What skills do you need to be a copywriter?

What skills do you need to be a copywriter?

It’s an important question to ask, whether you’re a copywriter just starting out on your journey, a copywriter looking for areas where they can improve or a client trying to hire a copywriter.

Because copywriters need to be more than just handy with words.

Below, I’m going to dive into the skills and qualities you need to become a solid copywriter. You might be surprised at some. At others, you’ll nod your head . I’ll take both reactions!

Let’s get into them.

Writing skills

Do I even need to list this one?

Businesses hire copywriters because of their writing skills; and more specifically, because of their ability to write in a way that conveys the business’s sales and marketing messages, and can generate business.

Whereas some people struggle with words, in the hands of a copywriter, words are powerful tools that spill out of the copywriter’s fingertips.

Not only does the copywriter write the words. They edit them, too, shaping them into razor-sharp texts to cut through the noise and bring in the lucre for businesses.

Marketing knowledge

Although the fundamentals of copywriting have remained the same, copywriting as a trade has changed immensely.

Many moons ago, tasks were purely focused on sales: direct mail, advertorials, press releases, press ads brochures and more.

Today, it’s a whole new and mightily interesting story.

Copywriting is still a niche field, but it’s part of a bigger whole than ever.

Now, not only are we writing sales tools, but also websites (still sales focused, I admit), blogs, social media posts, pay-per-click ads, digital press releases and more. We’re having to think about other channels such as social, email and SEO.

As a copywriter, you’ve got to learn about those channels and how your work fits into the wider marketing strategy and campaigns of your clients.

The copywriter doesn’t have to a total pro in each, but they should at least have a good understanding of the different channels they’re writing for so that they can serve the client more effectively.

SEO knowledge

If there’s one area you’ve got to know a little about – the more, the better – besides copywriting, it’s search engine optimisation (SEO).

(If you’re completely new to copywriting, SEO is the appliance of strategies to help websites be as visible as possible in Google. Every business wants to be on the first page of the Google search results, preferably at the very top. SEO is all about helping you get there.)

As a copywriter, you’ll be writing for a website at some point in your career. Could be website copy. Could be blog posts. Could be both. But you need to know how to optimise so that search engines can find it.

Because, naturally, the organisations you’re writing for want people to find them and, from there, go on to buy their products or hire their services.

Clients come to me with varying degrees of knowledge about SEO. Some have a vague idea. Some have a strategy and I’m writing for them as part of that strategy.

But the bottom line is they all know about SEO.

You need to as well.

You don’t have to be an expert, but the better you understand it, the better you can write search-engine-friendly copy and content for your business (or for your clients, if you’re a copywriter).

Strong research skills

Get ready because you’re going to have to write for a client in an industry you won’t have a clue about.

But that’s not game over! You just need to do some solid research. The more, the better.

Not only will researching well enable you to write good content for the client, but it will also help you to understand the industry, the different issues in it and how they might affect your client’s business and their customers.

Oh, and it’s not just a question of research an industry. No, copywriters have to conduct other types of research, such as competitor research and keyword research.

So, yep, lots of research to be done, so you’d better be good at it!

Understanding of the audience

If you’re going to write copy or content that are going to resonate with a target audience (yours or your client’s), you have to understand them.

Who are you writing for?

What problems are bothering them?

What state of mind could they be in when they read your copy?

Are your target audience already experts in the topic you’re writing about? Do they need things explaining?

You don’t want to write things that an audience has no interest in.

You also don’t want to use language or write in a way that alienates in them.

Copywriters need to understand your audience.

Ability to make complex ideas simple

If customers don’t understand what a business is selling and why it should buy from them, they won’t buy it.

Whether they specialise in one industry or not, copywriters have to deal with complex concepts and, to perform their role effectively, must understand them clearly.

They then have to simplify the ideas so that the target audience can absorb what they’re reading and make the decision to buy.

Curiosity

A copywriter should be curious about their client’s industry and – I’m gonna make a big claim here – about life!

Copywriters can’t write and not have curious minds. Apathy and copywriting are like sausage and custard: they don’t go together!

Your copywriter should be willing to research so they can write for you.

More importantly, they should be willing to go down the many rabbit holes that the research will inevitably take them. And enjoy it!

In their spare time, they should read, listen to podcasts or learning something. Not every minute of their spare time, but they show some sort of desire to learn or experience something new.

Empathy

Now, you might find this out of place on a blog about copywriting, but empathy is essential in copywriting.

Because if a copywriter is unable to see things from other perspectives, how can they write copy that connects with the target audience?

As a copywriter, being able to envisage what your audience is thinking and feeling both before they read your copy and after it is indispensable.

Empathy helps copywriters to find the right turns of phrase so that the business doesn’t appear out of touch with how a target audience is feeling.

If a person went to a therapist but felt that professional didn’t understand them, they’d find another therapist who seemed to know where they were coming from.

People are coming to the business, hoping the business will help them solve their problem.

But they’ll go somewhere else if the copywriter isn’t on the ball.

Self-motivation

Copywriting is a very solitary profession.

Often, copywriters work by themselves and in silence (or with some gentle music on to help them stay focused on tasks). They have to set up systems to get the work done.

In any job, it’s easy to become distracted when left to your own devices and without a boss behind you to breathe down your neck.

This is especially the case when we have social media, text messages, emails and phone calls all slogging it out for our attention.

Not to mention the lure of YouTube and all those tasty, tempting rabbit holes you can end up going down when watching videos on the platform.

Copywriters have to motivate themselves to get up and get the work done. Serious ones will get their Mr Miyagi on and do just that.

Ability to meet deadlines

Speaking of getting the work done, copywriters must be able to hit deadlines regular.

Professional copywriters realise not just that their own living depends partly on being reliable, but also that their clients are counting on them. They’re not just setting deadlines for the hell of it.

So the copywriter will organise their time to make sure the work doesn’t flutter into the client’s inbox than the agreed time.

Of course, life happens and sometimes circumstances can emerge that stop a copywriter from delivering the work on the time. Good copywriters try to plan for these and advise the client ahead of time, giving them as much warning as possible.

If a copywriter is missing deadlines, requesting extensions and going missing in action when the client emails asking where the work is, they need to some sort of time management or productivity course.

Because clients want a copywriter they can trust to do the job. Not a hot mess.

Tech skills

Now tech skills are more of a ‘nice to have’ than essential, but the evolution of copywriting to writing for digital formats means copywriters should have some digital skills.

Copywriters today are working with websites, social media and email.

So, ideally, they should also have some knowledge of:

• Google Analytics
• HTML or other coding
• WordPress
• Mailchimp or other email newsletter platforms
• Social media platforms.

If your copywriter doesn’t have all these skills, that certainly doesn’t mean you’ve hired a charlatan.

But they’re tech skills that can make the copywriter more effective or make the copywriter’s own job easier.

If your copywriter has them, it’s a sign that, in theory, you’re in safe hands.

Choose your copywriter

Except for writing skills and maybe the ability to meet deadlines, the list above isn’t set in stone.

But they’re skills you’d ideally want your copywriter to have when you’re choosing one for your project.

And there are others you might like to add to the list.

You might also wish to take their personality into account and whether you’d enjoy working with them.

If you have a project right now and need a copywriter to help you with it, drop me a line and let’s see if we can work together.

Happy to jump on a call and discuss your project so you can gauge whether I’m the man for the job.

Thank you for reading!