Hello. I’m a copywriter.
I write the words in ads.
I write the words in ads.
That’s what I say to stop someone's eyes glazing over after I try my little heart out to explain what I do. Technically true. Wildly inadequate. Like describing a surgeon as “someone who’s good with knives.”
Explaining copywriting is how you drive a conversation into a tree with no survivors. So I don’t. I stick with “I write ads” and die a little inside.
So I created this page for non-ad folk.
A clear, no-jargon guide to what a copywriter actually does in advertising—so the next time you meet one in the wild (and not behind a brief), you’ll know what they mean.
Print:
Magazines, newspapers, brochures, and flyers. Basically, anything you can flip through and then throw away.
Magazines, newspapers, brochures, and flyers. Basically, anything you can flip through and then throw away.
Out-Of-Home (OOH):
You can’t scroll past it. You can’t skip it. It’s just… there. Watching you. On your commute, at the bus stop, on the bench you’re sitting on. If you exist near it, it can advertise to you.
You can’t scroll past it. You can’t skip it. It’s just… there. Watching you. On your commute, at the bus stop, on the bench you’re sitting on. If you exist near it, it can advertise to you.
Radio:
It’s a 30-second attention carnival trying to be as exciting inside the car as whatever’s happening outside it. See example:
It’s a 30-second attention carnival trying to be as exciting inside the car as whatever’s happening outside it. See example:
Social Media:
You know that thing you do where you hand over your location, your habits, your opinions, your face, your friends, and your entire personality to the internet for free?
You know that thing you do where you hand over your location, your habits, your opinions, your face, your friends, and your entire personality to the internet for free?
Video/Digital:
The ads you skip in five seconds. The ones squeezed into your show because you have the base subscription. The ones that follow you across the internet because you thought about something once. The jingle that now lives in your head.
The ads you skip in five seconds. The ones squeezed into your show because you have the base subscription. The ones that follow you across the internet because you thought about something once. The jingle that now lives in your head.
I write these.
Super Bowl Spot:
The pinnacle of the copywriter’s year. Where every word is argued over like it determines the fate of civilization. Where 30 seconds becomes a cultural event. Where you start wondering if this is actually the final boss of life.
The pinnacle of the copywriter’s year. Where every word is argued over like it determines the fate of civilization. Where 30 seconds becomes a cultural event. Where you start wondering if this is actually the final boss of life.
Experiential:
You have definitely experienced it and likely left with free swag. It's none of the things listed above, and somehow it becomes all of them when the brief demands it. At some point, you stop being the audience. You become part of it.
You have definitely experienced it and likely left with free swag. It's none of the things listed above, and somehow it becomes all of them when the brief demands it. At some point, you stop being the audience. You become part of it.
Copy for your thoughts:
This is not copywriting. Also, copyright is spelled differently.
Around the holidays, it can feel like we are all trying to reinvent the same wheel, just with different wrapping paper.
We are not all grammar/punctuation police.
Do mathematicians know every digit of pi?
What a copywriter isn't:
This can be tricky. A copywriter wears many hats, but there are some things we are not. We may dip into them depending on the project, but these are separate jobs:
This can be tricky. A copywriter wears many hats, but there are some things we are not. We may dip into them depending on the project, but these are separate jobs:
1. A journalist (unless assigned)
2. A legal writer (even legal avoids this, so hello AI)
3. An explorer (sometimes overlaps, but not the same job)
4. A playwright (give it time, a brief will make it happen)
5. A poet (often confused, not identical)
6. A wizard (despite what briefs sometimes suggest)
7. A mechanic (if the writing thing doesn't work out)
8. A mind reader (clients assume we are)
9. A haberdasher (we might as well with all the hats we wear)
10. A ghostwriter (same amount of work, but we make sure we get our credit)
2. A legal writer (even legal avoids this, so hello AI)
3. An explorer (sometimes overlaps, but not the same job)
4. A playwright (give it time, a brief will make it happen)
5. A poet (often confused, not identical)
6. A wizard (despite what briefs sometimes suggest)
7. A mechanic (if the writing thing doesn't work out)
8. A mind reader (clients assume we are)
9. A haberdasher (we might as well with all the hats we wear)
10. A ghostwriter (same amount of work, but we make sure we get our credit)
This is just the tip of the iceberg. I could go into exceptions, nuances, tech, voice/tone, and all the other “it depends” situations, but we would be here all day.
So when we say, “I write the words in ads,” this is what we mean.
For now
For now
.