What is Copywriting? Complete Guide [2024]

Copywriting is the technique of preparing sales-oriented copies that helps a business to increase brand awareness.

A copywriter is an expert in leveraging the power of words to convince the user into taking an action in favor of the business.

This guide is for all aspiring copywriters who wish to make a career in content copywriting. Let’s start learning!

Chapter #1 – What is Copywriting?

The basic definition of copywriting is:

“Copywriting is the process of crafting and publishing a reader-focused copy that educates the people about your business and its products. Most importantly, it persuades your target audience to take action and offers a positive user experience”.

Copywriting is not similar to creating marketing copies that are solely created to spam people with offers. 

Copywriting is all about giving something valuable to the reader and getting the reader to take some kind of action not out of pressure but because they enjoy your content. 

Copywriting generally focuses on organic methods such as blogs, article writing, and infographics to provide valuable content to readers. It is more effective than outbound advertising methods and it is aimed at enhancing the brand value of a company to create more customers for them.

Chapter #2 – Who is a Copywriter?

A copywriter creates a compelling copy to sell products, increase organic traffic to the business website, and to educate customers about the products and services offered by the company.

A copywriter not only writes blogs and articles but they also write product descriptions, email copies, banner advertising text, newsletters, and social media campaigns. 

A normal day in the life of a copywriter includes researching topics online or conducting an interview to figure out an idea to convey a message to a specific audience in the most effective manner.

A copywriter writes or edits content copy to make it work in favor of the business. The content copy is accompanied by images and stats so that the readers are able to quickly scan the content and take action accordingly.

From research to proofreading and brainstorming concepts to developing storyboards, copywriters do everything to make sure that the content positively engages the consumers and converts them.

Chapter #3 – Responsibilities of a Copywriter

The job of a copywriter is to gather information from various sources and create a copy that can convey the marketing message in an engaging and creative way.

A copywriter’s job is to add magic to words.

Let’s have a look at the responsibilities of a copywriter.

• Understanding Clients’ needs: The first duty of a copywriter is to understand the needs of the clients with regards to product/content promotion. This allows them to write accordingly.
• Researching: Copywriters must research the content topic or product about which they are writing. This includes interviewing the company’s employees, market research, and getting a brief idea of who the target audience is.
• Writing: The primary work of a copywriter is to write compelling, attention-grabbing, and engaging content that sells. Successful copywriting encourages users to take certain actions. Copywriters must be able to produce different types of copy such as articles, blog posts, web pages, advertising, press releases, and more.
• Adaptation: Depending on the type of copy, you will need to adapt their writing style and you must write these copies from alternative viewpoints. For example, you might be writing a blog post to promote a product as well as an advertising copy to promote the same product. You can’t write both the copies in a similar style and viewpoints. 
• Editing and Proofreading: Proofreading is one of the most important responsibilities of a copywriter. Once you have completed crafting the copy, you’ll need to make sure that there are no errors or typos before submitting it to the client. You’re also expected to edit the copy based on the client’s feedback. 
• Strategic Decision-Making: Copywriter’s responsibilities aren’t limited to writing content. Many companies expect you to assist them with marketing strategies and help them develop a successful ad campaign.
• Creating Slogans For New Products: Copywriters need to come up with creative slogans and phrases for new products. And, they also need to explain the slogans and phrases along with why they think these are best suited for the product.

Chapter #4 – What is Creative Copywriting?

Creative copywriting involves thinking conceptually about how to sell a product or service in an imaginative and attention-grabbing way. It is an important part of digital marketing.

Related: Reasons Why Digital Marketing Is Important

Have a look at the copywriting ad from 3M, a multinational conglomerate company, and notice how creatively the word *hit has been used.

A creative copywriter provides compelling words that help accelerate the impact of the campaign. 

Creative copywriting is less about getting information in and is more about getting information out in an interesting and engaging manner. Here is a big cheatsheet for copywriting power words.

Creative copywriting has the potential to make a brand stand up and stand out. Though creative copywriters focus more on boosting the ROI of ad campaigns, they can also help you boost brand awareness and email open rate.

Check out how Moosejaw, an e-commerce company specializing in outdoor recreation apparel and gear, uses humor to sell attract users and sell their products without being overly forward about it.

FirstRound, a venture capital firm, is yet another brand that uses creative copywriting to sell itself. 

Instead of simply listing out the events they organize, they pointed out the pain of starting a company to bring all entrepreneurs together.

Chapter #5 – What is Business Copywriting?

Unlike business-to-consumer copywriting that focuses on selling products and services to consumers like you and me, business copywriting focuses on selling the products and services to other businesses. 

Many business copywriters craft the copy to target a particular client. From analyzing previous copies to interviewing their existing clients and analyzing the web analytics, business copywriters do. 

Since businesses rarely read any emails, it is important to use business copywriting to make sure that they read your emails to increase the chances of conversion.

Check out how Slack, a team communication tool, writes amazing tweets to engage businesses, have fun with them, and even to announce new features in an entertaining manner.

See the way Basecamp highlighted “Wish Granted” on their homepage to grab their visitor’s attention and then it says “Ever wish work was less work?” to create curiosity in the mind of readers and the “Start a free 30-day Trial” says there’s no risk in giving us a try.

Chapter #6 – Why Copywriting is Important in An Advertisement? 

Advertising and copywriting go hand in hand. The ads that you watch on your Television or while watching your favorite movies or shows on Netflix are all powered by copywriting. 

Related: Best Native Ads Networks

The marketing message forms the essence of copywriting. Whether in the case of text-based ads or display advertisements, copywriting messages persuade the users to act. 

Here are some of the reasons why copywriting is important in an advertisement:

• Copywriting lets the readers know more about your brand. 
• Applying proper copywriting tricks helps to drive the attention of the people.
• The magic of text directs the users to take action in favor of your brand.
• Copywriting helps your customers learn about the advantages of your products or services.
• It gives you more ROI from your advertisement efforts.

If you are looking to improve the effectiveness of your advertisement campaigns then copywriting is the best strategy that you can implement right now. 

Chapter #7- Skills Needed To Become a Copywriter

There is no formal qualification or degree required to become a copywriter, instead, you should be an excellent word slinger to survive in the ever-changing world of content marketing. 

Related: The Ultimate Guide to B2B Content Marketing Strategy

Here are the skills you should possess to become a copywriter.

1 – Impeccable Writing Skills

No matter which language you’re writing in, you need to write well. It isn’t as easy as it sounds. 

You need to master grammar, punctuation, and spelling. 

You also need to have a knowledge of where to use which word to increase the chances of grabbing readers’ attention.

Advanced skills you must master to get ahead in the field of copywriting includes:

• Creating easy to read content.
• Focusing on the reader and keeping it concise for starters.
• Writing great transitional words and phrases.
• Use sentences that flow together naturally and don’t jump from one section to another directly.
• Crafting a compelling introduction (that creates curiosity in the mind of readers and forces them to read the whole post) and conclusion.

You don’t need to be a natural writer, you can improve your writing skills by practicing by yourself and/or taking a course.

2 – Art of Writing Attention-Grabbing Headlines

Drafting powerful attention-grabbing headlines is one of the most important skills you must have as a copywriter. 

When crafting headlines focus on users more than the search engines and use keywords in your headings and subheadings.

A few things that can help you write attention-grabbing headlines are:

• Construct your headlines to answer potential questions.
• Identify the crux of your article and phrase that in one sentence.
• Use words that are commonly used while speaking such as “Best” instead of “spectacular” or “magnificent”.
• Use numbers whenever possible.

No matter how good your content is if the headline isn’t great, you won’t be able to attract enough readers. 

Therefore, make sure that the headline is short and compelling.

3 – Storytelling

The primary aim of copywriters is to sell. And storytelling is the best way to sell because they are compelling and people love them.

Write stories that are relevant to the topic and provide positive outcomes to the readers.

Use facts and add some twists in it to create an interesting story. Great storytelling is all about taking a real-life situation and expressing it in a unique situation.

4 – A Wide Vocabulary

Having a wide vocabulary will allow you to choose different words based on the context of the article instead of the same worn-out favorites. 

It will not only help you improvise your content but it will also help you make your headlines better.

Besides, when you understand complex words yourself, you can choose more descriptive words to help your readers understand what you’re describing and can adapt your writing according to your audience (simpler words for beginners and technical jargon for experts).

5 – Great Research Skills

As a copywriter, you will be writing about various industries and products. There will be a lot of topics you know nothing about. 

But, in order to craft compelling topics that sell you need to understand what you’re writing about.

Therefore it is important to research the topic, industry, target audience, and the set of challenges. 

When researching you need to know where to go and how to do it quickly, so you won’t spend hours just understanding the topic.

6 – An Understanding of User Experience

Having a good knowledge of SEO wouldn’t hurt but it’s not necessary.

Related: What is SEO? Complete Guide

When a copywriter gives importance to the user’s needs, many of the SEO issues are solved automatically.

When you create tailored content for the user, you increase the time a user spends on your blog, reducing the bounce rate. Use your research skills to understand the target audience and use the words that make sense to the readers.

Chapter #8- Get Started With Copywriting As a Beginner

Getting started with copywriting isn’t as complicated as it seems. Remember, you don’t need to be great at it to start with. 

You’ll learn more with experience than you would by any course. 

Therefore, if you want to become a copywriter it’s important to start writing irrespective of how good you’re at it. Let’s have a look at how you can get started with copywriting as a beginner.

1 – Understand The Difference Between Copywriting and Content Writing

One thing that distinguishes copywriting with content writing is the purpose of writing. 

Content writing is all about telling the readers about a product or service while delivering valuable content whereas copywriting is all about grabbing the user’s attention, addressing their pain points, and slowly building the excitement before offering the solution. 

Copywriting can be funny, sarcastic, and/or focused.

In simple words, content writing is all about selling the features of a product whereas copywriting is all about selling the benefits of the product.

2 – Focus On The Headline

This is the most difficult and important part of copywriting. 

Crafting a headline that is short yet catchy. Keep these things in mind when writing a headline:

• Use numbers as both people and search engine love lists (Example – 4 ways copywriters can earn more money)

Related: Ideas to Make More Money Online

• Make them curious about your content (Example – Why no one reads your content?)
• Create an emotional response in your reader’s mind by using trigger words such as Amazing, Free, Guarantee, Discover, etc.  
• Appeal to their need to know (Example – Everything you need to know before starting your own digital marketing agency)

Related: What is Digital Marketing? Complete Guide

Ensure that you understand your audience and create a headline that answers what they’re struggling with.

3 – Specialize On a Specific Niche

Writing on various topics and industries will help you master your copywriting skills, but it won’t help you gain credibility in a specific area.  

For example, if you write only about topics related to health, then sooner or later, you’ll start gaining popularity in the health space. 

But, if you write on various niches, you’re less likely to gain popularity in any of those industries. 

Moreover, you will spend less time researching and more time crafting unique and compelling content as you will have a better knowledge of the industry.

Once you know what copywriting is and how it is different from general writing, it’s time to learn how to craft catchy headlines. 

In the end, focus on a particular niche and try to build credibility in it in order to work with big companies.

Chapter #9- How to Be a Good Copywriter?

There are various types of copywriting, including offline advertisements (newspapers, TV commercials, and magazines), online ads, web content, and other marketing materials (brochures, newsletters, and flyers). Figure out what kind of copywriter you want to be. 

Here are some tips to become a good copywriter:

1- Listen to your client. Try to understand what their primary business is and what message they want you to reflect in the copy. 

2- Know who you are writing for and use the language they prefer. 

3- Understand your audience and their pain points. Use tools like BuzzSumo to monitor the most engaging content in your industry in social media. These posts indicate what your audience is looking for and will give you a chance to present it to them. 

4- Conduct intensive research before writing the draft.

5- Craft attention-grabbing headlines. 

6- Write short paragraphs and use plenty of breaks between them. 

7- Make the content scannable by using proper headings and subheadings. 

8- Avoid using jargon. It will make it easier for your readers to consume your message. 

9- Sell the benefits and not features. 

10- Leverage newsjacking whenever possible. This attracts the users’ attention immediately. 

11- Tell a story whenever possible. This will keep the reader glued to your content until the end. 

12- Use the word “you” and not “we” or “I”. It’s all about the customer. 

13- Be as clear and concise as possible. Gary Bencivenga, one of the greatest copywriters of all time, said, “effective copywriting is salesmanship in print, not clever wordsmithing. Copywriters who show off their skills are as ineffective as fishermen who reveal the hook.” 

14- Help your readers identify they have a problem and then lend a hand to solve it. 

15- Use conversational language. Write like you’re talking to a friend. 

16- Use examples to enable the reader to better relate and understand your point. 

17- Provide proof that you can solve the problem. 

18- Eliminate flabby and powerless words that don’t provide any real value. For example, “choice” is redundant in “alternative choice”. Here is a list of weak words to eliminate immediately. 

19- Keep a collection of ad copies, emails, or any other content you love or performed well. You can then use them as a reference every time you struggle to write killer content. 

20- Ask questions that your readers get to say “yes”. This will keep them hooked to your content. 

21- Use active voice as much as possible. Passive voice makes you sound weak. 

22- Highlight what’s in for the readers. 

23- Use power words (verbs) such as create, plan, learn, define, make, etc. 

24- Answer your customers’ potential objections in advance. 

25- Evoke an emotional response (whenever possible) in the reader to better connect with them. 

26- Incorporate images to make your content engaging. 

27- Back any claim you make in your content. 

28- When writing web content craft a compelling intro. This will hook the readers until the last word of the post. 

29- Avoid using the same words repeatedly. Use synonyms to make the words non-repetitive.

30- Set a word count to make your copy as laser-focused as possible. 

31- Learn from your least shared content. That’s not what your target audience wants. 

32- Use punctuation to make your copy impactful. 

33- Use online forums like Quora or Reddit to find information gaps and create content to address them. 

34- Leverage bucket brigades to get your readers to read the whole content. 

35- Focus on quality from the first word of your copy.

36- Use tools, such as Hemingway App or Grammarly to refine your content. 

Related: Best Content Writing Tools For Content Writers

37- Let the content rest for some time and come back after a few minutes. This will help you regain perspective and streamline the editing process. 

38- Edit until you feel the copy is perfect. 

39- Prepare to fail and learn from it. 

Last but not least, make efforts to become a better writer always. There’s always something to learn in the writing field. 

Chapter #10 – Killer Copywriting Formulas

Copywriting can be such a tedious task if you don’t have some hacks to do it. In this article, I discuss some of the most useful copywriting formulas that you can use to drive more traffic to your website and improve your conversion rate.

1 – AIDA 

AIDA is one of the most useful copywriting formulas that bloggers use when creating marketing content. It stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action.

Attention: Capture the readers’ attention to continue reading your blog or web page. If visitors cannot read your content, they are not likely to buy from your online store. 

To capture the reader’s attention, use the word “you” so that they feel like you are talking to them personally. Use more emotional words and try creating suspense to keep them reading more.

Here are examples of how to grab readers’ attention on your headlines;

3 Best Content Creation Tips That Most Bloggers Forget

Microsoft comes up with a New Product Again

Interest: Making the reader more interested in reading your work by creating some curiosity. To make your readers more interested in your content:

• Let the points in your writing flow to avoid confusion 
• Use short sentences 
• Speak in a language that your customers understand clearly.
• Use a friendly voice or tone in your writing.

Desire: Offering information that the reader is searching for and willing to read. You have to think about what your readers really want and ensure you address that in your writing. Don’t write the obvious but also add more information to create awareness to the readers.

Action: Including a call to action in the blog post to encourage the readers to take action. 

Examples of how to use AIDA

In the initial part of the blog post (the first paragraph), you should capture the reader’s attention by asking them some questions. 

For instance, if you were writing about 5 Tips to Boost your Website traffic, you can capture your readers’ attention at the start of the blog post using this way:

Are you tired of low traffic on your website? Do you know that you can double your website traffic without spending a coin?

To make the reader more interested in your blog post, always provide some facts and statistics related to the topic you are writing about. For instance, you can write a line like: 

It takes about 3.5 hours to write a high-quality blog post.

To create desire and ensure your audience continues reading to the finish line, you can include a successful case study in the blog post. The case study acts as proof that what you are discussing in the blog post works. 

End the blog post with a call to action. For instance, for our topic, you can ask the reader to subscribe to your YouTube Channel for a tutorial on more tips to drive traffic to their websites. 

Related: How To Start A YouTube Channel

2- IDCA

IDCA is almost similar to AIDA except for the fact that it replaces the “attention” part with “conviction.” You can use testimonials, case studies, demos, or backup your information with some proven statistics to add or create conviction to your work. 

Interest: Make the reader more curious about what you want to discuss 

Desire: Give the readers a reason to continue reading your blog. 

Conviction: Convince them to take action based on what you have discussed.

Here is an example of how to create conviction in your blog post:

Many people have tried and tested the tips I have discussed here. If you think that this cannot work for your website, take a minute to listen to this testimonial from one of my happy clients.

Action: Encourage the reader to act and implement what they have learned. 

Here is an example:

Our company offers the best products at a discount price. We revise our prices regularly to make our products more affordable. Visit our online store now for some amazing offers.

3- The 4Ps 

The 4Ps is another popular copywriting formula. It is the best you can opt for if you are writing content for an audience, you know more about. 

If you are writing for customers you have some clue about their shopping behaviour, the 4Ps formula can help you convince them to buy.

Here is a breakdown of this formula:

Picture: use storytelling to paint a picture and create more desire for the reader. You should aim at creating a vivid description of the problem you want to address

Promise: explain why the service or products you are offering the reader will solve the problems that they have.

Prove: You can use testimonials, data, and customer reviews to prove that what you are offering works. You can include a money-back guarantee clause on the site if you are promoting your products and services on the website. Here is an example:

Most of our customers are happy with the products we deliver them. In case you don’t realize positive results, we can promise you a money-back guarantee within a month. 

Push: Always look forward to clearing doubts in the readers mind. Urge them to take deliberate action to buy your products and services or simply implement what you have discussed. 

Make a compelling and outstanding offer to the reader so that they take action.

You can write something like this:

You can always contact our customer care for the instant delivery of your orders. We offer you a discount for bulk purchase. Also, with our money-back guarantee, you are assured some peace of mind when shopping with us.

4- ACCA

ACCA is also a useful formula for copywriting. It is the best formula you can use if you want you want the content you are publishing on your website to be more clear and comprehensive to the audience. ACCA stands for:

Awareness: What is the problem you want to discuss? Let the reader know the exact problem or topic that you intend to address in your write up.

Comprehension: Focus on highlighting the problem and how it is likely to affect the reader. Don’t forget to mention that you have a solution to the problem. 

Conviction: Create the urge or desire to implement the solutions you are offering to the audience.

Action: Include a call to action section on your post.

The only difference with ACCA formula is that it focuses more on the comprehension. That is ensuring the audience understands more about the problem you are solving. It includes giving a complete diagnosis of the problem to convince the reader that he or she must take immediate action to solve it. 

5- AIDPPC

AIDPPC is a brainchild of AIDA that most copywriters use to come up with the best sales letters. 

It is almost similar to the other copywriting formulas except that the Desire part is split further into Description, Persuasion, and Proof. Here is a breakdown of this formula:

Attention: Use your first paragraph to capture the reader’s attention.

Here is an example:

Making people read your blog is never a walk in the park. Employ the following 12 tips to improve your website visibility and drive more traffic. 

Interest: Use some statistics to make the readers develop an interest to read.

Description: Explain more about the problem and highlight the possible solutions. Also, remind the reader about what they can face if they don’t act accordingly.

Persuasion: convince the audience to take appropriate action.

Proof: use endorsements, testimonials, and customer reviews to prove to the readers that they can trust you to deliver as you have promised on the blog post.

Close: Include a call to action when concluding the blog post.

6- QUEST

QUEST is another amazing copywriting formula you can employ to make your blog posts more compelling. Here is what it entails:

Qualify: Prepare the reader for what you are about to discuss in the article. This is more of capturing the reader’s attention. Here is an example.

If you have a problem with driving the right traffic to your blog, then you are on the right page. Here are some ten proven tips you can use now to rescue your site. 

Understand: Know more about your reader’s problem, why they are reading your content, and create a piece that addresses their key problems.

Educate: Focus more on educating the reader on how they can apply the solutions you are giving. Let your readers know more than the basics about the solutions to the problems.

Stimulate and Sell: Offer your valuable solutions to the audience.

Transition: Transition the reader to a lead. Convert your audience from a mere prospect to a potential customer for your business.

Here is an example of a “transition”:

What you need for your website is just a phone call away. Reach out to us now for some proven tips that will position your blog to the right audience and help you grow your online business. 

7- Star Story Solution (SSS)

SSS is a popular copywriting formula for attracting sales to a website. It stands for:

Star: the main character in the story. He could be the customer or a celebrity you are using as an influencer for your business. You can also make your product or service the star in your story. All you should do is make the reader relate to the star in your story.

Related: What is Influencer Marketing?

Story: Come up with a story that appeals to the target audience’s emotions and relates to the problems they are facing. Your story should show the challenges your star is facing and how they solve the problems.

Solution: Explain how the character can solve his or her problem by taking action. Also, showcase how the solution makes the star feel like and what other people think about the solution.

8- FAB 

FAB is one of the best copywriting formulas for value propositions. It helps you to focus more on the benefit your products and services are offering to the customer rather than highlighting its features. Here is what the formula entails:

Features: Highlight what your products and services can offer to the reader. If you are marketing yourself, then explain what you can do for the target audience.

Advantages: Explain all the advantages of the product of services. What can it help the customer achieve?

Benefits: What does the reader get out of the products or services you are offering them. State the benefits of the product clearly to the reader.

Here is an example from Farmers Insurance

In the above screenshot, Farmers Insurance is using the FAB method.

Features: Manage your insurance

Advantages: Easier and faster

Benefits: Get access from the convenience of your mobile device

There are many copywriting formulas that you can use to come up with quality content for your blog. The eight formulas on this article are best to implement if you intend to make your website visible on search engines and increase your leads.

Related: Marketing Agency Directories To Get You The Best Leads

Chapter #11- Salary of a Copywriter

According to Glassdoor, the average base pay of copywriters is $60,296.

However, there are different types of copywriters, and how much you can earn as a copywriter depends hugely on the type of copywriter you are, the industry you’re in, and the number of years of experience.

Let’s have a look at how a copywriter’s salary varies across industries:

• Accounting & Legal: $60,845
• Aerospace & Defense: $62,276
• Architecture & Civil Engineering: $60,596
• Arts & Entertainment: $52,813
• Automotive: $54,271
• Banking & Financial Services: $58,459
• Beauty & Fitness: $52,459
• Biotech & Pharmaceuticals: $62,212

Let’s have a look at how the number of years of experience affects copywriter’s salaries:

• 0-1 years: $47,763
• 1-3 years: $51,508
• 4-6 years: $60,323
• 7-9 years: $64,081
• 10-14 years: $65,800
• 15+ years: $67,536

Chapter #12- Benefits of Copywriting For A Company

Copywriting helps your target audience understand how a product can solve their problems. It helps businesses boost sales and build a professional image.

Related: Best Copywriting Tips For Small Business Owners

Let’s have a look at the benefits of copywriting for a company.

1- Generate Persuasive and Convincing Copy That Converts

Copywriting always has a purpose. Most often, the purpose is to showcase the value of your products without being too blatant about it.  

• Copywriters have the skill to highlight the product’s value without making the content sound like an advertising pitch. 
• People are more likely to read content when they feel it solves their problem instead of commercial content. 
• Copywriting maintains the balance of promoting your brand and providing value to the readers.

2- Boost Website SEO

Copywriting is far more effective than general content marketing or blogging.

Related: Top Benefits of Blogging

The reason for this is simple: people spend more time reading content that provides solutions to their queries in an interesting manner, which in turn reduces the bounce rate. 

Google considers the bounce rate as a factor to determine the relevancy of the content with the search query and ranks the webpage accordingly. 

It also gives you the opportunity to use a combination of short and long-tail keywords in a natural way. 

This can boost your website’s ranking in search engine result pages without appearing too obvious in the process.

Related: Best Alternative Search Engines Other Than Google

3- Build a Professional Image

Copywriting involves writing detailed and well-researched content that is free of errors and engaging.

Related: Best Plagiarism Checkers (Free & Paid)

With time, you will be able to build a professional image to your brand, which in turn, will help you attract highly-qualified leads. It will also increase word-of-mouth referrals. 

Moreover, copywriters can still be knowledgeable about your market, but they bring a fresh perspective to convey your message to an audience.

Chapter #13- Benefits of Copywriting As An Individual

Let’s have a look at the benefits of copywriting for copywriters:

1- Regular Work

Small, medium, and large companies, everyone needs copywriters to enhance their brand image and increase sales.  

Entrepreneurs and business leaders are too busy to write content for themselves. Therefore, they hire copywriters to write for them.

2- You Can Work From Anywhere

It’s not necessary to go to an office in order to work as a copywriter.  

Many companies hire freelance copywriters to do the work for them. 

Related: Ways To Earn More As A Freelance Digital Marketer

You can work from the comfort of your home or from a place where you’re most comfortable working. 

Since every industry needs copywriters, you also get to choose the industry you want to work in. 

It also gives you the freedom to choose the topics you want to write about.

3- Good Pay

A novice copywriter can earn up to $47,000 while expert copywriters (with 5+ years of experience) can earn more than $60,000 per year.  

It all depends on how good you’re at writing. The better your skills are, the higher the pay. 

Depending on your years of experience and skills you can demand anywhere between $50-$80 per hour.

Chapter #14- Difference Between Copywriting and Content Writing

The biggest difference between copywriting and content writing is in its purpose. 

Copywriting is all about selling your idea, brand, or product in a fun and engaging way.

Content writing is all about creating content that either inform or educate the target audience about the industry or products of the brand.

Related: What is Content Writing?

Companies use content writing when they want their blog/website to attract more relevant traffic and build trust.

Content writing helps to build authority among the target audience as well as the search engines.

Copywriting is used when to need to improve the sales and conversion rate.

Copywriting is meant for branding whereas content writing is meant for content marketing. 

Related: Easy Ways To Improve Content Marketing

You need to use a mixture of copywriting and content writing in order to build trust with your audience and increase your sales at the same time. 

Focusing solely on content marketing may not be profitable in the long run and focusing solely on copywriting might not work because no one likes to be sold to constantly.

Related: B2B Content Marketing Ideas

Both copywriters and content writers need different skill sets to excel in their field. As a business, you must not depend on your content writers for copywriting or copywriters for content writing. 

Hire a copywriter and a content writer to get the best results.

Chapter #15- List of Words Used To Sell Things

S.No	Word	Example	Explanation
1	Sale	Redo your wardrobe with flat 50% winter sale	It is one of the most old and widely used words to improve sales and conversion rates.
2	Now	Get Your Dream Car, NOW!	Now is a persuasive word that creates a sense of urgency, compelling the buyer to take the ultimate buying decision without taking much time. You must have noticed the use of the word now in many CTAs like Subscribe now, Register now, or Shop now.
3	Off	This valentines, propose your better half with a XYZ & Co, diamond ring at 20% off on the making charges.	It is a human tendency to react to discounts positively. If you are offering even 10% off on your products, it will have a psychological impact on the buyers and influence their buying decision.
4	Because	Because you know you are made to win	This word compels to have an excellent motivation to the people and depicts the urgency without sounding rude or absurd. In the convincing sales process, the word because it is essential to justify and clarify your sayings, and the word because it helps as a facilitator.
5	Thank you	Thank you for shopping with us, do visit us again.	This sentence is mainly used post the sale has been made. It is one of the fantastic ways to show gratitude towards your customers and make them believe that they matter to your business.
6	Remember	Remember to buy it online	Many customers usually tend to forget to check out the contents added in their carts. Hence, it becomes crucial to send them timely reminders.
7	New	New arrivals or Brand new collection	This word is used to create excitement amongst the buyers to get their hands on the new and not easily accessible products in the market.
8	Best Sellers	Hurry up, the bestsellers won’t last longer	This is a self-explanatory word and refers to the products that sell fast. It helps buyers know that the products are quite famous and also in trend.
9	Be The First	Be the first one to book your ticket online	Here, the customer will feel highly obliged and overwhelmed because they got access to avail the super cool early bird offers.
10	Free	Buy one get one free	This is a psychological way to compel the buyers to make the purchase. Because of the word free, the buyers think that it is one of the smartest buying decisions they are making to get two articles at the price of one.

Chapter #16- Principles of Copywriting

Creating a well-performing, conversion-oriented copy is difficult. There are a few principles of copywriting that can help you write excellent copies that attract potential customers and converts them.

Related: Best Strategies To Retain Your Customers

1 – Write Like You’re Talking To a Friend

People trust a brand more when they make them feel like they’re talking to someone they know. Writing informally and following a friendly, conversational approach can help you create a deep connection with your readers.

2 – Attract Users By Crafting Irresistible Headlines

Your headline is the first point of contact between you and your ideal customers. 

It is the most important part of your content and can influence people into reading the content.

Some of the best headline writing tips are:

• The Useful Headline: Use this type of headline when providing informative content (How to, DIY, etc)
• A Curiosity Builder: This type of headlines focus on creating suspense and/or mystery (Do you know, etc)
• Urgency: This type of headline highlights time as a factor and stresses the importance of the article. (Why now? Things you need to know to achieve success in 2019)
• The List Headline: It gives users what to expect in terms of length and structure (8 tips, 5 secrets, etc)
• Newsjacking: This type of headline stresses on current news to grab the user’s attention.

3 – Make Your Content Scannable

Most people don’t read the full content instead, they scan the content. That’s why it is important to make your content scannable to keep people on your page. Here are a few ways to do it:

• Write short paragraphs
• Divide your post into segments using subheadings
• Numbered lists
• Bulleted lists
• Multimedia

Using a combination of these elements will allow readers to scan through your article.

Chapter #17- Techniques of Copywriting

No matter if you’re just starting out or are a skilled copywriter, there is always room to improve your copy and make it more conversion-optimized. Use the below-mentioned techniques to create a highly-converting copy.

1- Create an Outline Before You Start

Creating an outline of the article you are writing will not only save your time in the long run, but it will also help you broadly structure your content in a way that is user-focused.  

It will make your writing effective and easy. 

Moreover, when you create an outline you will get a better understanding of the topic you’re writing about, beforehand.

2- Focus On Benefits More Than Anything

Readers are less interested in how awesome a product is and more interested in how it can benefit them. 

It is important to understand the difference between benefits and features.

If your copy can provide the solution your target audience is looking for, then you can easily grab their attention.

Unlike features, benefits give readers a detailed idea of things they can accomplish by using the product you’re talking about.

3- Craft Stories That Sell

Storytelling can help you keep your reader’s attention and force them to read your content until the end. 

A good story can help you create deep emotional connections with your readers and make your offer irresistible.

4- Back-Up the Claims You Make

The best way to build trust with your readers is by citing trustworthy sources to back up your claims. 

Simply declaring there are 2.7 billion monthly active users on Facebook isn’t enough, you need to add a link to it. 

Related: Facebook Marketing Stats

Make sure you cite high-authority websites and not just any website. 

This will make your content reliable and will give it a quick credibility boost and will increase the chances of conversion.

5- Give Importance To ‘Verbs’

Verbs have the potential to capture people’s attention and force them to take the action you want. 

Starting your headings and important sentences with verbs aka action words like Why? How? Create, learn, prepare, etc.

These types of words will help you catch people’s attention and increases the likelihood of conversion.

6- Use The Word “You”

“You” is a very powerful word that can engage the reader directly with your content. 

Using “You” or variations like “you’re”, “you’ve”, etc gives you the opportunity to make an immediate connection with the reader. 

It makes the reader feel that you’re speaking to them and makes the copy sound personal.

7- Avoid Jargon

While using jargon might be the best way to showcase how good your vocabulary is, it will make it difficult for the readers to understand the content. 

Not everyone has a great vocabulary. 

Content that is clear and easier to read is more likely to help readers relate to the story you’re telling and keep their attention.

Chapter #18- Best Examples of Copywriting

Great copywriting is memorable and persuasive. Copywriters create great copies that we can’t help but click as soon as we see them.

Let’s have a look at the best copywriting examples that will make your jaw drop and will inspire you to create your own impressive copy.

1 – The Hustle’s Email Opt-In Page

The Hustle is a business and tech news delivery company. It delivers the news in the morning through an email. 

Check out how they designed their email opt-in page to increase the subscription rate.

2 – KFC UK

In early 2018, KFC had to close all its restaurants in the UK due to chicken shortage. 

KFC’s copywriters used their wit to apologize to customers and saved the brand’s reputation. 

They reframed the letters “KFC” to “FCK” we’re sorry.

3 – GymIt

Instead of using cliche toned or ripped supermodels, GymIt taps into the mind and emotions of the real people. 

They know many people cancel their membership after a few months and anyway who doesn’t love eating Mac ‘N Cheese without gaining fat.

Their messages are powerful and have the potential to convert people.

4 – Medium’s Our Story Page

Check out how Medium, an online publishing platform, pointed out everything people like and crossed out everything we hate about social platforms to increase their customer base.

5 – Rolls Royce

Long before copywriting became a thing for advertising, Rolls-Royce boasted “At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise comes from the electric clock” to advertise their newly launched car on a print campaign in 1958.

They not only mentioned why the specific car is better than others but they also mentioned why their brand is the best in one simple sentence.

6 – Baron Fig’s Our Story Page

Check out how Baron Fig, a small online business that sells beautifully crafted notebooks uses humor to force its visitors into converting.

Did you notice how they used an “*” at the end of the sentence “We make tools for thinkers” and then defined the “*” with “if you have thoughts, you’re a thinker”? In the end, it comes down to making tools for you.

7 – Lion Matches Ad

Check out how cleverly they made a matchstick the most valuable product in the world. In the end, they mentioned, “It’s easy to see I’m not in it for the money” to inform readers about its cost-effectiveness.

8 – Ricola

Check out how Ricola, a Swiss manufacturer of cough drops and breath mints used humor to create ads with examples of where a misplaced cough could ruin the meaning of the whole sentence.

9 – Garage Hard Lemonade

Check out how Garage Hard Lemonade, a liquor company made fun of itself to grab people’s audience. 

The ad looks like someone wrote their idea on the paper which adds a casual vibe to it.

Chapter #19- Modern Techniques of SEO Copywriting

SEO Copywriting is the process of crafting content in a way that pleases both search engines and your target audience.

Content is the single most important entity ruling the web. In order
to push up your online marketing strategy, proper seo copywriting is needed as it helps in gaining good search engine rankings and increases your brand’s search engine visibility.

Related: How To Check Google Rankings

Content that rules the web needs to be solid, comprehensive, original, user targeted, keyword laden, and properly linked with little tweaks and tricks in order to handle the search engines properly.

With SEO copywriting, you are going to succeed in two ways. Your content will rank higher on SERPs. Your content will convert potential buyers into customers.

Search engine optimizers are skilled professionals who have mastered the art of making websites rank high in the search engines for targeted keywords by making it more search engine friendly as well as user
friendly.

SEO copywriting is a technique used by search engine optimizers to make the site’s content go in terms of search engine guidelines and ranking algorithms in order to help it rank higher up on the search engines.

That’s why SEO copywriting is essential for every business.

Here are the basics which you must keep in mind while writing content for any website:

1 – Know Who You’re Writing For

The first step towards writing a compelling copy is knowing who your audience is.

You must think about the audience for whom you are writing and do some keyword research in order to find the terms they are using to find related content.

Your content must focus on their needs, as for example, if the content targets recipe lovers in Asia then use of words “gms”, “kilos”, “tsp’s” would help them serve better instead of using the word “oz”.

Have a look at the buyer persona. 

A buyer persona is a semi-fictional depiction of your target audience based on market research. 

It will give you information about your ideal readers such as their age, gender, goals & fears, interests, goals, etc. 

This is important because once you understand who you’re writing to and what their pain points are, you can craft content that makes them stay longer on your website and get them to take action.

2 – Optimize Your Content Headings and Subheadings

Headings are the first point of interaction between your content and your target audience. 

If your headings aren’t compelling enough, you won’t attract enough readers and if your subheadings aren’t appealing enough, you won’t be able to make them read the whole content. 

Besides, headings and subheadings are the best places to use keywords and phrases that assist the reader in navigating down the page.

3 – Write Compelling Intro

After headings, the introduction part of your article is responsible to keep your readers engaged and ensure that they don’t leave. 

Make sure that the intro is clear, to the point, and not too long. 

Let them know why they should keep reading, what’s in there for them, and a preview of what they’re about to get. 

Use short sentences to create curiosity among the readers and make them read the whole content. 

The more time they spend on your content, the lower the bounce rate will be.

4 – Use Long-Tail Keywords

Using long-tail keywords in the content is the best way to go in modern SEO as almost all the top brands focus only on short-tail keywords. 

Related: Best SEO Keyword Research Tools

Long-tail keywords are the keywords or phrases that contain more than 3 words. 

Naturally targeting these keywords in your content will help you increase your content’s rankings on SERPs.

5 – Leverage The Power of “Bucket Brigades”

Bucket Brigade is a short sentence that forces readers to read the next line in order to get more information. Basically, your copy should be like a slippery slope.

Some of the best bucket brigades you can use in your content are:

Here’s how to do it: 

• Here’s what you must know about Copywriting
• Read this before starting an online business
• Check this out
• Read on to know more about copywriting
• Let’s have a look at modern SEO techniques

By forcing readers to read one more sentence, then one more, and then one more, you get them to read the whole content, increasing the time spent on the page, as a result, reducing the bounce rate. Besides, people who read the whole content are more likely to take action. 

Chapter #20- How To Become A Freelance Copywriter

Ideally, most copywriters make between $35k and $ 65K depending on the nature of their work and the types of clients they land.

In this section of the article, I explain how you can build yourself to become a top freelance writer and get your first clients. Let’s learn more about freelance copywriting.

1- Define Your Niche 

Before you can think about reaching out to clients or writing your first sample, you must first define your copy niche. What is your passion? Do you like writing about fiction stories, business, sports, fashion, or medicine? 

Choose your copy niche well because each one targets a specific audience and entails a unique style of writing.

Some will argue that choosing a niche limits you to the number of clients you can work with, and the type of projects you can handle. Of course, it does. However, when you choose a niche, you specialize, build a name, and begin charging more.

2- Read And Read

The second step to becoming a freelance copywriter is reading more. First, become a reader before you can think of writing. 

Ideally, you want to know how it feels to read magazines, blogs, and websites before you can write one. 

Find out how different copywriters come up with unique content and what makes such content compelling. By reading more, you learn different writing styles, and before you begin writing, you can have an idea of how to draft a selling copy.

3- Get The Expertise 

Yes, you are interested in becoming one of the top copywriters in a niche, but wait. Do you have the experience to write a compelling piece? To get the knowledge that your clients may be looking for, you can start by taking a free project to build your portfolio.

Once you’ve just completed your college degree or course in copywriting, you should focus on getting an internship. For instance, you can begin by writing for your college newspaper or school magazine. 

When the articles are published on your name, you build a portfolio where future clients can refer when they want to hire you.

Note that most clients will always ask you for samples of your previous work before offering you a project. That means you should refer them to your work. 

It is challenging to convince a client that you can deliver quality copywriting work if you have nothing to prove your expertise. So, ensure you have the expertise needed to become a freelance copywriter before reaching out to clients.

4– Sharpen Your Skills And Competence 

Apart from getting a college degree, completing a course in copywriting, and building a portfolio, you must also sharpen your writing skills. Here is what you should do:

• Be creative: Creativity comes first in copywriting. Of course, what you’ll be writing may be nothing new under the sun. However, you must be creative enough to share an existing idea more creatively. By being creative, you can easily write eye-catching pieces, which is good for increase readability and engagement.
• Learn something about SEO: To become the best freelance copywriter and attract clients, you should prove that you have an in-depth understanding of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). For instance, you should know what search engines are looking for in web pages to index or rank them at the top of SERP. Having a solid grasp of SEO and creative writing skills makes you stand out from the rest of the park.
• Sharpen your communication skills: Ideally, copywriting is just like persuasive writing. Therefore, you must sharpen your communication skills if you want to write compelling content. You must also have the skills to reach out to clients and convince them that you are the right candidate for their projects. Learn how to communicate with your readers, clients, coworkers, and everyone within your network.
• Pay attention to details: As a freelance copywriter, details play a critical role in your project’s aftermath. Most clients you get will be satisfied if you deliver what they want based on the instructions they give to you. Therefore, to land your first client and keep them for long, you should pay attention to their details and abide by all of them.

5- Research

Every successful freelance writer will admit that they have reached that far because they sharpened their research skills. Have an eagle eye to find out more about what you are writing. 

The internet has all the information you may need. However, it takes a lot to find the information from a credible source.

To become a skilled copywriter, you must keep up with the emerging trends in the industry. 

Search engines and platforms keep changing their algorithms, and you must be conversant with such changes. 

By researching widely, you learn a lot that you can implement and become a successful copywriter.  Sharpen your research skills to get all the essential tips and information you need along the way. You can read training material, watch videos, or go through some online tutorials to learn some tricks.

Tips To Land Your First Client As A Freelance Copywriter 

Trust me. It is not going to be that easy to land your first client. It will take you some time and sacrifice before you realize that freelance copywriting is just a job like any other.

Here are some tips to help you land your first copywriting client:

• Build a network with friends and family. Reach out to everyone on your network and inform them about what you are offering. You never know when they’ll refer you to a client.
• Market yourself. To land your first client, you must market yourself first. Start by building a personal brand on social media platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook.
• Cold pitching. After creating a portfolio, you can proceed to cold pitch clients. Cold pitching is all about contacting clients directly through cold emails or telephone calls and asking them to hire you.
• Register with freelancing sites. There are plenty of freelance copywriting sites like Fiverr, Upwork, iWriter, and Freelancer that you can register with and bid for copywriting work.
• Demonstrate your skills and competence to clients by offering them free samples of your work. Reach out to clients who are willing to work with beginner copywriters in exchange for affordability.
• Check for jobs from industry-specific sites like idealist.com, iCrunchDta.com, and Designs.net.

Freelance copywriting is a job like any other. When you decide to build a freelance copywriting career, you should not hesitate to follow the tips I have shared with you. 

The journey may not be that swift, but you will make it to the list of most-sought copywriters if you work on building your skills.

Chapter 21- How To Use Storytelling in Copywriting?

Integration of storytelling in copywriting is primarily used to enhance the audience’s engagement with your content and campaigns. It is merely possible because stories are something we as humans tend to connect more. We form an emotional attachment with the characters of the stories in one way or the other. Your emotional state of mind is something that compels you to do most of the things you do irrespective of whether you want to do it or not. 

Hence, if you try to tone your story in an emotion surging manner, you can easily succeed in making your readers feel what you want them to feel. Your prime focus should be on hitting the nail on the head and compel your readers to take the call in your favour. It can either be your readers buying your products, booking an appointment, or contacting you for special requirements. 

And if you still do not believe in the power of integrating storytelling in copywriting, then you must know that storytelling is compelling because it releases oxytocin (hormone) in a human’s body. Oxytocin helps the person to create a deep bond and instantly helps in building trust in someone. When integrated with copywriting, the readers will lay trust in your brand. Yes, that is the power and potential of copywriting. 

You have to give your mind the creative freedom to build stories that will impact the readers’ minds and psychology and leave them spellbound. 

However, not all good things come easy and including storytelling with creative writing is no exception to that. You have to use a few essential storytelling techniques to engage the audience and give them time to take the desired action. 

These techniques include. 

1- Let Your Stories Relate To The Audience

There is no point in writing even the most beautiful stories if your target audience is having a tough time relating to it. One of the most prominent and influential ways of making your storytelling effective is writing or framing it so that your target audience can understand, relate, and engage in reading it. You can make your stories more relatable by understanding the buyer personas first.

For instance, if you want to run a campaign that can fetch you results like increased sales of your product, cars. In such situations, you can leverage the power of storytelling by creating an imaginary short story. The story’s length is not essential, but the impact and purpose behind the story are of utmost importance. You can use “People take years to add two more wheels to their two-wheelers but are you also the part of the same tribe, or you are the makers of your journey”? This story clearly depicts the problem of a middle-class person who can not afford to buy a car. But compelling them by inducing the surge of emotions in them can help you serve your purpose. Moreover, You can put a visible CTA in your ad copy that reads “Stop Dreaming & Live Those Instead” with a lucrative offer. 

2- Always Keep Your Tone Emotional and Natural

Your storytelling has to have a natural emotional tone in it. That the readers will connect to almost effortlessly. The best way to integrate the emotional style in your story is by following a 3-step strategy. You start with creating suspense, then adding a question to it and lastly, offer hope. 

For instance, in the example mentioned above, 

Creating Suspense – People take years to add two more wheels to their two-wheelers. 

Question Them  – resembling the common situation of the middle-class people, and you ask them whether they are part of the same tribe or are daring enough to decide their journey. Make sure your question is framed in a way that a vibrant flower blooms in their heart and mind rather than hurting their ego. Don’t overboard the limits. 

Offer Hope – you have to be patient and sound supporting to your audience in a way that shows your care and concern for them. This step has to be followed by keeping yourself in the shoes of your target audience. In the example mentioned above, I have given a CTA button that reads “Stop Dreaming & Live Those Instead”. 

Chapter 22- Examples of Bad Copywriting

The use of slangs and short forms in drafting ad copies is not cool now. Would you be able to read, oh wait, instead connect or trust a brand that used “get ur dream mobile nw” in their ad copies? The answer is a definite no. Hence, you have to be a little extra care when it comes to proving your content’s authenticity and legitimacy. 

Here are a few examples that will prove the importance of cross-checking your ad copy’s content to avoid the risk of any undesirable situations. 

• The Hinduline forgot to double-check their ad copies and got undesired attention and criticism from grammar gurus. 

Source

• Even if you are trying to add humour to your creatives, it is recommended to take a second opinion, because sometimes your pun can go terribly wrong, just like this Mcdonald’s hoarding. 

Source

Chapter 23 – Examples of Good Copywriting

Anything and everything you do by putting yourself in your audience’s shoes to have a fair idea about the ultimate repercussions will turn out to have a positive impact. As far as creative writing is considered, some companies have mastered and nailed the art of being creative. 

Here are some examples for you to have a better understanding. 

• One of my favourite example of persuasive copywriting is Medium over story page. They have ruled out all the things that we hate about other social media platforms in red and have come up with unique items that we would love to experience in a whole new social media platform. 

Source 

• Being creative does not mean forgetting about the basics. Your ad copies have to be simple and easy to understand and capable of conveying your message without any fail. 

Source

Chapter 24- Examples of Catchy Headlines 

Catchy headlines are essential because it is the first thing that your target audience will see. If he or she finds the headline catchy and exciting, then only they will open the article. Usually, people click on the articles with headlines with numbers (listicles), how-to’s, question marks or emotional headlines. 

Here are a few examples of catchy headlines. 

• 40 belief shaking remarks from a ruthless nonconformist – Raptitude
• How to Hit 1,000,000 visitors in the first year of blogging? – Becky Mensfield
• On dying, mothers, and fighting for your ideas – Punches Heartstrings
• Tips for drafting emails that get opened, read and clicked – Copy Blogger 
• 106 excuses that restrict you from ever becoming great. – Chris Brogan

Chapter #21- Best Copywriting Books

Books are a copywriter’s best friend. If you want to really expand your knowledge of copywriting then there are several books that you should read. I have compiled some of the best books on copywriting below :

• Confessions of an Advertising Man by David Ogilvy. 
• Tested advertising methods by John Caples.
• Scientific Advertising by Claude C. Hopkins.
• Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene M. Schwartz.
• The Copywriter’s Handbook by Robert W. Bly.
• The Ultimate Sales Letter: Attract New Customers. Boost Your Sales by Dan Kennedy.
• Influence: Science and Practice by Robert Cialdini.
• Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: The Classic Guide to Creating Great Ads by Luke Sullivan and Sam Bennett.
• My life in advertising by Claude C. Hopkins.
• The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr.
• Copywriting: Successful Writing for Design, Advertising, and Marketing by Mark William Shaw.
• Cashvertising: How to Use More Than 100 Secrets of Ad-Agency Psychology to Make Big Money Selling Anything to Anyone by Drew E. Whitman.
• On Writing Well by William Zinsser.
• Breakthrough Copywriting: How to Generate Quick Cash with the Written Word by David Garfinkel.
• Words that Sell, Revised and Expanded Edition: The Thesaurus to Help You Promote Your Products, Services, and Ideas by Rick Bayan.
• Letting go of the words by Janice Redish.
• The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield.
• How to Write Copy That Sells: The Step-By-Step System for More Sales, to More Customers, More Often by Ray Edwards.
• Persuasive Online Copywriting: How to Take Your Words to the Bank by Bryan Eisenberg, Jeffrey Eisenberg, and Lisa T. Davis.
• Making ads pay by John Caples.
• All Marketers Are Liars by Seth Godin.