Besides the creative aspect of copywriting, what should a copywriter know? I've seen SEO mentioned a lot, agree? What else?
If you hope to be successful as a copywriter, RESEARCH is critical. You need to know who you audience is, what they want, and how your product or service ties in with their desires. NOTE: I'm speaking primarily of "copywriting" for the purpose of selling something. If you're just trying to write content (like blog articles, or news stories, etc.) then all of the following might not be necessary for you. But if you want to sell something, then most everything you need fits into one or more of these categories... - Research (who's your ideal prospect and what do they want or need, what are the benefits of your product or service, etc.) - Persuasion techniques (curiosity, scarcity, compelling benefits to your customer, etc.) - Components and structure (headline, bullets, offer, call to action, etc.) On top of that, it helps if you learn to write as if you're speaking to a single person. Even though you're reaching out to millions of people, everyone who reads it is an individual. And above all, always write with the attitude of "how is this going to benefit the reader." When you start with that attitude, your copy always comes out far better. Sadly, too much copy is written with the attitude of "what can we say to impress everyone with how great we are." And that's why 90% of advertising is crap. Because no one cares about how great you are, until they know how much you care about helping them.
What I mean is what should a copywriter know in terms of technical skills, skills beyond the writing/creative aspect.
How to work with a word processor. Typing skills accelerate your productivity. Knowledge of psychology helps. (Although that may still fit inside your writing/creative area.) I don't personally think that SEO is technically important to the copywriting process. I'm not sure what you're looking for here. There isn't really much technical about copywriting. It's more about understanding people, how to build meaning relationships, and creating content based on that knowledge.
I don't think a copywriter should know all the SEO related topics and terms very well. To perform SEO related tasks is the responsibility of an SEO manager or specialist. A copywriter can know about the keywords because he/she has to use keywords in article writing. A copywriter will also know how to avoid plagiarism in writing.
Sorry, I guess I misunderstood your original question. (My mistake) I thought you were asking what a person should know to be a good copywriter. If you're only asking about technical skills? I guess proper spelling and proper grammar would be on the list. But you might be asking the wrong question. If you really want to be a good copywriter then I have to agree with what JoeSpirit said...
Sorry can't agree with on that as digital marketing is growing and everything is getting sync which is why each member of team should be known about each and everything related to all aspects such as designing, writing, SEO and social media.
Copywriter importance has increased significantly in the new google updates as with each new update importance of unique, fresh and optimized content is increasing. Content writers should be promoted to senior levels by equipping them with different skills such as SEO and Designing, so that he/she does not get stuck at any point.
Frankly the biggest things, to me, are knowledge of writing, knowledge of the product they have to write about, and knowledge of how to connect with consumers. The first two can come with time and training, but the third can only come with study and practice. Take some time to figure out what brands you feel like have good copywriting and which sites you really enjoy the writing style of, and sit down to really analyze what you like about it and why. It's lengthy, and it will always require refinement and practice, but it'll be worth it in the end.
Thank you Best Seller. Fancy meeting you here. I would thank you with a "like," but unfortunately us peon's don't have the privileged of a "like" button. (Perhaps someday Mister Geppetto will turn me into a real boy )
Funny enough, I didn't even think about if there was a "like" button or not until I saw mine - I've just taken them for granted this whole time! I liked Best Seller's post for you until you can do it yourself.
Thank you Max. I appreciate it. And I'm glad you got my joke (with the Pinocchio reference) It wasn't my best comedy moment, but I figured at least a couple of writers on here would get it
You have to post a lot of comments and start a lot of threads on here in order to "become a real boy" with "like button" privileges. It takes a little while.
I think it's actually a lot of "messages" isn't it Best Seller? I haven't started any threads but I do have my like button from actively posting comments.
I think you may be right. Or maybe it happens a little faster if you start threads as opposed to just replying to other threads? I don't recall exactly. I just know I had to post and post and post some more before I was given the privilege of liking other people's posts.
According to some of the ads. for writers on a writing jobs website that I looked at, you need writing skills (obviously,) and a good knowledge of SEO and CMS and social networking. This website is for writers looking for permanent, salaried jobs, by the way.
Writing is not necessarily the same for every person, thus the skills you need to acquire versus the skills you already have will differ. Quite frankly. I have no idea why people would want to work in this field if they do not enjoy writing and have at least some skill at it. The ability to communicate a story is so much more important than conveying dry facts or figures. Beyond that it also depends upon what kind of content you're creating. There are certain methods or mediums involved in copywriting and while you may excel at one or more of them, others can actually come out feeling forced unless you are very careful.
In my experience, the best copywriters are story tellers. The use of facts and figures never worked well in marketing messages other than to soothe buyer remorse. And talking about the benefits of your product is a technique that no longer works like it once did. To write successful copy for marketing today you must write in a way that the potential customer views you as a real person much like him and that you really care about fixing his problem or easing his ache.