A Day in the Life of a Copywriter

I currently work as a Creative Specialist for a tech company, despite the fancy title what I basically do is copywriting. I often get a lot of questions from people not knowing what a copywriter is or does, so I’m here to clear it up!

Do you just copy things down all day?

This is a common question I get asked when telling people about what I do for a living, and as easy as that sounds, that’s not quite it!

What I actually do is create all of the written content for websites, sculpting all the information from customers to build them a well written and structured site.

Can’t anybody write these things?

Well, yes, they can, but there are many subtle considerations that are often missed.

As a professional writer, I understand the value of a good user experience - especially when it comes to websites.

Copywriters bring a creative side to writing and can identify exactly what an audience wants to see, bringing out the very best parts of a business and displaying them in a unique and engaging way.

Storytellers in a digital age

People often dismiss the power of writing, particularly when it comes to commercial websites.

At the heart of the work there is essential information you need to get across — which can be a challenge. (Describing a plumber’s services isn’t always as exciting as it seems.)

However, the part that is often overlooked is not what you say, but how you say it. A brand’s tone of voice is everything in the mind of their customers and is critical to how they perceive the business.

Good copywriting is basically storytelling — a mixture of entertainment, education and guidance to tap into that problem-solution link that drives most Google searches.

All the copy of a website navigates you through a company’s story — who they are and what they have to offer. And of course, like any good piece of writing, the narrative voice telling that story needs to be shaped perfectly for its target audience.

Whether this demands humour or professionalism, or a mix of the two. It allows us to use our imagination to consider what a company could do for us, and convert this into effective and relevant content.

What does a typical day involve at work?

When a client comes to me with their website idea, the first thing I do is assess their plans to make sure I have everything needed to produce good copy.

This involves checking over the assets the client has provided, seeing if there’s enough to talk about, and making sure nothing is plagiarised. I’ll then begin researching the company, their competitors and the type of audience they want to reach.

If I need more to tell a better story, I’ll liaise with the customer to get as much information as possible. Once everything looks good to go, I move on to the writing stage.

This is the fun part, where I shape client’s words to maximise the emotional impact on website visitors. This involves formatting the website to show off the content in the right places and leading the customers to take action.

Once everything’s been checked and checked again, I eagerly await the build of a site to see my words brought to life.