Hey You, What is Copy Writing?

[johnwalton]

Ok so i've heard about copywriting for the past 4 years and i can't believe i still don't know exactly what it means. Could someone sum it up for me please?

[Alex Cohen]

John,

I'm not trying to be a smart alec, but I suggest you search this phrase on Google, "What is direct response copywriting?"

That should do it for you.

Alex

[Mr. Enthusiastic]

Writing is choosing words.
Copy is the text in an advertisement. The term comes from the way pictures and words are combined in traditional printing.
Therefore copywriting is writing the text of an advertisement, with the goal of inspiring the reader to take action such as buying a product, or voting a certain way. The goal is to help the client's point of view be accepted by the audience.

Copywriters often also provide marketing consulting services to help the client determine the exact nature of the offer, pricing, guarantees, audiences, which type of appeals to use, and so on.

People who write their own advertisements have themselves as copywriting clients.

Copywriters can be paid a fixed fee, a commission per sale or per number of advertisements distributed, or any combination that's acceptable to both sides.

As Alex mentioned there's a distinction for direct response versus traditional advertising. Traditional ads just wind up with the hope that you'll remember to make a purchase later. Direct response asks for the order immediately in the ad, making it possible to track which appeals are profitable.

Does that help?

Chris

[Paul Hancox]

Hey John

Dictionaries have "definitions", but they don't always capture the true spirit of a word.

"Copy" is our fancy definition of words that are designed to provoke action, in a selling or advertising context.

Copywriting is salesmanship in print. It is persuasion in print. It is also, to a certain extent, showmanship in print.

Basically, it's using words to sell. Or to get some other form of action, such as a subscription or for the reader to send back a coupon saying, "Yes! I want to know more about the super deluxe Widget Womanizer."

We call the person who writes adverts, sales letters and other forms of writing that sells, as a copywriter.

Actually, they probably get called other things as well... ... but copywriters tend to call themselves copywriters.

I hope that's reasonably comprehensive!

[Mr. Enthusiastic]

Originally Posted by Paul Hancox

but copywriters tend to call themselves copywriters.

Except for Gary Halbert, who called copywriters s**tweasels.

[Paul Hancox]

Originally Posted by Mr. Enthusiastic

Except for Gary Halbert, who called copywriters s**tweasels.

True... then again, he used to call all his readers that, too

[josephkerr]

John Walton, you're actually demonstrating a keen ability to write copy with the subject of this post.

As a headline, "Hey You, What Is Copywriting?" attracts everyone who thinks they know anything about copywriting. And what's a more powerful motivator than having the last word on topics we insist we know about? Sex? Hunger? Maybe... but these forums beg to differ more often than not.

It's the same principle at work when a teacher asks the class a question everyone knows the answer to and all the hands go shooting up and they say "ooooh, pick me, pick me!"

At least the semi-polite kids with manners do. There were plenty in my schools who just blurted the answer out.

That urge to get praise and recognition is a strong one in most people, and is one of the more valuable lessons available in public forums. Check out all of the massive view numbers for posts that invite everyone to throw in their two cents.

To answer your question, copywriting is any form of written advertisement that can be copied for mass consumption. The idea is that if you've got a good sales pitch, you can multiply your effort by printing it and putting it in front of a wider audience.

Door-to-door salesman, for example, can only knock on so many doors a day.

But if you print the pitch, you can ship a letter to a potentially unlimited number of people.

The term is also used more loosely these days to describe any marketing put out for mass consumption, including graphics, video, radio, etc.

But there you have it, mass advertising is "copy" writing. Writing that can be copied. For a specific purpose. Which is to multiply effort.

[Josh Gould]

"Copywriting is a mental process the successful execution of which reflects the sum total of all your experiences, your specific knowledge and your ability to mentally process that information and transfer it onto a sheet of paper for the purpose of selling a product or service." -- Joseph Sugarman

... yeah.

[GaryJBloomer]

Dear John,

Copywriting is salesmanship in print.

I hope this helps.

—Gary B.

[John_S]

What stumps most parrots: What Is Salesmanship?

The person who said "salesmanship in print" was a salesman and knew through practice what salesmanships is.

[Tinkerbell]

Copywriting = using words to persuade people to buy.

When it works, you're a great copywriter. When it don't, you're an overcharging hack.

[gjabiz]

Might be useful...might not.

Copywriting IS:

A written request to a specific person to take a specific ACTION when they read it (or hear or see).

My opinion is successful copywriting occurs when the right message (and medium) is presented to the right person at the right time.

Any one of the above factors influences the effectiveness of your written words (or spoken ones in the case of radio, TV and some internet "ads").

To learn effective copywriting is to learn all the elements that go into

The right message.
The right medium.
The right TARGET.
The right time.

And a lifetime of study of what doesn't work goes a long way to getting to something that might.

gjabiz