What makes a good copywriter?

Copywriting is an absolutely fascinating field. Words possess enormous power and can bring real changes to people’s lives. When it comes to the business environment and the natural desire of any business owner to successfully sell their goods and services, words can really come in handy too: they can convince people to choose a particular product on a rational or an emotional level – or often a combination of the two.

Drafting texts that truly “work” and achieve their intended goals requires a great copywriter. Often, the job of copywriter falls to a company’s Public Relations Manager, Marketing Manager or Advertising Manager (frequently, these are all the same person). This is neither good nor bad, as PR managers, marketing specialists and designers can all make good copywriters as well.

Let’s look at the qualities or characteristics which, in my opinion, are typical of good copywriters.

Broad outlook

There are copywriters who specialize in certain niche topics and have deep knowledge of them. There are also copywriters who can work with a wide array of various subjects. In both cases, a broad outlook helps form a rich vocabulary and inspire intriguing creative solutions.

Literacy

While companies may employ full-time QA specialists who can make the necessary amendments to a text prepared by a copywriter, a literate copywriter is at minimum a good thing and at best, a truly amazing thing. ☺

Ability to communicate and negotiate

An ability to communicate is a useful skill for most working people. Copywriters should not be afraid to ask their customers to clarify all the details and nuances of the material they are working on. They will also need to be able to negotiate with clients to reach a mutually beneficial compromise.

Specialized copywriting knowledge

Of course, there are people who write texts with ease, using intuition, even though they might not be familiar with tried-and-tested writing techniques or the rules of text preparation, etc. (all hail the inverted pyramid method ☺). This is great, of course, but knowledge is power, and natural abilities work best when supported by specialized knowledge.

Self-development and improvement

Like any other specialist, a good copywriter understands that their stash of knowledge must be regularly refreshed, and that quality matters more than quantity. Pay attention to the quality of the books, courses, and other sources of job-related information to which you give your attention.

Experience

Experience matters a lot, but I think that if it’s limited, but the copywriter has a broad outlook, literacy, and specialized knowledge, i.e. all the things I’ve mentioned above, then that’s no great flaw.

Inspiration

Let’s not diminish the role of inspiration when producing texts. When you expand your outlook, you can find inspiration around you all the time, from a variety of sources: an entertaining book, a beautiful picture, an interesting article, a breathtaking journey, a challenging climb, or just some good weather.

I hope that you will enjoy using the power of words creatively and have the opportunity to work with great specialists! ☺

Janus Worldwide provides a range of copywriting services. Our specialists would be delighted to take on your challenges!