WHAT DOES A COPYWRITER DO?

Wondering how to know if your business is ready for a copywriter? First, If you think we do mysterious things with the copyright laws that show up in the FBI warning on that ancient VHS tape of Sleepless in Seattle, that’s what our parents think we do, too. 

What a copywriter actually does is get to know the inner mechanisms of how your audience thinks and what words will build trust and inspire brand loyalty. Just as your brand designer scopes out visual concepts for your logo, fonts, and colors based on what will draw your audience in and create a cohesive experience, your copywriter should build a framework for how your brand sounds that allows you to communicate with confidence. 

A copywriter will also guide you on particular nuances like how to communicate your core values with a clear tone and when to push creative boundaries and ignite feeling with trend-aware language for your products. Most importantly, all this knowledge gets infused into how you communicate on your website, right down to when and where you ask your ideal audience to take action. The result is their entire experience on your website becoming one smooth, authority-building journey. If you build consistent communication, they will come. 

After that initial big lift, copywriters can also support your brand with on-retainer written assets or equip your team to write in-house with confidence. Think blog posts, social media content (caption, tweets, video scripts) and email marketing. 

5 WAYS TO KNOW YOUR BUSINESS IS READY FOR A COPYWRITER

If any of the following apply to you, your brand is at a turning point and you’re ready for an expert communicator to guide you. Although these are all super frustrating, it’s important to remember that for any business, no pain means no gain. We all hit points in business when it’s time for growth, right?

SIGN #1: NO ONE SEEMS TO BE BUYING

Your products and offers are out there, but it’s crickets in your lead system. When a brand struggles with sales, it’s typically because no one is seeing them or they’re not showing that they are the answer to their audience’s problem (also known as building trust). When it comes to getting seen, effective marketing copy is often the missing piece in paid and organic advertising. It’s that essential hook — the one that makes your ideal audience feel a spark of connection. The second piece of the puzzle is effectively showing that you have an answer to what keeps your audience up at night, and you know where they are looking for a solution. (Are they Googling it? Searching hashtags? Asking friends/colleagues?) Great copy strategy solves this problem because it addresses how each channel of marketing can build trust. Brand trust is pretty much priceless; it drives 81% of purchasing, so nailing this is key. 

SIGN #2: TOO MANY INQUIRIES THAT DRAIN YOUR FREE TIME FROM PEOPLE WHO AREN’T READY TO COMMIT

Your inbox and calendar are filled with members of your audience who want to talk, but they feel…random? They’re not who you are picturing working with, and they always seem to ghost after talking through the process or when you send the invoice and contract. This happens when inquiries aren’t led through a marketing funnel that makes them feel connected to your brand and effectively shows that you can help them with a specific struggle. 

SIGN #3: YOUR IDEAL AUDIENCE IS BOOKING YOUR COMPETITION

This one smarts, but if you’re consistently losing your audience to your competition because they simply sound better, it’s time to step it up. Many brands get off balance by pouring time and energy into expanding reach on social channels but not putting the same effort into a consistent personality and tone of voice across all platforms, especially their website. Websites are the conversion hub — it’s where decisions are made and credit cards are brought out. If your website isn’t a streamlined and smart flow of the right information presented the right way, you will probably be consistently losing out to your competition.

SIGN #4: YOU WANT TO COLLABORATE WITH NEXT-LEVEL BUSINESSES

It is our role as business owners to be thinking upwards with our goals, especially paid and organic collaboration. If you have your eye on getting your business seen alongside an industry powerhouse, you first have to ask: does my brand look and sound like an industry powerhouse? Is my brand personality consistent and sharing the appropriate information in the right places? Leveling up asks you to move beyond simply showing up. You now need to show up with a strategy, and a large part of that is how your business sounds at first glance. Research shows that we make a snap judgment about a brand within .05 seconds of landing on their website — first impressions have never been more important.

SIGN #5: IF YOUR AUDIENCE BOOKED/BOUGHT YOU OUT TOMORROW, YOU COULDN’T WOW THEM WITH A ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ EXPERIENCE

If your calendar was booked solid or your shop orders went crazy thanks to timely publicity or paid advertising, what would your communication in your customer journey look like? Over 70% of consumers factor in customer service when purchasing, so this is a key factor in scaling. Would your audience have a quality experience while they were funneled through on-brand communication after investing? 

If you see just one of these signs in your business, that’s how to know if your business is ready for a copywriter. Chances are, you’ll actually see multiple signs at once because you’re in a season of growth! Growth is great, and we’re here to support you. If you’re looking to partner together on a project, you can learn more about what we offer or schedule a consult here.