Copywriters are 'Not' Robots


If you're someone who has been looking for job advertisements in newspaper classified ads, social media postings, and website career pages on possible full-time copywriting job openings, part-time writing roles, and other freelancing content writing gigs time after time yet no one has responded yet?

You probably see the same line after line of job vacancies you see from your feed and often think that you're best qualified for those jobs. Deep inside your head, you keep reassuring yourself that your educational background and professional experience perfectly fit well with the role at hand on paper. Yet, when you're about to focus on the more important details of that listing, you will see a lot more things that your potential employer is asking from you.

In fact, they want to get the most out of you. That means you have to do a lot of things in a very short turnaround time. Whether it's writing blog articles, social media posts, or marketing EDMs on any given day, you also have to keep track of important KPIs and other metrics to ensure that all that hard work put into those content justifies the web traffic, clicks, and more importantly, the sales and revenues that it helped generates in the end.

In short, you are paid to write by selling an idea the lifestyle and the solution that the brand promises to its target customers.

A Job in Great Demand

As the digital world continues to grow, copywriting has become an essential component of marketing campaigns. Whether it's for a website, social media, or email marketing, you are tasked with crafting engaging and persuasive content to entice potential customers to take action. That's just for starters, many employers are asking a lot from copywriters and they often ask a lot of things to be done as if you have that magical power to pull a rabbit from thin air. The reality is that copywriters are not robots, they need support to create quality content.

Copywriting is not an easy job, it takes time to master key skills and proficiencies. Just because someone can write something that doesn't mean that they can write anything. You can't demand someone to write a 1,000-2,000-word article on a niche subject matter and deliver it at a drop of a hat, the copywriter has to take the time to research and effectively utilise creative thinking to craft content as if it was written by someone who is an authority on that. At the same time infusing key information that would mesh well with what the target audience may be looking for while also channelling that content to meet key marketing campaign goals and objectives.

From there, the copywriter conducts research to gather information and inspiration for the content. This may involve reviewing competitors' content, conducting customer interviews, and analyzing data. Once the research is complete, you are now ready to start the daunting task of writing engaging, persuasive, and informative content. That means you have to understand the brand voice and tone while also taking into account the search optimisation best practices so that the content that worked so hard to make would appear on the first page on key Google searches made by the target customer.

Creating content doesn't end there as customer engagement and analytics have to be made. So no matter, how hard you worked to make the best content possible, there is one thing that matters in the end - Were you able to get people to visit the website, engage with social media, buy the product or service, and give the best possible review?

Unrealistic Expectations?

Employers may ask for a lot of qualifications and skills from you because copywriting is a crucial component of many marketing campaigns. The content you create can have a significant impact on a company's brand image, customer engagement, and overall success. With the digital landscape constantly evolving, you need to keep up with the latest trends and technologies to create effective content. SEO best practices are constantly changing so you have to adapt your writing style to meet these changes.

Are you feeling the 'burnout' just by knowing all the unrealistic expectations that you need to live up to once you assume that role?

One-Man Team?

In the past, marketing departments tend to have a lot of key creative personnel with specialised roles. However, things have changed as new marketing tools forced many companies to have leaner staff so they force many of these creative jobs to require additional roles and responsibilities. If the SEO specialist does keyword research for the copywriter in the past, the latter has to assume the task these days as well while also learning a bit of graphic design and video editing on the side too! To make matters more challenging, copywriters now work under tight deadlines and shorter turnaround times.

In fact, according to a survey by the Content Marketing Institute, 70% of B2B marketers say they create more content than they did a year ago, and 45% say they have a small or one-person marketing team responsible for content marketing. This means that copywriters are expected to produce a high volume of quality content in a short amount of time.

Unappreciated Job?

Despite these challenges, copywriters are often undervalued and overlooked. Clients and colleagues may assume that you can simply produce content on demand without considering the time and effort required to create quality content. This can lead to unrealistic expectations and poor working conditions for you in the long term.

To avoid these issues, it's essential to have all the support and resources that you need as a copywriter. This may include access to research tools, training on SEO best practices, and clear communication on project goals and timelines. It's also important to recognize the value of copywriting and the critical role it plays in marketing success.

Do you feel like being treated like a 'robot'? Tell us about it in the comments below.

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