Learn to Think Critically if You Want to Get into Copywriting

Because of its creative nature, its adaptable skill set and its power to help change the entire face of an ad campaign, copywriting is one of the most important jobs in the advertising, media and communication industry. The work of a copywriter is crucial in developing the culture, particularly the consumer culture that drives our economy and creates our society's persona.

Copywriting is, by nature, a trade that allows an individual who is skilled with language, to communicate in just a few words or sentences. You get to say what is valuable and important about a product or service, while also informing the public. An effective copywriter can make the difference between a product being number one in the market or being just another brand name that everyone forgets. Some slogans written by copywriters have come to define a brand, a product or a lifestyle. Nike's “Just do it” slogan is one of the most widely recognized, repeated, parodied and remembered in the history of print advertising.

There are very few things that good copywriters are unable to sell. Regardless of how dense a market may be with certain products, services, venues or experiences, a good copywriter can be instrumental in making sure that the target audience is reached. Copywriting is a means of disseminating information to the public by using language to persuade the reader that not only do they need to own a particular product, or buy a certain service, but that the company is well aware of the consumer’s wants, needs and desires. This allows the company to stand out in the consumer’s mind in a way that is unmatched by other companies in the market.

Copywriters often work with individuals like designers, visual artists, filmmakers and web designers who are not always highly verbal. These people may have a difficult time articulating what it is that they want to say and what it is that they want to communicate to their viewers. Obviously, this makes a skilled copywriter an essential piece of their work. Having the ability to take information and to become the vessel through which inner thoughts are transmitted to a large audience is a wonderful thing. A copywriter who can accomplish this will have a very creative hand in the evolution of a business.

For example, if visual artists like photographers want to build a website that showcases their work to the public, and displays their services, they may not feel as capable of describing the services. Instead of forgetting about the project because they struggle with using language cohesively, it would be to their advantage to hire a seasoned copywriter. In this way a copywriter can be of tremendous help because of the ability to translate ideas into narrative, which will give the website the proper flow. A copywriter will know what should come first, what language is best and how each section of the website should lead into the next.

Writers are the kind of people who not only organize words but also thoughts. If you are skilled as a writer, you are probably skilled as a critical thinker as well and should therefore consider a career in copywriting.