What does a digital copywriter do?

Ever wondered how the online content of your favourite brand has been compiled? Who is it that has written catchy phrases for that ad, or eye-fetching slogans that convinced you to purchase from a brand? It is the digital copywriter. This is a person who produces the written content for websites, either working as an internal employee or as a freelancer.

The job of a digital copywriter is about engaging the reader and motivating them to do something, such as buy a product or service. While not being a salesperson in the traditional sense – in other words, directly engaging with a customer in order to persuade him or her to buy what they are offering – the digital copywriter is indeed a salesperson as they sell a product and/or service because of the words that they’ve crafted.

A digital copywriter also writes copy formulated to express helpful information about a brand, industry, issue or NGO activities. For example, this person will be responsible for writing blog posts for a particular company about what they want to communicate about.

Digital copywriter responsibilities

The responsibilities of a digital copywriter are the following. (The responsibilities of an online copywriter will vary according to the size of the organisation that they are part of or whether or not they are freelancers. For example, if they work for a small ad agency they will probably need to take on tasks that a copywriter wouldn’t normally have to owing to the lack of staff):

• Liaising with clients, from start to finish. When hired, the digital copywriter must understand exactly what their client’s needs are. They will be checking in with the client regularly, either by phone, email or face-to-face. They’ll be asking salient questions such as:
• What does their product or service entail?
• What are the client’s aims for the campaign assigned to you?
• Do you understand the audiences your client wishes to reach?
• Producing ‘project scoping’ and generating quality feedback that will ensure you know what your client wants throughout the entire project and whether they’re happy with what you have created thus far.
• Research in your client’s industry and their audience.
• Writing copy for web pages, blogs, social media posts in addition to scripts for videos or podcasts.

Difference between copywriter and content writer

It’s easy to confuse the two and is often considered to be the same. There is a significant difference between a digital copywriter and digital content writer in that the former writes copy with the intention of promotional advertising and or marketing. The latter aims at writing content that seek to entertain and inform online audiences so that they may engage on websites for longer and interact with the brand.

Copywriting requires the writing of content, but it involves an attractive narrative to entice an audience instantly. The writing of copy has a bigger role to play, which is to sell the true value of the brand, products and services.

Content writing, however, is compiling important information with a singular goal in mind:

• It could be for a business, marketing, commercial affairs, environmental petitions or lobbying. It is used to lure prospect customers or members and inform them about products, services, NGO projects and brands. This can be published as blog posts, articles, press releases or social media posts.

Copywriting is the creation of highly compelling and high-valued content that solely attempts to pitch a brand in a market. Its greatest attempts is to sell an idea, as opposed to content writing, which attempts to guide an audience’s understanding of the brand and to promote interest.

Want to become a digital copywriter?

The Digital School of Marketing’s Digital Copywriting and Content Marketing Course is a unique educational offering in the digital marketing space as it provides a wealth of information about best practices in digital copywriting together with content marketing. Read more here for more information about this and for information about our other online digital marketing courses, visit our website.

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