Copywriters are incredibly valuable members of a creative team. Without them, you wouldn’t be reading any words right now. It would be horribly dull and you’d just be sitting here like a big silly, staring at a blank page.

So today, in case you haven’t guessed already, we’re going to talk about copywriters and what they do for us. Let’s start by defining some terms.

A “copywriter” is someone who writes copy for a living. The term “copy” includes all kinds of things like headlines, tag lines, television and radio commercials, jingles, slogans, blog posts, advertorials, press releases, newsletters, billboards, catalog descriptions, brochures, web site content, emails, magazine articles, product instructions, print ads, signs…you get the picture, right?

Copywriters are very hard to pin down because they write everything and anything that needs to be written. Whether it’s a little sign telling you where the bathrooms are, or it’s a user manual describing how to use your new toaster, a copywriter has written it.

Usually you can find these magnificent wordsmiths hanging out at ad agencies (hi ya!), working in corporate marketing departments, or freelancing. Not all copywriters are good at writing everything. Ours is, of course, but you know, we can’t all be so talented. Some copywriters have found an area to specialize in. For example, some are brilliant at coming up with product instructions where others are amazing with SEO or travel brochures. Whatever niche you can think of, there’s a copywriter for it.

For our purposes today though let’s just talk about what it’s like to be a copywriter at an ad agency. We think it’s the sexiest kind of copywriting there is, but then again our opinion may be a bit biased….

An ad agency copywriter’s job is very dynamic and folks who occupy this position often work on a diverse array of projects simultaneously. Over the course of a single workday, a copywriter can be working on copy for a television commercial, ghostwriting a client’s blog and writing a corporate newsletter, for example. Some days, a copywriter spends an entire day not writing anything at all, but instead does research and brainstorming to prepare for a project.

On other days, the writer’s time is spent meeting with clients or account managers or collaborating with graphic artists. Some days are a mixture of many things, and some days are simply spent facing the dreaded blank page. Copywriters hate that, by the way. It makes them nuts. If you ever want to send a copywriter over the edge, show them a flashing cursor on a blank white page. They’ll be compelled to put something on it even if it’s just some random garbage.

WORDS WE MUST HAVE THEM!

Sorry. A copywriter is writing this right now and she gets excited sometimes. We try to keep her contained. Sometimes we have to feed her chocolates and sing soothing songs…

Anyway, more than just being flexible and adaptable from project to project, client to client, and format to format, successful copywriters have one skill that’s more important than any of the others—they understand people. In order to effectively convey information in any form, you’ve got to “get” your audience and be able to anticipate their thoughts and reactions. Without that, copy is just words on a page. So, copywriters are also great empaths.

One thing that a copywriter is not, however, is a lawyer. This is something many people get confused about. When our copywriter goes to parties and tells people what she does, people think she’s a copyright lawyer.

She is not.

The only thing she knows about copyright is that it’s very naughty to steal other people’s ideas, and so she does not do that. Next time you meet a copywriter at a party, ask him or her what they’re writing. They’ll love you immediately.

Clearly, copywriters are rather magical creatures. Without them, the world would be a rather wordless place and it wouldn’t be very fun at all. So, happy Copywriter Appreciation Day!

Before you run out to hug a copywriter, we have prepared a special treat for you!  It’s a week-in-the-life video of our copywriter hard at work. If you have not seen it yet, please enjoy. And if you have seen it already, watch it again!