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View Full Version : So... Copywriting is essentionally coming up with slogans?



Robert360
01-23-2014, 04:49 PM
I don't mean to offend anyone in this industry but based on what I've read (online not in books) about copywriting, it seems to be coming up with slogans and catch phrases. Am I close or am I dead wrong? If I'm wrong, can someone please explain it to me?

Wozcreative
01-23-2014, 05:21 PM
Copywriting is "Writing Copy". Writing slogan is only .005% of what is involved in the job.

Copywriting is used in:
• Writing/editing articles
• Writing catchy phrases and text for ads
• Writing content for a company's website
• Writing for marketing material (brochures, flyers, magazines, catalogues)
• Writing for packaging/product displays
• Researching industries
• Executing social media posts
• Writing presentation material
• Interpreting project briefs
• Working alongside a large team of creatives to make their copy work
• Helping to cast actors for specific roles they copy wrote for
• Extremely short deadlines and they often are working on multiple campaigns
• Prepare pitch concepts for clients

As a freelance designer, a copywriter makes my work SO much easier. I prefer professional copy rather than something a client wrote up themselves.

A bit surprised that with your research all you really got from it was "writing slogans". Which websites did you go to out of curiosity?

KristineS
01-23-2014, 06:11 PM
I don't mean to offend anyone in this industry but based on what I've read (online not in books) about copywriting, it seems to be coming up with slogans and catch phrases. Am I close or am I dead wrong? If I'm wrong, can someone please explain it to me?

Um, no.

Copywriting involves conveying clearly and in an entertaining manner whatever information needs to be conveyed. Sometimes that's a slogan. Sometimes it's a brochure. It might be website copy. Copywriters produce a variety of different things every day, and slogans, as Woz said, are only a small part of the equation. Copywriting also involves knowing how to structure sentences, how to write to a particular knowledge or reading level, and how to create materials that conveys a certain mood or inspires a particular action.

Copywriting is a skill, it takes talent, but it also takes time to learn how to write effectively. Reducing it to simply coming up with a slogan completely misses the real value of good copywriting. Bad copywriting may be slogan based. Good copywriting will see the whole picture behind or beyond the slogan.

Harold Mansfield
01-24-2014, 09:37 AM
I don't mean to offend anyone in this industry but based on what I've read (online not in books) about copywriting, it seems to be coming up with slogans and catch phrases. Am I close or am I dead wrong?
No. That's Marketing and Advertising.

Darren Stevens (Bewitched) was an ad man. Not a copywriter.

Sean_DeSilva
01-24-2014, 04:02 PM
Any time you use words to persuade, you are writing a form of sales copy. In my opinion it is in the top five skills a businessman can learn. Without knowing this skillset you're unable to deliver content that people find interesting and relevant, shine the best light on your products and services, encourage cooperation among other businesses and vendors… The list goes on.

The best thing you can do to get a fundamental understanding of copywriting is to pick up a few books on Amazon.com. Titles by Dan Kennedy, Gary Halbert, Gene Schwartz, Victor Schwab are all worth your while.

Dan Furman
01-24-2014, 05:53 PM
Actually, in the old days, "copywriting" was basically ads. If you were a "copywriter", you probably worked at an ad agency.

Different today.

Gabe
01-26-2014, 01:13 AM
Copywriting is communicating value. Everything you write on your website (or anywhere) is copy. Copy should have a purpose. The point of every line is to get your prospective customers to read the next line and, eventually, to buy.

"Copywriting is essentially coming up with slogans" is a very narrow view. It's just a bastardized aspect of copywriting thats essentially the tail wagging the dog.

RickGrantham
01-26-2014, 03:19 PM
Google "John Carlton" for some great books on copywriting. I have several of his books. And it is really eye-opening as to how titles and text are crafted so that you feel compelled to buy.

A great copywriter is worth every bit of money you can give them

Rick

WhiteRhinoMedia
01-27-2014, 09:19 AM
I don't mean to offend anyone in this industry but based on what I've read (online not in books) about copywriting, it seems to be coming up with slogans and catch phrases. Am I close or am I dead wrong? If I'm wrong, can someone please explain it to me?

You know, I have been in the copywriting business for a long time. One thing that is a challenge is
most don't really know what a copywriter is. Someone replied writing a slogan is 'marketing and
advertising, which it is, but so is copywriting.

Marketing and advertising have many different pieces that make the whole. Sales writing, design, slogans... all
of that falls under the umbrella of marketing.

A copywriter can come up with a slogan, and may be a good one. They would see your branding in the way
the marketplace will look at it. Sometimes hiring branding experts works in the opposite. They want something
that looks cool and/or will please the business owner (who wants to look cool).

I like to use the term 'sales writer' over copywriter. Again, being I do write words that sell I pay attention
to the marketplace's perception of terminology. Confusion kills sales... more so as there is another term
that has nothing to do with copywriting pronounced almost the same- copyright. Sounds relative, eh?

Copywriters don't just try to sell a thing, they also sell an idea. They persuade and even challenge
beliefs of the reader. Sales writing can be a direct mail piece, magazine ad, phone script, video
script, yellow pages ad or even website content (as a website is an ad).

So yes, the answer is a copywriter can write a slogan or catchphrase. Is it a description of a
copywriter?- not even close.

cbscreative
01-27-2014, 04:11 PM
In my opinion it is in the top five skills a businessman can learn.

Although there is a significant element of truth to that, the misconception that anyone can learn to write well is a profit killer. Generally speaking, the business person, and this is especially important to small business owners on a forum like this, is the worst choice for writing their own copy. The familiarity and expertise required to run your business is an asset to running your business, but a detriment to writing your own copy. What makes perfect sense to you due to the "glasses" you are looking through may not make sense at all to your intended audience. What motivates you is different from what motivates your target market.

No one else cares about your business the way you do. Your employees don't care, your customers don't care, chances are, even your family may not care; your mother may be the only exception but even she won't care as much as you do. Because you are fully invested in your business, it will skew your perspective and it's extremely difficult (probably impossible) for you to be objective objective enough to do your own writing. Like Rick said above, "A great copywriter is worth every bit of money you can give them," and this is why.

Okay, I have an obvious bias because I'm a writer, but I know for a fact I'm right on this one. When you investigate writers you will find another interesting discovery. Good writers are not cheap, nor are they hurting for work. More importantly, their clients keep coming back because they know for sure what a difference it makes.

Simplifying copy writing down to creating slogans... that's good for a laugh.

Sean_DeSilva
01-28-2014, 03:33 PM
I suppose we'll have to agree to disagree. Having a deep background in the technical aspects of the business is an asset, not a liability, if the writer uses it appropriately. I've hired copywriters myself and beaten their sales copy, sometimes not on the first try, but through careful iteration, research, testing and revising. Copywriting is essentially leveraged salesmanship, and sales is the vital cash inflow stage of the business. therefore, a good businessman who's willing to learn and practice copywriting will greatly add to all of his sales efforts by being able to take control himself.

cbscreative
01-28-2014, 11:34 PM
I suppose we'll have to agree to disagree.

Yes we will. I'm not disagreeing with your personal experience, only with your conclusion that what worked for you will work for everyone. The choice of words you used for the business owner to take control is as easily a detriment as an advantage. That choice could equal either failure or success. The drive to control the outcome is commendable, but the qualifications to do that successfully is not automatic just because the desire is present.

My own personal take on this, and your own personal take, really doesn't matter. Instead, it's better to draw from the experience of other business leaders. I've read the writings of several business leaders and your stated position contradicts them. Every success book I've ever read discusses the importance of delegating tasks to qualified people rather than "taking control." Although your personal skill set may include writing, another business owner could just as easily fail miserably heeding the same advice. For them to rely on learning the skill themselves could be a formula for disaster rather than success.

Small business owners are especially prone to be control freaks and insist on taking control to the point that is contributes to the statistical 80% failure rate. You may have pulled off writing for your own business, but for others, it could lead to as much failure as I could have had trying to be my own accountant or lawyer. Since you're new here, be aware that I started my current company in 2002 and would not have made it this far heeding the principle to learn to do things on my own that I can delegate.

Lenin Govea
01-30-2014, 07:38 PM
+1 Gabe

Copywriting is communication indeed…

It's not just using fancy words to make people buy your stuff… I more like understanding your target market's desires and being able to create enough rapport with them that they end up trusting you and buying from you.

You see copywriting pretty much everywhere, even when you watch a TV commercial.

And anyone who wants to stand out from their competition must learn how to use the words to create the right emotions that will trigger the purchase decision


Copywriting is communicating value. Everything you write on your website (or anywhere) is copy. Copy should have a purpose. The point of every line is to get your prospective customers to read the next line and, eventually, to buy.

"Copywriting is essentially coming up with slogans" is a very narrow view. It's just a bastardized aspect of copywriting thats essentially the tail wagging the dog.

Work1099
11-14-2014, 06:17 PM
I don't mean to offend anyone in this industry but based on what I've read (online not in books) about copywriting, it seems to be coming up with slogans and catch phrases. Am I close or am I dead wrong? If I'm wrong, can someone please explain it to me?

Copywriting is salesmanship in print. Nothing more, nothing less. The same things you'd do to influence someone into making a purchase when face-to-face ... translated to the written word. If you wanted to understand this deeply, you'd be better off seeing it as having nothing to do with writing slogans. I say this because most people who write slogans try to be "catchy" and "clever". Those things may be amusing, but they have nothing to do with real salesmanship.

Ted Perrotti
11-17-2014, 12:03 PM
As a freelance designer, a copywriter makes my work SO much easier. I prefer professional copy rather than something a client wrote up themselves.

Very well put description of copywriting. Thank you. BTW: As a freelance copywriter myself, I'm always looking to make contacts with designers in case my clients need that service. Any suggestions on good places to network with designers such as yourself?

Again, thanks!

HooktoWin
11-21-2014, 08:06 PM
I don't mean to offend anyone in this industry but based on what I've read (online not in books) about copywriting, it seems to be coming up with slogans and catch phrases. Am I close or am I dead wrong? If I'm wrong, can someone please explain it to me?

Robert360, there are lots of great answers here. Copywriting is about optimizing and working with thought sequences. Well written copy does a few very specific things well.


It attracts the right people and repels the wrong ones.
Amplifies emotion, pain or pleasure - about issues customers already care about.
It creates desire, enticing customers to buy (sign-up, join, share, etc.).


People are not thinking creatures who happen to feel, they're feeling creatures who happen to think. Great copy uses that (in the right order) to accomplish a goal.

Andrew

shrinkme
11-22-2014, 04:36 PM
Copywriting is about writing. And it is about writing well. It could be articles, blog posts, a slogan, any writing generally... but writing creatively with effective communication.