Copywriter: what it is, what they do and how they can be useful to you

What profession is a copywriter? What do they do on a daily basis? How can they help you? How do you become a copywriter? Today I hope to answer all your questions, all your doubts, and achieve better results than those I got with my beloved grandmother. Einstein said, “You don't truly understand something until you are able to explain it to your grandmother.” And I must admit, I tried many times to explain what I do in the office, but nothing; she calls me and asks “do you want to write v-v-v-domain-is-the-sun on your computer? It tells you the truth because you work there!”
Well, I love grandma, so it's fine like that, let's not insist!

What is a copywriter and what do they do

A copywriter is a very particular kind of writer, generally oriented towards the web, and therefore towards digital. They are the author of all the textual content hosted on a website, a forum, a corporate blog, or an advertisement. Everything you read, from a long and complex text like this one, to the CallToAction that invites you to buy, passing through Social Network captions and newsletters, is written by copywriters.

If you want to be a copywriter, you must necessarily have these characteristics, these skills (not hidden, however):

• writing ability. For someone who writes, it is as obvious as it is essential. Believe me, I have corrected texts from “aspiring copywriters” with errors in apostrophes, accents, missing h's and more... so be careful! Writing ability and correctness are required from both a grammatical and a lexical point of view. Having a good vocabulary is the ace up the sleeve of this profession;
   
• creativity. This is perhaps what distinguishes us most from our journalist “colleagues.” A copywriter must not stop at reporting facts objectively and without judgment... quite the opposite. They must be the voice of the company, they must convince, they must give personality and life to the text. And often there are no data to start writing from, but only prompts and ideas, associations of concepts that form in the head while reading and thinking about a specific topic. If you have good ideas in front of a blank sheet of paper, you can start this career;
   
• curiosity. In my opinion, this is the most important quality that a person who wants to do this job must have. If you are not curious and do not love discovering new things, I advise against this path. The desire to learn, to delve deeper, to answer all the questions that users might have on that particular topic, and to understand all its facets is fundamental. A copywriter doesn't just write a text; sometimes they have to write many others on the same subject, other times they must deepen a part of it, and other times they must find more effective words to convey that concept;
   
• personality. The only way to avoid boring the reader and to ensure that the entire text is read is to have personality. Or rather, knowing how to put it into one's words, knowing how to convey it between the lines. This also means getting so much in harmony with a company that you know how to be its voice even from the outside, even if it doesn't belong to you directly. It's not possible to convey the same emotions in a text written for a dairy, for a doctor, and for a wedding planner, right? But all must be personal, original, decisive... in the most appropriate way possible.

How do you become a copywriter?

Great question. Nowadays, many university degree paths dedicated to marketing and digital communication have been created, so that is certainly a great starting point. But it's still not all so clear and linear. It is necessary to arm yourself with patience, motivation, and energy.
When I started, 15 years ago, these training opportunities didn't exist. I first attended a linguistic high school, I wanted to become an English language teacher, then the University of Education Sciences in Verona, to teach children in preschool. And you might ask, what does that have to do with the figure of a copywriter? Nothing! Or rather, I have always loved writing; I was the one who struggled to respect the page limit imposed by the teacher on essay day in class, I was the one who never felt the anxiety of the blank page and, regardless of the title, would take the pen and write, write, write. So when the summer between my first and second year of university brought me a contact from Glacom for a job interview, I was very happy. First of all, I needed a summer job to pay for my studies; secondly, they were offering me the opportunity to actually write... and I was very good at that, without any effort.
What happened then? I liked the job so much that I decided to stay and work in the office, continuing university as a “non-attending” student. Here I had the opportunity to learn a great deal, attend courses, study, and become a real copywriter in every sense, until today, being the Head of the Copywriting Service in the company, coordinator of many other copywriters specialized in various sectors. My secret? Loving what I do every day, being curious and wanting to always learn new things, constantly attending training courses to stay updated, or rather, to always be one step ahead!

I was lucky, very lucky. For many other copywriters, the road was not so simple, and perhaps it still isn't! Between training courses, resumes sent all over the world, proposals, and moves around Italy... I wish you always have great passion and great motivation to be able to climb all these stairs and find yourselves at the top.

Freelance copywriter or employee copywriter in an agency?

To work in the copywriting sector, there are two opportunities: doing it as a freelancer, with a VAT number, or as an employee in a web agency. The perspectives are obviously different, the risks and benefits are different: in the first case, being a freelancer entails great freedom, both of time and place, but at the same time also a greater risk; it is necessary to know how to “sell oneself well” to constantly find new Clients. An employee copywriter, on the other hand, has a certain degree of job stability and may have more or less opportunity for career advancement within the company itself.
Speaking of earnings, an employee does not have to think about the accounting part, such as expenses, accountants, invoices, and so on... something that a freelance copywriter must already take into account at the beginning, using part of their daily or weekly time to handle these bureaucratic matters.
Who earns more and who earns less? I cannot answer that for two reasons. The first is that, from my personal experience, I have never attempted a freelance career; I work in an agency and, being happy there, I have never honestly posed the problem to myself. Therefore, I do not know the average monthly salary of a freelance copywriter. Second, because I believe everything depends on competence, experience, and the quality of the work produced; meritocracy exists everywhere, for employees and non-employees alike, so in the end, if you are good, there is always a good margin to increase profit over time.

I would like to give one piece of advice, not as a writer this time, but as a “spy” among human resources, that is, among those who evaluate resumes and select personnel. If you are looking for work as a copywriter, even remotely, do not underestimate the importance of the first presentation. Let me explain better. We receive at least 4 or 5 resumes daily, all the same, with the same initial and final greeting plus a small clarification in the middle. If you want to stand out from your colleagues, use your skills; do what you do best, which is writing. Be original, even in the presentation of the resume, even in the introductory email! Irony, wordplay, contradictions, rhymes, superlatives, fake negativism or positivism... make yourselves known and make a difference.

Reading tips for copywriters

Starting from the premise that training must be constant, because we work in a sector in continuous development, I leave you a small list of “must-have” books for us copywriters.

1. "La Parola Immaginata" by Annamaria Testa
2. "Farsi Capire" by Annamaria Testa
3. "Digital Copywriter" by Diego Fontana
4. "Il copywriter. Mestiere d'arte" by Emanuele Pirella
5. "Testi che parlano" by Valentina Falcinelli
6. "Neurocopywriting" by Marco La Rosa

For any other information or curiosity, write to me! As you have understood, I love to chat!

Copywriting and... artificial intelligence!

I cannot conclude this article without talking about the famous CHAT GPT. I have an atypical relationship with this tool, let me explain. From the very beginning, when everyone claimed it would erase the copywriting profession, I fought maintaining that no tool could ever replace human creativity, no artificial intelligence could ever give personality to texts. The first versions of Chat GPT were then full of errors (sometimes gross, such as the incorrect declension of masculine and feminine), some solved brilliantly over time, others that are still dragged along (random capital letters, for example). Among all these flaws, there is however one certainty: the tool is truly useful if used with common sense.
-> NO to copy and paste;
-> YES to help in optimizing time and overcoming creative blocks.

Chat GPT helps us compose an outline before starting to write a complex article, it gives us ideas for titles and slogans, it generates ideas to be adapted, obviously, to the right audience. But do not make the mistake of copying and pasting the text it returns as is; providing your own contribution is what creates added value.

A very small update...

I am receiving many emails from freelance copywriters who have read this post and decided to send me their resume for potential collaborations. First of all, I thank you, I am truly happy! Secondly, I wanted to inform you that I am trying to create a network of professional writers around our agency, each specialized in a particular sector, to satisfy the needs of all clients and the new internal quality standard. As soon as this great project starts, I will be able to give you all the details. Stay Tuned!

"Man has two great gifts: the “word” to give sound to thoughts, and “writing” to give them meaning over time. Quote G.Iovino"