One of things I got to really appreciate while working at Ogilvy was the role of Copywriters. They pair Copywriters and Art Directors to not only visualise ideas, but to put it into words. The copywriters are also quite theatrical and can really pitch an idea, putting into words what Art Directors only know how to say with pictures.
In the digital industry, copywriters are few and far between and I believe they are a crucial addition to any team. Content is king and given that data is made up by text, it just makes perfect sense to have someone on board who can string a sentence together. Below is a list of the type of qualities we look for when hiring a Digital Copywriter
- Write for search engines
- Short one liners for banners etc
- Edit large amounts of copy for sites
- Explain what seems like technology overload for technophobes
- Think and write conceptually
- Spelling & Grammar
- Write for social platforms like Twitter
- Understand the personality of different brands and write accordingly
- Be able to offer options
There aren’t many (if any) Digital Creative Directors who have a copywriting background, so giving a variety of options will help as it makes it easier if there is choice. Your CD will narrow the choice down to present to clients. Being a blogger does not make you a copywriter any more than a social media ‘expert’, so if you can, get some formal training, work with traditional agency writers who you can learn from and then read lots, so you know a little about everything and can hold your own when it comes to cutting edge technology and campaigns. There aren’t many Digital Copywriters, so if you can learn this skill, you could be in very high demand.