We live in a digitally advanced world where many people try out for a copywriting job. Truth is, not everyone can write, and not everyone can properly convey business and marketing messages. Given that the field is highly competitive, finding qualified creative talent is proven to be quite a hard task.
Top creators embrace both Marketing and SEO strategies to generate content and provide the best results. So how do we recognize them from the self-proclaimed experts? Here are a few basic skills that make a good copywriter stand out:
8 Skills Every Professional Copywriter Should Learn
1. Storytelling
First and foremost, a copywriter should have the ability to tell captivating and attention-grabbing stories.
The general user hardly acknowledges most of the things they see on the internet. That is because the digital space is overflowing with information and not everything put up on the web is beneficial or interesting for each specific viewer.
As a result, people online tend to "fast-scan" content and immediately decide whether something is worth their time and attentiveness. To spark their curiosity and grab their attention, copywriters should be able to use words and visuals to tell a story in a fascinating way.
Storytelling is the ultimate superpower of copywriters and the main reason so many businesses entrust these types of digital marketers with their social media, advertisement and website content.
2. Proofreading & Editing
Copywriters work with tons of textual content. Whether they write it themselves or they use an external source, one thing is certain - a text always requires proofreading and correction before upload.
Advanced editing skills are one of the keys to putting out good content. However, in order to be able to properly edit and proofread, a copywriter needs to excel at literacy. That includes having extended knowledge of grammar, punctuation and syntax rules.
3. Headline Management
Headlines and headings are the first things a reader looks at when going over a piece of online content. For that reason, they are important factors that determine whether the audience keeps their interest in a certain text or article.
If the titles are not catchy and relatable, then the viewer is most likely going to scroll away and not pay any attention to the text or article. A good copywriter knows how to write amusing and engaging headings, and can apply different headline writing techniques depending on the channel and the target audience.
4. Analytics
Even though this skill is not of huge importance for copywriters, it's certainly a helpful one to have. After all, measuring ROI is essential, right?
When working with digital content, like texts and visuals, the campaign result an online business would expect is usually an increase in sales, traffic and/or user engagement. Therefore, understanding the numbers and working with analytics can only help a creative worker, and prove their job is done right.
5. A/B Testing
The good old A/B testing is a great way to test out different strategies and determine which type of content the audience perceives better. Copywriters with years of experience know that you cannot launch the perfect article/campaign every time.
Sometimes you need to embrace a few options. Present them to a different selection of people of the same target group to see how users react and then compare results.
6. HTML
If you are a copywriter, then basic HTML skills can take you far in your career. We're not talking about advanced coding or anything. Simply being able to execute tasks like embedding videos and images; adjusting links and content settings; font alternations, sizing and resizing, visual formatting, etc.
Knowing how to do work with simple HTML code is a great way to spice up and better blog posts. Especially if working on WordPress sites or if a job includes the task of uploading blog or website content online.
7. Sales
The main difference between a content writer and a copywriter is that content writers write recreational and business texts, while copywriters write marketing texts that sell. With that in mind, online sales is a definite must-have skill in this creative profession.
A good copywriter knows and implements viable sales strategies when creating content. A big part of the unofficial sales job includes working with funnels, targeting specific audiences and convincing or assuring clients they need a product or service.
8. SEO basics
Of course, an expert copywriter should have basic optimization knowledge. Nobody expects creative professionals to know the technical parts of ranking in search engines. But a content expert should at least have the knowledge on how to create quality SEO-friendly content.
By creating SEO-friendly content, we mean optimizing both visuals and texts. For images and videos, a copywriter should be able to alter sizing, titles, add Alt text, use correct formatting, understand which types of visuals won't lower performance, and more.
As for written content that skill includes knowing how to structure and form a paragraph/heading, how to operate meta tags, how to use relevant keywords, how to build internal and external links, and so on.
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