What are the different types of copywriters
When people think of the term copywriter they will often imagine someone sitting at home or at a caf, tapping away at a laptop and churning out good copy for their immediate employer whether it be a one-off project or a long-standing relationship between a publication (online or print) and the copywriter.
Now that might often be correct, but there are different types of copywriters out there. Lets have a look at the main types.
Agency Copywriters
Eat your heart out, Don Draper. Or perhaps Peggy Olsen would be more accurate? Thanks to the success of the drama series, Mad Men, in recent times the humble copywriter has been thrust into the spotlight. It was a tiny snapshot into the agency copywriters role at a corporate advertising agency and aside from it being the 1960s, there are some fundamental aspects of agency copywriters that remain to this day.
First thing is that the copywriter gets little to no control of its clientele and subsequently, its projects. Just like in Mad Men, the agency needed work and at times they had to make moral and ethical choices on clients and/or products they would be working for. There will be plenty of exposure to different brands, many of them being big name players with multimillion dollar turnovers, but the key is the lack of control agency copywriters will have.
On the other hand, they generally have relatively secure employment, steady workflow and the opportunity to work in what is likely to be an incredibly creative team strong positives!
Corporate Copywriters
Perhaps the least attractive type of copywriter is the corporate one. Someone who works in-house for a large corporation (multinationals) or maybe even a top tier law, accounting or financial services firm.
Having a job that is usually safe as houses can be appealing for some but there is a strong possibility of boredom given that corporate copywriters only get the opportunity to write for the products of the company they work for. Nothing more, nothing less and if your company happens to only have one product well, thats a lot of copy for a single product!
Most likely, corporate copywriters will be keeping the company websites content updated and relevant, in charge of writing any promotional materials (e.g. brochures, hand-outs) or even media engagement (if the company does not have a dedicated media/public relations person or team).
Freelance Copywriters
And finally, what was described at the start of this article is the freelance copywriter; a role that is fast becoming the new norm in copywriting in this online era. In the age of the entrepreneur and start-ups, there are increasingly greater numbers of small businesses who may have a valid, sellable idea but few of the many skills required to develop that idea into a viable business.
Enter the freelancer, and a good freelance copywriter can go a long way to assisting these start-ups to distinguish itself (and its products) from the rest.
There's a lot more that can be said about freelance copywriters but that's a post for another day, this is long enough already!
Now that might often be correct, but there are different types of copywriters out there. Lets have a look at the main types.
Agency Copywriters
Eat your heart out, Don Draper. Or perhaps Peggy Olsen would be more accurate? Thanks to the success of the drama series, Mad Men, in recent times the humble copywriter has been thrust into the spotlight. It was a tiny snapshot into the agency copywriters role at a corporate advertising agency and aside from it being the 1960s, there are some fundamental aspects of agency copywriters that remain to this day.
First thing is that the copywriter gets little to no control of its clientele and subsequently, its projects. Just like in Mad Men, the agency needed work and at times they had to make moral and ethical choices on clients and/or products they would be working for. There will be plenty of exposure to different brands, many of them being big name players with multimillion dollar turnovers, but the key is the lack of control agency copywriters will have.
On the other hand, they generally have relatively secure employment, steady workflow and the opportunity to work in what is likely to be an incredibly creative team strong positives!
Corporate Copywriters
Perhaps the least attractive type of copywriter is the corporate one. Someone who works in-house for a large corporation (multinationals) or maybe even a top tier law, accounting or financial services firm.
Having a job that is usually safe as houses can be appealing for some but there is a strong possibility of boredom given that corporate copywriters only get the opportunity to write for the products of the company they work for. Nothing more, nothing less and if your company happens to only have one product well, thats a lot of copy for a single product!
Most likely, corporate copywriters will be keeping the company websites content updated and relevant, in charge of writing any promotional materials (e.g. brochures, hand-outs) or even media engagement (if the company does not have a dedicated media/public relations person or team).
Freelance Copywriters
And finally, what was described at the start of this article is the freelance copywriter; a role that is fast becoming the new norm in copywriting in this online era. In the age of the entrepreneur and start-ups, there are increasingly greater numbers of small businesses who may have a valid, sellable idea but few of the many skills required to develop that idea into a viable business.
Enter the freelancer, and a good freelance copywriter can go a long way to assisting these start-ups to distinguish itself (and its products) from the rest.
There's a lot more that can be said about freelance copywriters but that's a post for another day, this is long enough already!
Aspiring copywriters: if you need 1:1 advice from an experienced copy chief, head over to my Phone a Friend page.
Aspiring copywriters: if you need 1:1 advice from an experienced copy chief, head over to my Phone a Friend page.