Copywriting

Copywriting is the act, or occupation of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. The product, called copy, is written content that aims to increase brand awareness and ultimately persuade a person or group to take a particular action. Copywriting is the act, or occupation of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. The product, called copy, is written content that aims to increase brand awareness and ultimately persuade a person or group to take a particular action. Copywriters help create billboards, brochures, catalogs, jingle lyrics, magazine and newspaper advertisements, sales letters and other direct mail, scripts for television or radio commercials, taglines, white papers, social media posts, and other marketing communications. Many copywriters are employed in advertising agencies, public relations firms, or copywriting agencies. Copywriters also work in-house for retail chains, book publishers or other big firms which advertise frequently. They can also be employed to write advertorials for newspapers, magazines, broadcasters and cable providers. Some copywriters work as independent contractors, doing freelance writing for a variety of clients. They may work at a client's office, a coworking office, a coffeehouse, or from home. Copywriters are similar to technical writers and the careers may overlap. Broadly speaking, however, technical writing is dedicated to informing readers rather than persuading them. For example, a copywriter writes an advertisement to sell a car, while a technical writer writes the operator's manual explaining how to use it. Claude Hopkins (born in 1866), is generally recognized as earliest copywriter, who put understanding consumer behavior into practice, for preparing promotional materials. John Emory Powers (1837–1919) was the world's first full-time copywriter. Since then, some copywriters have become well-known within the industry because they founded major advertising agencies, others because of their lifetime body of work. Many creative artists worked as copywriters before becoming famous in other fields. In book publishing, flap copy or jacket flap copy is the summary of a book which appears on the inside of a hardcover dust jacket; back cover copy is similar text, usually briefer, on the outside back cover; and catalog copy is a summary written for a publisher's catalog.