The Copywriting Process
One sentence can speak volumes. Copywriters consider how and why they write content that may appear in a printed or digital ad, a blog for a website, social media posts, or a webpage about your brand. In short, a copywriter develops content for a brand, so every word positively develops the brand’s message. Copywriting walks hand in hand with public relations, content creation, advertising and marketing.
Copywriting is an ever-evolving beast. Writing the text for a simple Instagram post, for example, combines several skills and purposes in one task.
First, it starts with a strong sense of the client’s brand. Determining how the brand “sounds” and who it appeals to will then determine the voice, or personality, and tone, or mood, of the content. Considering our audience helps to develop how our content should communicate with them. For example, when writing for Rogue Aviation, we know we’re talking to pilots, students, flight enthusiasts, and aerial videographers. The audience members are united by a sense of pride, adventure, and transparency within the aviation community, so we highlight that by keeping our content light, excited, and sprinkled with emojis. The research and strategy development behind this step helps to actually write the content and stay consistent with the brand.
Content comes next. When writing copy, the purpose of the content, whether it be to sell, inform, entertain, etc., should match the brand’s mission and personality as described above while communicating clearly. For example, copy for an event flyer should answer all necessary questions such as date, time, and place. “Is this relevant?” becomes an important question. Then we pull in the points from step one: if the event is an open invitation to families for July 4th, the voice and tone should reflect a fun, family-oriented space with appropriate imagery and language that are celebratory and welcoming.
Once we’ve done all that, it’s time to edit. Grammar, syntax, punctuation and spelling all come into play. When are certain words hyphenated? Are all the tenses correct? You get the idea.