convinced yet, here are five reasons why hiring a freelance copywriter could be the best decision you make today.

1) A freelance copywriter can have expertise in writing to enhance your brand identity

When you hire a freelance copywriter, they don’t come with a pre-designed template or set of ideas they are already attached to. They will bring fresh ideas and approaches to your organisation.

Have you ever been too close to something to notice the obvious? It happens all the time. All it takes is someone new to the data or problem to give you a fresh perspective, and it can open up doors that were previously closed.

2) Freelance copywriters are professional and reliable

Marketing managers can’t afford to have their products or services surrounded by amateurish content that doesn’t inspire confidence in customers. By outsourcing to a freelance writer, you’re guaranteed professionalism and reliability because they’ll know they’ll have more work if they produce high-quality work frequently. It’s part of their business model! Do a great job, and you’ll have more work.

The freelance writer can also provide flexibility by working on-demand basis, meaning that the marketer only contracts when required instead of being stuck in a long-term commitment.

3) Copywriters provide original content for your company

Every marketing manager wants to establish a unique voice that inspires trust in consumers looking for customer reviews online before buying their product or engaging in their service.

A professional copywriter will get to know your brand thoroughly and then craft epic content for various assets— web copy, content articles, social media posts, or even slide decks. This original content will see your brand positioned out in front of all your competitors.

4) Level the playing field with a freelance copywriter

Outsourcing your company’s content can level the playing field for small businesses. Large companies with an unlimited budget for marketing materials where ‘the average marketing budget for B2B firms accounts for 13% of company revenue.’ This means they hold a huge advantage over smaller companies that don’t have access to these sized budgets. This is where freelance copywriters come in. You don’t have to hire an expensive agency, a new staff member or spend thousands on advertising when you outsource your copywriting work to one person.

One of the many ways a freelance writer can benefit a company is by providing convenience and flexibility. Instead of having an employee physically present at all times in an office, marketers may outsource their needs to freelance writers who operate mostly remote from their clients. The writer does not need to be sitting next to or immediately near the marketer like an employee would be required. Imagine all the time and money that would save your company!

5) A freelance copywriters can offer a variety of services

Like most copywriters, I don’t just do copywriting. Because of my background in marketing, I provide a range of marketing services, including SEO, email marketing, content strategy and even book blurb writing and book coaching.

That means I’m bringing a whole new set of skills to the game that will help advise your strategy and take your marketing to a whole new level. It also means that you spend far less time having to brief me because I already know what you are talking about and, in turn, can provide high-level professional advice to your current marketing challenge.

If you are an overworked marketing manager, that spends way too much time deliberating on what to write next or whether you have nailed the headline, reach out to me today.

The post Marketing Managers Should Outsource to a Freelance Copywriter appeared first on Jones the Writer Copywriting Services.

The sad truth is that not everyone can write well, even when they are considered experts on the topic. And even fewer people know how to produce high quality content that readers would want to read. It’s easy to have a content strategy and implementation plan that includes timelines and KPIs. The difficult part, however, is delivering consistently.

It is possible to have a team member write a blog post on occasion. But you’ll just be taking them away from their core duties. It is also unlikely that they would be able to produce expertly written content that would make your customers want to buy as well as being highly SEO.

A freelance copywriter doesn’t just provide you with original and excellent SEO content that boosts your website’s visibility online. They’ll also help you get a bit of an edge over your competitors. Whilst building relationships with your customers and spread your marketing message.

Here are five benefits of having a freelance copywriter write SEO content for your website. 

You get fresh, original, high quality content regularly

It’s no secret that website visitors (aka prospective customers) and search engines, like Google, love websites that post well written content regularly. A freelance copywriter will provide you with fresh, original, high quality content. Without putting a strain on your finances by adding to the headcount in your office. This is a win win for your business. 

Greater flexibility

Does your content marketing strategy require one blog post a month or six? Not only can freelance copywriters can accommodate any marketing plan giving you greater flexibility but they can advise best practice around frequency and topic choice. They’ll also be able to give you new ideas, angles and objective opinions that’ll help improve your business operations.

They free up your team

You’ve assembled the perfect team to produce a product or provide a service and it’ll be counterproductive to take them away from that. A freelance copywriter will provide you with great copy anytime you need it. This frees up your team to do what they do best. 

Improve your visibility online

Who do you call when the sink breaks down? A plumber, right? Well, you need a freelance copywriter when you need great SEO copy that improves your visibility online. Professional copywriters are well versed in the practical application of current website and SEO practices that can help set you apart from the crowd. With over 200 million active websites on the internet today, it has never been more important to invest in well written, useful, non duplicated copy for your website.

Freelance copywriters know how to write for your readers

It is a lot harder to write for different groups of people, or in various tones of voice than you might think. It is even more difficult to make people take the desired action. Freelance copywriters have mastered the art of writing with your customers and your company in mind, all with a gentle sales focus or hard sell capabilities. This ensures that your content achieves the desired results.

[Copywriting] can only take the hopes, dreams, fears and desires that already exists in the hearts of millions of people, and focus those already existing desires onto a particular product. This is the copywriter’s task: not to create this mass desire – but to channel and direct it.

It’s also easy to integrate a freelance copywriter’s services with your business no matter how big or how complex it is. And you can opt for ongoing retainers or one off pieces of content to fill any gaps.

The post Five benefits of hiring a freelance copywriter appeared first on Jones the Writer Copywriting Services.

1. It is a specialised skill

A freelance copywriter is a specialist. Copywriting isn’t just journalism. It’s not an unbiased piece of content that provides you with direct news. It’s a marketing tool to help you widen your customers and sell the services and products that you bring to the world.

Sure, a lot of people may be able to write. They can even sound incredibly professional or quirky. But copywriting is a very specific skill in that it combines high level professional writing to speak directly to your target audience, for the medium intended.

Copywriting is a persuasive art, often disguised as being so subtle that readers don’t even know they are being sold to! This takes the mind of a magician.

Good copywriters know to how capture exactly what you want (or should be) saying and how to position your business almost instantly (well, okay… maybe after you have filled out the brief). This is one of their honed skills in their magic bag of tricks.

2. It saves you time

The time it takes for your staff members to write something, say a blog post or a media release or even to rewrite a whole new website, is time taken away from their core duties.

It can take around five hours to write one blog post, longer if your staff are not experienced. That’s essentially a day’s work on a blog post. Can any of your team afford to lose a day with their current work load?

Most people are already stretched thin in their job as it is, if you throw an extra task or project into the mix, something (either the employee’s wellbeing and/or other facets of their job responsibilities) will be negatively impacted.

Being overworked and over extended is an epidemic in this day and age. In fact, it can lead to costly mistakes at work and serious health issues. Nearly thirty per cent of workers feel that they are overworked.

‘Poor work–life outcomes are associated with poorer health, more use of prescription medications, more stress and more dissatisfaction with close personal relationships.’

You can start to alleviate some of this strain simply by outsourcing your copywriting and improving your bottom line. You may even find your employees’ performance improve.

‘In the 19th century, when organized labor first compelled factory owners to limit workdays to 10 (and then eight) hours, management was surprised to discover that output actually increased – and that expensive mistakes and accidents decreased.’

3. It will be well written

Since ‘45% of marketers say blogging is the #1 most important piece of their content strategy,’ (source) it’s crucial that your blogging content well exceeds mediocre. Not only will a professional copywriter make sure the copy is expertly written to sound intriguing enough to keep reading, whilst pushing a soft sell or direct sales techniques, but will incorporate fundamental writing practices.

This includes:

• sharp sentence structure
• perfect grammar and spelling
• ensuring it reads well and is easy to follow
• is interesting and doesn’t get lost in the noise of the web or other marketing material
• written in a tone that perfectly captures your business and what it does
• is written specifically for your audience (not for you or for your competitors)
• encapsulating your message straight up (I’m not a fan of waffling on)
• keeping style consistent (eg, do you title case position titles?)
• reducing tacky clichés and make your writing more unique and original
• a consistent tone and shape of the written work to convey exactly what it needs to (for example, why your customers should buy your product today or a cleverly crafted content article about the latest fashions in toeless socks and so on).

‘A word after a word after a word is power,’ Margaret Atwood.

4. It will master your tone of voice

The art of copywriting comprises of absolutely “nailing” the voice of a company. Tone of voice is a powerful way to give your brand a personality and once your brand is personalised, people will automatically and subconsciously connect to it. Words are often the first step or level of establishing a relationship with someone or something. And as your sales team will tell you, selling is all about relationships!

‘47% of buyers viewed three to five pieces of content before engaging with a sales rep,’ (Demand Gen Report, 2016).

5. It will improve your SEO

Sterling copywriting will ensure you are super discoverable online by enhancing your copy with SEO best practices.

SEO specialist copywriters will conscientiously keep abreast of Google’s ever changing algorithms and know how to write well and optimise your content.

Good grammar, clear formatting and the way the writing is structured (as well as internal and external links) will all enhance your SEO.

6. It will help with your content strategy

You know that you should be blog posting regularly to improve your SEO but you have no idea what to write about and what would make great content that will increase your search results. A decent SEO copywriter will be able to guide you in your content plan by suggesting blog topics and content ideas in alignment with your keyword research and marketing plan. Some may even have the skills necessary to do the SEO research necessary.

‘Websites with a blog have tend to have 434% more indexed pages,’ (source).

A freelance copywriter will also guide you in the right direction in terms of which assets work for which purpose. Not sure whether you need a flyer or some email marketing? A copywriter will help you determine which medium will suit your purpose and audience.

7. It will save you money

‘I have been working on this for weeks but I just can’t get it to sound right,’ is one of the most frequent comments I get when new clients hire me. And just like above where I have outlined how hiring a writer can save you copious amounts of time, saving time always equals saving money.

Having a copywriter on staff can be costly process, especially if you only need them for project work. A freelance copywriter cuts out all the costs of having a permanent employee.

8. It will give you a whole lot more than you expect

This may not be the case with every copywriter but often they can have a generous skillset. For example, I have been a publicist, project coordinator and marketing manager so I can bring a lot more than “just” words to the table. I know how the media thinks and responds, so I can write really effective media releases and I have a deep understanding of concepts like sales funnel, lead gen and customer journey map, when clients throw those terms my way.

Additionally, I am a trained yoga teacher, have studied creative writing, psychology and philosophy at university and professional writing psychology at TAFE. Besides meaning that I’m an education junkie, this suggests that I am fascinated by the human mind and have a profound understanding of how people work, making it easier to communicate directly with them. I appreciate the personal and emotional facets of where people want their money to go, even at a corporate and government level.

I’ve also written marketing books, several novels, a book of short stories and a book of poetry and everything I learn in the process of writing those mammoth projects are brought into my client work.

The post Eight reasons to hire a freelance copywriter appeared first on Jones the Writer Copywriting Services.