For good copywriting, context is everything. Nothing should happen by guesswork—it’s all based on brand, market, and audience insight. When that information is missing, you find yourself struggling against not only the blank page, but a blank mind.
What clients do understand, though, is that putting together a good brief is difficult. Thankfully, it’s not always necessary.
The power of being able to write fast
Despite the hours they might bill you for, most seasoned copywriters can get things done much faster than you’d expect. An 800-word article? Give me a couple of hours. Copy for an investor pitch presentation? Give me half a day.
I don’t think this about writing, skill, or experience. It’s certainly not about quality. It’s just the trained behaviour of being able to switch off your critical brain and get words out onto the virtual paper. Most copywriters can go fast (like Sonic the Hedgehog). Of course, this often leads to sub-par output and very little enjoyment (like Sonic the Hedgehog).
This ability to write copy at speed is influenced by two factors.
On the one hand, there’s the speed that comes from an excellent brief and a lot of background knowledge. Many of my most beloved clients have been with me for over a decade. I know their businesses and brands inside out. That’s a huge time-saver compared to an entirely new world to get to grips with.
But there’s also the opposite end: the speed that comes from just putting things down based on intuition and guesswork, without much care for the quality. And when you’re struggling to get a solid brief together, this can be a vital tool.
Doing the maths of getting the words right
Great copy comes from deep experience in every aspect of copywriting, paired with deep information and insight into the task at hand. That could include competitor analysis, knowledge about the audience, and a sound footing in the brand and it’s positioning.
In an ideal world, this would all come out of a brief. Some clients are cautious about oversharing dozens of documents but, in my view, the more information, the better. It’s the copywriter’s job to prioritise and draw out what’s important. But other clients really struggle to pull the relevant information together and, ultimately, the best way forward becomes a question of maths.
If I’m having a hard time eliciting a brief, I could spend hours, even days, holding meetings and sending emails to get the information I need. A busy client could put everything else on hold to write an exhaustive brief, although there’s still no guarantee of the quality.
But if all this time is money, when does it stop being a good investment? Uncovering the brief could take a fortnight. Writing a draft—providing we all agree it’s going to be a steaming pile of dung—might take just a few hours.
A good brief is very much welcome but, if drawing it out of the client is going to take ages, the maths might not make sense.
We’re all super clear on the things we hate
Check the rage-bait videos on social media for proof: we’re all ready to be very vocal about the things we hate. What many of us are less good at is articulating what we like before we see it right in front of us.
It’s like buying a mattress. I have no clue whether I want soft or firm, memory foam or something different. But I’ll know the right one when I feel it. With a weaker brief, copywriting can be like that—a bit vague until you feel it.
So, if you’re having a hard time getting all the information you think you might need, force yourself to write the draft that’s all guesswork. I can promise that, when you send it, you’ll soon get some very direct answers on the stuff that’s wrong—and the little gems that might be pushing in the right direction.
