It’s a great question—and one I’ve been wrestling with for a few days.
I encounter plenty of solid, professional copywriters, each bringing their own feel and flavour to what they do. But, on a recent project, a client said they could really tell the difference when I did the writing, compared to other people writing part of the project. That got me thinking: can they?
If everyone’s good in their own way – if everyone meets a base level of getting the job done – is there any difference when I do the copy? Are there any sort of principles I try to stick to that other copywriters might not focus on or prioritise? And are these traits worth watching for as you try to find a freelance copywriter?
Unsurprisingly, given that this isn’t the end of the article: yep, there are three that I can think of.
#1 Finding the emotional core
When we talk about writing for an audience, we often think in big, broad terms. What kind of person are we dealing with? What are their general pain points and needs? But I always strive to get closer to what I might call the ‘emotional core’ – what somebody is feeling in the moment they read the copy.
Even though my work tends to skew B2B, we’re always dealing with human beings. Maybe they’ve had a long day, maybe they’re desperate for change, maybe they’re begrudgingly reading something shoved onto them from a more junior team member.
Beyond writing the copy, I see my role as an advocate for the audience and what they’re feeling on a human level. That obviously means writing with a personal feel, but it also means:
- Bringing out the humanity in a product, however B2B, technical, or detached it might seem on the surface
- Understanding what people are likely to be feeling when they start reading, so we can build rapport and get them interested
- Using structure to mirror the emotional journey the reader is on—not hysterically crying, but from intrigue to excitement and so on
#2 Bringing things down to earth
I’m always a little uncomfortable with names like storyteller and creative. The work’s creative, but I see being a copywriter as closer to a carpenter than a novelist.
Equally, I don’t love the term professional copywriter. I expect you to be professional. I want to know what you can do above and beyond that.
At the most fundamental level, you have a handful of tools in your belt and you can use them to assemble something that performs its function—that is, to persuade people to buy stuff they don’t need. You don’t get there through guesswork, you get there through experience and expertise.
Brand positioning, audience insights, competitor analysis – they all serve to influence practical choices that determine how the copy must be. So the bones of a piece aren’t especially creative; they’re almost inevitable.
I try to keep the focus on this sense of cause and effect in everything I write. We can add and build out the creative dimension—the smart ideas that might grab attention or help us stand out—later. First thing’s first: craft something that works.
#3 Writing with intention
While it’s just a corporate structure, my limited company is called What For Creative. What for? Because that’s the only question that really matters.
Yes, we could work together to write new copy for your website or develop a new tone of voice. But what for? What’s the outcome we’re aiming at? Why bother?
In everything I write, I think of this question—right down to the sentence and individual word level. Some things might happen based on intuition, but nothing happens by accident. Whether it’s a word choice, a bit of punctation, or the overall shape of the copy, it’s all written with purpose: open to change, but underpinned by informed decisions and meaningful choices.
Sometimes, the intention is just ‘to change up the rhythm of the sentences’ or ‘to add a bit of personality and colour.’ But I firmly believe that every word should be justifiable and defensible.
Of course, these things aren’t unique or exclusive. They’re skills shared by all of the greatest copywriters I’ve worked with. But the important bit is keeping them front and centre; not just using them as tools, but fighting for them, even up against an impossible deadline or difficult perspectives from other people.
