What is copywriting anyway?

I’m glad you asked. Since I started e.g. Creative Solutions, I have lost count of the blank stares I have faced when I tell people I’m a copywriter. That stare is usually followed up by, “You mean ⓒ copyrighting?” or a baffled, “You copy other people’s writing?” No. And no.

What the hell is copy anyway? Copywriting connects a customer with a want or a need, to a business that has the perfect solution for them! Copy could be any text that increases brand awareness, or persuades the reader to take a specific action. Think text on websites, billboards, email marketing, newsletters, product packaging, and yes, ads.

Copywriting is not “sales”. But it can directly impact your sales.

Hold on!

Hear me out. There's a huge, wide world out there, and there’s a market for everything. No matter what you’re selling, there’s someone who wants it. No matter what you want, scour the internet and someone is offering it. Great copywriting connects a customer with the business, which means that it connects people who are willing to make a purchase, with businesses that want to make a sale, ergo, more completed sales. (Or donations, signups, attendances, investments, or whatever the company would like to ask of the person reading the copy.)

Great copywriting builds an authentic connection, evokes emotion, and guides the reader towards the business. Great copywriting also makes a business stand out from the crowd. I’m biased, but anywhere there is the need for written words, there’s an opportunity to write engaging, fun copy that people want to read every word of.

Here’s how I like to think of it; imagine that you’re walking down the street, and you pass someone eating cake. If they ran after you, trying to shove the cake down your throat while they yelled out how their cake is the best cake, you’d want to get away quickly and wouldn’t even consider buying some cake from them, no matter how good it looked.

That is having a great product with bad, pushy, copy from a business that only cares about making sales.

Now, imagine you’re walking down the street and you see a friend of yours. They happen to be eating cake. You get talking. It’s great to catch up! You share a few laughs, you listen intently to every word. You can’t help but notice the cake, and you haven’t had lunch yet… cake would be great right about now. Your friend mentions where they got the cake from, and that they had chocolate cake there too (your friend knows that’s your favourite flavour) and so, you ask your friend to show you the cake shop, so that you can get your own, and you walk there together.

That’s what good copywriting feels like.

If you’d like to have a go at writing your own copy, and creating those friendly cake-craving vibes, tune in for my next blog where I’ll share my top tips.