What Is An Advertising Copywriter? (E-commerce)

Advertising copywriters help create ads to increase brand awareness and boost conversions or sales. If you’re curious to know more about what they do or want to pursue this path, continue reading to learn about this role in more detail. Given the high demand for copywriters today, there’s tons of opportunities to build a successful career here.

Every ad needs good copy to be effective. No matter what channel you use to advertise your brand or products, you need to have the right message to persuade readers to take action.

What Does an Advertising Copywriter Do?

Advertising copywriters are in charge of making ads for various mediums, including print, TV, radio, or online. While they traditionally focused on creating written content, the role of advertising copywriters has changed significantly over time. 

Nowadays, you may see them called with different titles, one being a creative strategist. Aside from creating written copy, they may be involved with video concepts, content briefs for UGC, and working with graphic designers and video editors to deliver the final ad. To better understand what advertising copywriters do, here are their main responsibilities:

Create compelling copy for advertisements

Advertising copywriters primarily write copy for different types of ads, including TV or radio scripts, social media captions, website ads, and brochures. Beyond writing copy, you’ll also be involved in other parts of the ad creation process, with tasks like choosing images for landing pages and working on visual content with the creative team. This role usually requires liaising with the client and understanding the project brief to understand your direction and goals.

Research clients’ brands, products, and target audiences

Part of your role as an advertising copywriter includes researching your clients’ brands, products, and target audiences, usually as a preparatory step before writing. If needed, you can also check out the market and competition to look at successful campaigns in the past and assess other brands’ ads in terms of key message, choice of words, and tone of voice.

Proper research will help you understand what you’re selling and who you’re selling to, which provides a good starting point for your copy. From here, you’ll have a better idea of what message and language to use to position your product in a way that appeals to the audience.

Brainstorm and present initial ideas

Brainstorming is another important step you’ll likely need to do before you start writing. Once you’ve finished your research and gathered useful insights, you’ll brainstorm initial ideas or storyboard video concepts and present them to your superior for approval. Then you’ll present the final proposal to the client and revise it as needed before you start working on the ad. 

The approval process may work differently based on where you work. Agencies may have standard procedures with specific timelines and stakeholders involved, while freelancers follow instructions provided by the client, if any.

Collaborate with the creative team

Ads consist of more than just the written component. In most cases, advertising copywriters collaborate with the creative team to align on a key message and produce the required output together. For example, you may work with graphic designers and video editors to deliver the final ad, including both copy and visuals.

Monitor ad campaigns

In some cases, advertising copywriters may also be tasked to monitor ad campaigns. This involves keeping track of the ads or campaigns you work on and making changes based on feedback or campaign performance. Doing this also gives you insight into best practices that you can apply for future ads to generate better conversions.

Typical Employers

There are plenty of settings where you can work as an advertising copywriter, including:

• Brand. Brands that handle marketing in-house usually employ advertising copywriters as part of their marketing team. In this role, you’ll work alongside fellow marketers and creatives to develop ad campaigns based on the company’s calendar. 
• Agency. More commonly, advertising copywriters work in agencies, such as marketing, media, advertising, or full-service agencies. Under this setup, you’ll be assigned to work on different projects for clients and collaborate with fellow agency members to create effective ads. 
• Freelance. While it’s more common for advertising copywriters to work in agencies due to the collaborative nature of the role, it’s still possible to take the freelancing route. Here, you’ll need to market your services and find clients on your own.

Qualifications

There are no educational requirements or credentials needed to become an advertising copywriter. A degree in English, creative writing, journalism, advertising, marketing, PR, or a similar field may be useful, but they’re not strictly required. What’s more important is that you have a strong portfolio and key skills to show that you can create effective copy. 

If you want to gain some experience before diving into the job market, consider looking for internships or enrolling in online courses. These help you build knowledge and practice your writing skills, so you can gradually build your portfolio.

Key Skills

• Ability to write clear and concise copy in different styles
• Excellent teamwork and communication skills
• Good research skills
• Attention to detail
• Acquire commercial awareness and domain experience
• Proofreading skills 
• Creativity and ability to produce novel ideas

Job Prospects and Salary

Advertising copywriting has great prospects in the job market today, especially for copywriters focused on digital media. More brands are investing in digital marketing today, so there are many opportunities for you to pursue a career in the e-commerce space.

Your earning potential depends on many factors. Of course, having more experience and a well-established portfolio allows you to charge higher rates or negotiate higher salaries. Things like your niche can also make a difference as some industries – especially the technical ones – pay higher due to the specialized knowledge required.

To give you a rough estimate, ZipRecruiter estimates an average hourly rate of $31 and a yearly income of $64,959 (Last updated 10/19/24). Take note that this number may also change depending on your location and the cost of living in the area.