copywriting | katieqcopy copywriter

Posted

July 13, 2021

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What is the difference between content writing and Content copywriting?

Recently, I saw a post on Twitter about the differences between a Content Writer and a Copywriter. None of the answers particularly inspired me and I passed on without passing comment. But it got me thinking. Why? Why didn’t I want to get involved in a Twitter pile on that I was well placed to answer?

Perhaps, when it comes to content copywriting, it’s because everyone has a slightly different take on it. For many people, it will be writing blogs and newsletters – which, let’s face it, anyone can do, technically. It might also include social media copywriting.

What is Content Design?

Lately, I’ve been working as a Content Designer. This current role sees me working in Content with a capital C, and it’s something else entirely. Yes, there’s copywriting. Yes, there’s ‘content’. And most of it is digital content. So how is this different, I hear you ask.

All I can say is, I have never worked as a Content Designer before. I don’t physically design screens, but I do more than creating long form copywriting. I work with researchers to devise the best customer journey (CX) to help users get to their desired point online (UX). And then I put down words to improve the actual look and feel to assist this journey (UI).

Often, it’s not about the words you use. It’s about using fewer words and using them well. And above all, it’s about consistency. It’s about making a user journey far more intuitive.

I thought I’d done UX copywriting a hundred times over for brands across marketing agencies. But this latest role, with a huge global company, has given me access to some top brains, allowing me to sit in on incredible research Q&As, playbacks and content reviews. And that means I’ve had freer rein to use my brain too.

It’s easy to dismiss Content Design as something simplistic. Something that doesn’t allow you to be too creative. Sure, you’re not copywriting headlines as you would with luxury cars, using words like ‘exquisite’, ‘opulent’ and ‘contemporary’. But you are having to flex your copywriter brain to come up with the best possible way to use words in a succinct and consistent way. To keep up with the non-creatives you are listening to, the end user and the developers and other team members whose job it is to build/make or develop the product or service.

It’s been a fabulous booking so far, simply because I’m learning every day. The reason why being a copywriter is always, to my mind, the best job in the world.

Posted

June 5, 2018

Category

Advertising, Art Director, copywriter, copywriting, Creative Director, freelance, Social Media, Twitter, Uncategorized

The business of outrage

People are so busy being outraged, it’s as tiresome as an all-nighter on a box set binge.

If there was ever one thing the advertising industry is certain to display, it’s a dog-eat-dog approach to life. Advertising has never been kind.

When I worked as a copywriter in large companies such as one in the WPP building, I felt this more keenly. People could hide behind their screens and avoid eye contact to indicate they were on deadline, but really, they were reading something vaguely interesting to them instead.

Real-life interactions were fairly London-standard: talk if you have to, but only as a last resort.

Now we have social media to express ourselves, the interesting articles take a back seat and we absorb information that someone else has seen fit to write. Yet increasingly, that something was written not by a professional writer, but by a person like anyone else.

Social media: the end of professional journalism

Journalism is a dying art. Chasing it as a career option is like wanting to be an ostler at an inn at the turn of the twentieth century. Sadly, if you’re seeking good career prospects, there is little to zero point. One can only hope this isn’t the same for copywriters!

Yet it’s this ‘noise’ that is sucking us in and driving our creative processes.

But is that right? What value do these words have? If anyone can write something inflammatory and drive news headlines into a storm in a teacup territory within seconds, what chance do the rest of us have? Anyone, it seems, can be a writer. Question is, should we be giving any of the writing our attention?

Is it best to simply leave the social media playground to the kids with less focus and return to the pages of actual printed books and other intellectual stimulus? Practice free thinking and absorb the mind in other matters? Observe, give where you can, but don’t get dragged into the undertow?

See it for what it is, like the big ad agencies with their swipe cards and free canteens – something fleeting and precious to behold, but also full of smoke and mirrors; real life happening beyond its doors.

Creative work without Creative Direction

We’re told that to be shocking and provocative is good – but ideas need creative direction. And these ones are often limited by a lack of life experience and agency (business) wisdom.

Recently, a bunch of creatives took this approach and their work was viewed as sexist and misogynistic. Clearly, that was where a Creative Director would have said, “Er, guys, what’s that about?”

But.

One person’s outrage, another’s chip shop statue?

I do wonder if work like this ever gets through to the Chip Awards? There is a category ‘In Bad Taste’ and I once saw a Creative Director submit an ad about bombs on the underground. Having lived through that fateful day, I was personally a little taken aback about this, but he said it was alright. He submitted it and it made it through to the finals.

Back to outrage. Like a client do that ends up in the Bada Bing strip club, advertising hasn’t exactly got a great rep.

Twitter doesn’t have a Creative Director. Yet it goes to show that experience counts for a lot in this fast-moving world of outrage.

Get it wrong and you serve up all sorts of pain in nano seconds. It’s why sales of business insurance amongst copywriters and creatives are in demand by recruiters.

Everyone is liable, yet no one wants to be liable. They want to play and eat their cake at the same time. Real life rarely works this way unfortunately.

Mix this with advertising and what have you got? A dog-eat-dog world where the dogs have been replaced by zooped up ninja sharks on steroids.

Play along at your peril – but whatever you do, play nicely.

Posted

January 11, 2018

Category

Advertising, Art Director, copywriter, copywriting, freelance, Marketing, Social Media

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Cut to the copywriter

Dave Trott says advertising is getting lazy. Copywriters aren’t getting the freedom and the time to investigate products and services to find the gem of a truth, the golden nugget that brings everything into a bright new place.

Trott’s pearl of wisdom is well known in advertising circles, based on the view that a copywriter should ‘show, don’t tell’.

“Proof always works better than a claim”

Once you’ve got that truth in the bag, the rest falls into place (with a little bit of expertise and copywriting brilliance, of course. Oh, and great Art Direction. And ideally, with solid and inspiring Creative Direction…although not all of us have this luxury.)

I was once sent to the Rolls Royce factory in Goodwood to see if our marketing agency could ascertain the stand out values and place them firmly into a below-the-line promotional campaign.

It was an incredible opportunity; everyone was left goggling at the incredible attention to detail the firm puts into every car.

We saw a specialist team hunched over laser cutters, working on specially reared cow hides to cover the interiors in flawless, soft furnishings. The highly specialist team of workers were effectively artisans with unique skills.

In fact, the leather in a Rolls-Royce takes 17 days to hand-craft and comprises 9 bull hides; only 1 in 100 hides is chosen for quality. It was one of the take home blow-your-mind facts of the day.

Naturally, we whizzed back to London full of inspiration and excitement about the brief ahead. The final idea that went ahead was award-winning and it led with the truth that we’d all gleaned by visiting, touching and appreciating the car in person.

Dave Trott is right, investigating a brand from the inside out is by far the best place to start when approaching marketing.

Put copywriters and art directors firmly in the driving seat and you’ll soon see a difference to your bottom line.

Briefs might speed the work up (good for the agency’s profit margins) but they’re not always the best place to start. A collaborative effect between planners and creatives can really help to reveal the truths that might otherwise be overlooked.

If you’re a brand and you don’t have this luxury, you could consider engaging a senior freelance marketing expert to work directly with you. Someone who will come to your business with fresh eyes and ears.

Freedom is everything

It’s also why freelance copywriters can bring a new lease of life to your marketing conundrums.

We aren’t bogged down by years of office politics or hierarchical issues – we bring fresh eyes to the project and can work wonders where agencies can be, although not always, more cumbersome in their approach.

Not sure? I’ll prove it. Give me a call today.

Posted

September 22, 2016

Category

Advertising, Art Director, copywriter, copywriting, grammar, Marketing, Social Media, Uncategorized

You want to sound like who?

Oh if we had a pound for every client who wants to sound more like ‘Innocent’. All the country’s copywriters would now be installed on a sun lounger in Jamaica, sipping freshly squeezed tropical fruit drinks from a coconut. Take that Innocent Towers, now owned by Coke!

When brands talk the talk

When a brand is strong enough to know exactly who its audience is and where they want to be, they don’t have to try to mimic their competitors. Today’s audiences want disruption: they’re hungry for it – hell, they expect it. With media clutter at an all time high, it’s going to be a strong voice that cuts through the chatter. So if you sound just like everybody else, how can you make sure your marketing spend is being heard?

When a brand knows what it wants to say and how it wants to act, its tone of voice is a pleasure to devise. The hard part is standing out from the pack as you implement it. Consistency and a well thought out application is key. A great ad campaign needs to be supported at every channel with the same approach to well-thought-through messaging. For example, there’s no point being the no-nonsense supermarket in town if your website is completely baffling and beyond user friendly.

Nice words, but is anyone listening?

If marketers can apply a consistently strong tone of voice, consumers will take notice. One false step however, and it could all blow up in your face. So attention to detail is key, and now that everyone is a commentator, it’s more important than ever to ensure your copywriter is on it – all over it, in fact. We all write tweets and compose Facebook updates. But when it comes to your copy, let’s ponder on a wise marketer’s words: ‘just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.’

With the right mix of creative strategy and strong writing, there’s no reason why a brand can’t take bold steps to stand out from the pack. It just has to be brave and ditch the obsession with Fruit Towers. Who’s doing it well? Aldi, Lurpak, First Direct and Virgin spring to mind, but there are a host of startups getting in on the act, like Propercorn popcorn and Fever-Tree, a premium drinks brand. I could go on. I won’t.

Posted

March 3, 2016

Category

copywriting

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Copywriting tip no. 94

Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

A copywriter once said this to me. It was about the way account managers were changing copy internally, without running it by the creative department first. Someone had even gone so far as to play with the punctuation. They were junior and it was a forgivable offence. But the line has stayed with me ever since.

Because people will rewrite your copy. They won’t sneakily move a logo or change a colourway, but they will alter your copy. And it’s possible it won’t be for the best. But copywriting is subjective. Damn it.

So how much pushing back can you do, and what happens if your account team aren’t prepared to get on side? I don’t have the answers. But as long as you flag your intentions and your concerns when it’s appropriate, then it won’t come back to bite you on the bum. A supportive account team is crucial for your happiness though. I know that much.

A good way to tackle this age-old copy problem is to get in front of your client at every opportunity. If a client sees a living, breathing copywriter, they are faced with someone whose job is solely that – to write good copy. Sometimes I think clients put us up there with pink unicorns and the like. But if they can see a face to go with that name, it might make them think twice about altering work for the sake of it.

That’s it for now. I have internal amends to do. Oh.

Posted

July 13, 2015

Category

copywriting

Freelancing. Summer’s next big thing.

There are lots of reasons I chose to be a freelancer. For many, the road to freelance life often starts with a redundancy, a crisis of confidence and then the gradual realisation that a life as a flexible working professional could be a brilliant way forward. Some might say you’re better off progressing your career in a full-time position. I’m not so sure. I’ve managed to sidestep meetings about meetings and focus primarily on the task at hand: the craft of copywriting, and often, design.

For me, freelancing has been a one-way ticket to fast action, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants, type stuff. And most copywriters love the variety their job gives them. So why wouldn’t you like that? In the past month, to name a few, I’ve written a lovely animation script for a global financial services client, a business-to-business newsletter for a world media giant and I’ve started helping a small business to get their communications off the ground. And tomorrow is sports day at school, so I’m able to nip down and cheer on my daughter’s house, before rolling back up the hill to an afternoon of long copy briefs.

So if you’re contemplating a summer of juggling out of school clubs and pick ups, or if you’re simply fed up with the same old same old, freelancing could be for you. It’s a great way to work flexibly. And yes, you can find yourself spend a lot of time chasing invoices or hunting down briefs, but everything has its downside. And now that the economy is rumbling back into business mode, things feel like they’re definitely on the up. So go on. Dive in this summer. The water’s…warm.