Copywriting is the centerpiece of any business's marketing activities—from blogs and landing pages to email newsletters, social media posts, advertisements, and even search engine optimization.
All these elements are crucial for business growth. In other words, there's definitely no shortage of copywriting jobs.
If you've got an eye for detail, love wordplay, and thinking outside the box is second nature to you, perhaps you should consider pursuing a copywriting career. But copywriting is much more than that.
A successful copywriter also needs to know a thing or two about human psychology. You have to understand what makes your target audience tick.
You also need to write copy that evokes powerful emotions and persuades users to do what you want—be it to click on that Buy Now button or to simply get them to read beyond an email's subject line.
That said, let's explore the ins and outs of the copywriting trade. We'll have a look at what this career path involves, how to become a copywriter, and what skills you need to hone to become successful.
What is a copywriter?
In short, copywriters are wordsmiths. They craft powerful messages intended to be catchy and persuasive—think email subject lines, company slogans, advertisements, or landing page copy. A copywriter's main objective is to get readers to convert.
This is in stark contrast to content writing, which focuses on long-form content like white papers or this blog, and its goal is to provide the target audience with valuable information regarding a specific topic.
Like most other service-based career paths, copywriters can work on an agency, corporate, or freelance basis.
The responsibilities vary depending on the type of copywriter you'll be.
For instance, a freelance copywriter is also responsible for procuring their own clients. In contrast, a corporate copywriter is part of an organization's marketing department and creates copy specifically dedicated to the company in question.
Meanwhile, agency copywriters are part of a copywriting or digital marketing agency and handle multiple projects. In either case, any type of copywriter needs to get the basics straight.
More specifically:
- Know the audience: You're not writing for the client or the company that pays you but for its target audience. You need to know the audience down to the smallest detail and understand its pain points.
- Evoke emotions: 95% of purchase decisions are driven by emotions. Your copy needs to have an emotional appeal to connect with the audience and generate conversions.
- Identify and highlight benefits: Aside from compelling copy, you must also know how to sell.
- You need to identify the product's or service's key benefits and highlight them in a way that aligns with the audience's needs and addresses its pain points.
How to become a copywriter in 8 steps
Let's go over a step-by-step guide on how to become a copywriter. We'll cover this process from beginning to end—from how to acquire your writing skills and build up your writing portfolio, to where you can find copywriting jobs and land your first clients.
Here are 8 steps to become a professional copywriter.
1. Learn the basics of copywriting
Again, simply writing copy isn't enough.
You also need to be persuasive and engaging, as well as know how to attract attention and evoke powerful emotions.
Think of it as attending a public speaking event.
A speaker that just goes on and on with the same monotone voice and sounds like he's reading off a script is pretty hard to follow, right?
The same thing goes with copywriting.
That said, here are a bunch of resources to build up your copywriting skills:
- Copyblogger: An extensive blog that teaches the ins and outs of copywriting and content marketing—from basic copywriting techniques to marketing tactics for your copywriting business.
- The Complete Copywriting Course: A Udemy course that's all about persuasive writing. You can learn how to use sales psychology to compel readers, craft irresistible calls to action, and more.
- ProBlogger: A freelance writing job board that also offers blogs, podcasts, and eBooks about how to build up your blog, market it effectively, and write awesome posts.
- The Copywriter's Handbook: A book that breaks down complex copywriting concepts into digestible tips. Although rather old-school, it's an excellent introduction for beginners to writing copy that sells.
- Elna Cain: A YouTube channel that focuses on the entrepreneurial side of freelance copywriting. It shows you how to kickstart your freelance career, land clients, find your niche, and more.
2. Take copywriting courses
Courses help you understand the theory behind copywriting, making them an excellent resource if you're completely new to this industry.
Formal education is not mandatory, though.
Just like with any other career path, theory doesn't mean anything if you don't have the experience to back it up. In other words, building up a solid copywriting portfolio and learning the ropes as you go may get you up on your feet quicker.
Besides, although some employers look for copywriters with formal education in copywriting, most will value the expertise you have in a specific niche.
For instance, an SEO agency will most likely choose an SEO expert with less copywriting experience over someone who has extensive copywriting skills but doesn't know anything about the niche in question.
That said, rather than pursuing a degree, consider online copywriting courses from platforms like Udemy or Skillshare, and hone in on your skills in the meantime with hands-on practice.
That brings us to our next point.
3. Gain practical writing experience
Successful copywriters can convince you to purchase a product with just a few words.
That requires practice—lots of it. As mentioned, hands-on experience comes above everything else. So the sooner you start writing, the better.
Start out small.
Choose a subject to your liking and express your thoughts on the topic through blogs on your own website. You can then post about them on social media platforms and encourage your friends and followers to check out your content in more detail.
While you're at it, why not start a newsletter too?
This way, you can gain writing experience in multiple formats. Keep an eye on engagement metrics like page dwell times, bounce rates, email open rates, as well as social media click-throughs and conversion rates.
Social media metrics and email open rates reveal whether you managed to capture your followers' attention and persuade them to click on the link leading to your blog or open up your email.
Meanwhile, webpage metrics tell you how good you are at maintaining the reader's attention for longer pieces of content like blogs.
Keep experimenting with your content until you achieve better results.
After that, start writing for your friends in exchange for testimonials or reviews, and you can then move on to landing your first copywriting clients.
4. Carve a unique niche
Copywriting is a pretty broad field within itself.
It includes numerous niches—from landing pages, email, and paid advertising copy to social media, product descriptions, and even SEO copy and sales letters.
Each niche requires its own specific approach and copywriting skills.
For instance, landing page copy is all about selling a product or service, while a social media post is shorter and is often more about boosting brand awareness through crafting highly shareable content.
You should consider specializing in a specific copywriting niche.
Employers will often choose a specialist over someone who's a jack of all trades but a master of none.
Besides, this allows you to maximize your skillset within that specific niche—the more specialized you are, the better rates you can ask for.
Again, start by experimenting with multiple niches and see which one resonates with you the most.
You can then move on to perform market research to see what types of copywriting are in high demand.
For instance, since email marketing brings the highest ROI out of all other marketing channels, it's safe to say that companies will always be on the lookout for solid email copywriters.
Also, narrow down on a specific industry, like tech, health, B2B, and SaaS.
Professional copywriters who are experts in a specific industry are more sought-after than generalists.
Here's a quick list of some of the most profitable industries you can currently get into:
- Health and fitness: The health and fitness industry has an annual revenue growth of 33.10% in the United States, with digital fitness being the fastest-growing segment. As such, the demand for health and fitness freelance copywriters is on the rise.
- Finance: The finance and insurance industry make up 7.4% of US total GDP. With large financial corporations and banks controlling the market, finance copywriting is a stable option with high earning potential.
- Technology: The tech industry accounted for 10% of the total GDP in the US in 2022. Like the financial industry, technology copywriting is in high demand and has excellent earning potential.
5. Maintain a portfolio
A strong copywriting portfolio is a fool-proof way to attract clients—it shows off your copywriting skills, demonstrates your expertise within a specific niche, and strengthens credibility.
So don't skimp on it.
Even if you haven't landed your first copywriting client yet, you can still build up a good portfolio. You can include personal projects or the work you've done for your friends.
You can also create mock projects with Canva, for instance—perfect landing pages, social media advertisements, or social media posts.
Either way, here are a few tips to keep in mind when setting up a portfolio:
- Show off your versatility: Your copywriting samples should cover various formats (e.g., landing page, social media, or advertisement copy), industries, and tones of voice.
- Although you can specialize further down the road, a versatile portfolio will help you land entry-level clients quickly.
- Mention your clients: Name-drop the clients you worked with. The more well-known the company is, the better.
- This adds credibility to your work and helps attract more potential clients.
- Show testimonials and results: Client testimonials further strengthen credibility, while showcasing results (e.g., case studies or simple screenshots of conversions or traffic boosts) will add factual evidence to your effectiveness.
You can easily set up an online writing portfolio with LinkedIn or other tools like Copyfolio.
6. Apply to copywriting gigs
Whether you want to land a full-time copywriting job or work on a freelance basis, a few gigs under your belt won't hurt.
It's the perfect way to gain a little hands-on experience and build up your portfolio.
Let's take a look at a few popular platforms where you can hunt for your first gigs:
- ProBlogger Job Board: A job board specifically dedicated to copywriters. You can find job postings ranging from content writing to YouTube scriptwriting and more.
- Freelance Writing Jobs: A daily compilation of copywriting jobs gathered from all across the internet. You can find both full-time and freelance copywriting jobs that cover blogging, news reporting, technical writing, editing, etc.
- Upwork: A freelance platform where businesses look for all sorts of freelancers—from copywriters to video editors, social media managers, web developers, and more.
You can also find plenty of opportunities on LinkedIn—excellent for networking, building relationships with other people within your niche, and acquiring new clients through word-of-mouth marketing.
Additionally, consider getting in touch with marketing agencies, as they're often on the lookout for freelancers.
Don't forget to collect testimonials from your clients and build case studies, though.
As mentioned, they reinforce your credibility and can increase the likelihood of landing new jobs.
7. Adopt copywriting frameworks
Copywriting frameworks help you write persuasive copy more consistently.
These are tried and tested copywriting formulas you can implement in your work. Adopting the appropriate copywriting framework is a surefire way to write faster without compromising on quality—it even makes your copy better.
The Attention, Interest, Desire, Action (AIDA) framework is one of the oldest tricks in the book.
In short, you first need to attract the readers' attention through a powerful hook and then appeal to their interest through thrilling, factual information.
You then move on to turn that interest into a desire by showing your offer and explaining how readers can benefit from it.
Lastly, you conclude with a call to action.
Here's a quick example of what the AIDA framework looks like:
- Attention: "The new UltraPhone—a game-changing smartphone."
- Interest: "Featuring a 128-megapixel camera, 6.5-inch display, and lighting fast 3.5GHz octa-core processor."
- Desire: "Capture amazing moments and never worry about lag."
- Action: "Order now! Limited stock available."
There are numerous other frameworks a skilled copywriter must have at his fingertips, like the PAS (Problem, Agitate, Solution) formula, BAB (Before, After, Bridge) framework, or the SSS (Start, Story, Solution) technique.
Get familiar with them.
8. Build a reputation
Lastly, you've got to build a reputation. Although applying to copywriting gigs is a solid way to get work, why not let new opportunities come to you?
For that, you'll need to put yourself on the map—especially if you want to be a freelance copywriter.
Freelancers sometimes have to deal with dead periods, so having backup opportunities is always more than welcome.
Besides, the more people know about you, the better you can get paid.
That said, consider writing guest posts for blogs relevant to your niche from time to time.
This is an excellent way to get your name out there, establish yourself as a thought leader, and attract new potential clients.
A strong social media presence also comes in handy.
Use platforms like LinkedIn to network with other copywriters and business owners.
You can also write short social media posts that show your writing style and expertise, as well as share industry-related insights or tips.
This will help you position yourself as an industry expert and draw more attention to your own copywriting business.
What skills does a copywriter need?
A professional copywriter does a lot more than simply put words on paper. Let's dive deeper and see what other skills you'll have to work on so you can thrive in the industry.
Communication skills
You need to know how to turn boring, complex ideas into fun pieces of information everyone can wrap their heads around.
This involves in-depth research regarding the topic and audience in question, as well as an excellent grip on the language you write in.
Luckily, this skill becomes second nature as you gain writing experience.
The more you write about a specific topic for a particular audience, the better you'll become at it.
However, as a few general rules of thumb, always keep the audience in mind and emphasize brevity—don't discuss an idea in ten paragraphs if you can explain it in a single sentence.
Content strategy
Content covers various formats, each serving a specific purpose.
For instance, blogs aim to inform the target audience about a topic, while landing pages need to highlight a product's or service's benefits, show how it solves the audience's pain points, and boost conversions.
Your job as a copywriter is to understand how an online content strategy works for each specific format—from content ideation and planning to creation, publication, and measuring results.
This gives you a better idea of how to create content that successfully aligns with your client's goals and resonates with the audience.
SEO knowledge
SEO-optimized content will rank higher in search engine listings and drive more organic content to your website.
Although SEO copywriting involves creating keyword-optimized content, that's just one part of the process.
A good copywriter has to understand the reasoning behind these keywords and why some pages rank higher than others. Then, use that knowledge to create top-notch content.
Search engines aim to provide users with the most helpful answers to queries.
In other words, content built purely for search engine algorithms won't get you anywhere.
You need to create content that specifically targets the audience's pain points, complies with their search intent, and solves their issues—proper keyword research and optimization help you do just that.
Tools like Surfer and Google's People Also Ask functionality allow you to identify common search terms related to a specific topic.
You can use them to generate content relevant to your audience.
Writing and editing skills
Without a doubt, fluff-free, compelling copy should come naturally to you. Again, the copywriting techniques mentioned above will help you with that.
But a professional copywriter also needs to have solid editing and proofreading skills—you wouldn't want your copy to go through a never-ending back-and-forth between you and the editor.
You'd best edit the content yourself first.
For that, you'll have to put yourself in the audience's shoes and read your copy from an objective perspective.
Keep asking yourself if specific paragraphs or sentences provide genuinely helpful information as you read the copy.
If not, cut them out.
Also, check if you can shorten sentences without losing their essence. Shorter sentences are easy to read.
As such, they improve engagement and get your message across more effectively.
How much do copywriters get paid?
In short, it depends. Your pay will vary based on your location, niche, and experience. Pay can also differ drastically between in-house and freelance copywriters.
As a general rule of thumb, the average salary of an in-house copywriter in the US is $61,457 per year. In contrast, a freelance copywriter makes $84,212 per year on average.
Freelancers generally make more because they have the freedom to set their own rates and work with multiple clients simultaneously.
The drawbacks?
Freelancers may deal with unpredicted downtimes with no pay, while paid vacations or sick leaves are pretty rare.
Either way, the job market is projected to grow in the future. The copywriting market is expected to reach $42.22 billion by 2030. As of 2023, the market was valued at $25.29 billion.
Key takeaways
- Knowing the audience and crafting persuasive copy that evokes emotions are the foundations of copywriting.
- Learning to copywrite is a continuous process. Although formal education can give you a head-start, you'll gain the most knowledge through hands-on experience.
- Understanding online content and working on your communication, SEO, and writing skills is key to success.
- Consider working on personal projects and experimenting with various formats (e.g., emails, social posts, and landing pages) to get your feet wet and determine where to narrow your niche.
- Although freelance copywriting may be more profitable than an in-house position, it also comes with higher risks.
Conclusion
And there you have it—how to become a copywriter in eight steps. Make sure to check out the resources mentioned above to learn the basics of this trade.
After that, start working on a few personal projects, add them to your portfolio, and get familiar with the frameworks we mentioned. Mastering them from the get-go will help you write faster and be more persuasive.
Also, don't forget to maintain a social media presence and write guest posts from time to time to build up a reputation and get your name out there.
