Freelance Copywriter

A Freelance Copywriter should use persuasive content applying the power of words to captivate the readers’ attention. Copywriting skills play an important role in leading prospects to take action for successfully bringing about the desired result. It could be a purchase, subscription to email lists, or clicking on affiliate links. This would enable the copy to generate increased sales, & subscribers. The essentials to creating content that converts are writing irresistible headlines. The attention-grabbing headlines are the decisive factor for readers to continue reading. Copywriting for Lead Generation pages is not necessarily sales but obtaining leads. Crafting a well-structured review on blog websites to focus on affiliate product promotion results in pre-selling a product or services. Product descriptions copywriting is mainly applicable to e-commerce stores.

A Freelance copywriter wanting to sell his services must ensure that his work stands out against all competition. Companies hire freelance copywriters due to the massive content that needs to be put across different types of marketing collateral. This could be by way of print media, web content, advertisements, TV & radio ads, scripts for online social media ads. Content goes into brochures for B2B & B2C sales such as product descriptions. Website content includes copywriting for home page, about page, product pages, sign-up form, landing pages, policy page, customer support, press release, etc and more.

Freelance Copywriter: Introduction

There are different types of content. Your blog website or social media pages require both selling and non-selling content. Content can be for generating sales or for informative purposes. The most popular copywriting types are explained below-

Website Copywriting

For a website copywriter empathy is essential. To be able to identify yourself with your audience can create an impact when evolving the “text”. Provide solutions to your customer problems and addressing issues related to the product or service so that persuasive content drives them to take action.

Website copy needs to relate to the AIDA formula of Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. So write a website copy that works by delivering the message to influence your audience for taking the desired action. Online visitors do not tend to behave the same way as they do while reading print media on paper. They often are distracted by images and fonts, captions, catchy headlines, and sub-headlines before reading the body content. They tend to jump pages and click on the link text.

Persuasive content is the key to keeping visitors glued to your content and getting engaged. If not they will look for similar products or services on other sites. It takes only 3 seconds for a visitor to make up his mind to know if they are on the right page concerning the service or a product. Website content needs to be communicated in an active voice. The benefits have to be spelled out to prospects and your content needs to create a sense of urgency.

The freelance copywriter will have to produce high-quality web copy and demonstrate skills for

• Keyword research
• Writing messages that get engaged
• Improve search results through organic search (SEO)

Email Copywriting

Email copywriters communicate compelling stories about brands to their target audience for business purposes. The email copy that reaches prospects has to keep customers engaged with your brand by way of continuing conversations with the desire to purchase the product or service. Customer engagement is possible by sending fresh SEO optimized content to your email list. The aim is to establish your brand by reaching those customers who are directly purchasing. The most effective way of generating the best email copy is to allow revisions with the intention of fully satisfying your customers. Freelance copywriters have to work with their clients detailing every aspect of the copy they write.

To get started with email copywriting, freelancer copywriters would require-

• Visitor subscription to build up a list- A subscriber form/ landing page on your website with a free giveaway serves a basis to build up an email list. Read more by clicking on Mailchimp-email-marketing.
• Making a first impression- An engaging email copywriting can accomplish objectives that are read and invoke interest in your brand
• Selecting the right audience- Segmented audience having a common interest in that of your brand converts to customers that will buy your brand.
• Growing your follow base- email copy communications provides an impetus to remain connected with the select audience base thus promoting brand loyalty.
• Enlarge your brand- direct messaging through email copy ensures feedback to improve upon thereby maximizing your reach
• Increase website traffic- A well-written email copy draws attention ensuring to build loyalty and trust in your brand. This subsequently results in an increase in traffic flow to your website.

The main steps a freelance copywriter uses to write email copy for campaigns is-

• Deciding the quantum of emails that you need for impacting your reach for the entire campaign
• What do you want to achieve with your email copywriting? This will solely depend on your brand.
• Maintain status and periodic check-lists to learn about how your campaign is running? This will result in generating ideas and leads that can be included in your email copy.
• As your campaign progresses, find out what works and what does not work? Based on the feedback, tweak your email copy to draw attention and create interest to achieve the desired objectives.

SEO Copywriting

SEO freelance copywriters should be able to target keywords that rank high on SERPs, increase traffic, and improve conversion rates. The trust should be on boosting websites ranking, attract web traffic to generate leads, and persuade customers to buy. This is done through-

• SEO optimized copies using a long-tail keyword for the heading/ sub-headings and keyword phrases that blend well with the blog content or landing pages. Maintain the right density of keyphrases and ensure it is relevant and flows naturally with the content in posts or pages. Read more by clicking on Keyword-research
• The title should be catchy for generating interest in the visitor to read further
• The information provided should answer the query of the visitor, provide solutions for converting them to leads that ultimately results in making them buy.
• CTA can either be by filling out an inquiry proposal or telephoning online or a buy button for using a credit card
• Conduct an SEO content audit for websites and recommend fixes for web traffic growth. Read more by clicking on SEO-fundamentals & Web-traffic

The primary objective of SEO copywriting should be to-

• Provide engaging and persuasive content for web visitors
• Establish your business as the authority in the industry segment
• Increase visibility in organic search without opting for PPC Ads
• Connect with the target audience
• Develop a content strategy for creating brand awareness.

Direct Response Copywriting

Direct response copywriting as the name suggests prompts an instantaneous response. It includes copywriting for both outdoor and digital channels.

Outdoor (Direct Marketing) Channels

Outdoor or direct marketing channels include outdoor advertisements, magazines and newspaper ads, direct mail, flyers & brochures. The physical channels connecting the brand to customers and the channels through which they respond are

• Outdoor ad-media campaigns interact with prospects through media such as billboards, ads on moving trucks, brochures, and flyers, etc.
• Promotion sales such as coupons that appear in newspaper and magazines yield a high ROI
• After finalizing the design your fliers and brochures need the power of words to convey your marketing message persuasively to your target audience. Professional fliers and brochure copywriter carefully chooses each word to craft a master copy that eventually engages and sells.
• Direct mail copy communicates to prospects about your offer and how they can derive the benefits. Address the customer pain points using the right format for your mail copy. Put together all the elements such as headlines and subheadings, benefits, body copy, offers, CTAs to craft effective copy to attract attention and make prospects take the desired action.

Digital Channels

Whereas digital channels use communication through email, online ads, radio, and TV ads, websites, etc. In Direct response

• Email copies are written to convert customers into the purchase of a product or service. The conversion can be monitored through a metric known as an open rate.
• Digital media employ SEO techniques and social media to expand your reach to remain connected with the target audience. CTA and Landing page copies drive consumers to take action Use bounce rates and conversion rates to measure its effectiveness.
• Ad copy optimized for search engines and social media can increase website visitors to your site. Measure their views through the conversion rate and bounce rate metrics.
• Ad copy for offline advertising is print ads, tv commercials, and radio scripts. Radio ads use only words and must include the product selling point with the company’s name with address and phone number.
• Direct response Jingles in your ad copy should have a catchy slogan and tell the story about your brand on Radio. Or create an effective TV Campaign that is sticky and convincing guaranteed to deliver the highest ROI.

Technical Copywriting

A technical copywriter presents the technical product or services to the consumer by highlighting the benefits. He has to address what advantages or uses the tech product has? Or how it helps to beat the challenges posed in the day to day living of the user? The persuasive and compelling crafted copy aids the promotion of the tech product or services. In order to do this the tech copywriter should have scientific & technical knowledge, research and analytic skills, write clear and concise copy that engages with the audience. Tech copywriting services can include the following

• Article writing or blog posts
• Brochures
• Email newsletters
• Instruction manual
• Landing pages
• Product descriptions
• Press releases
• Website copywriting
• Whitepapers

Expertise and specialized industry knowledge about tech terminologies are the hallmarks of a good technical copywriter. The unusual skills applied should not only make the copy stand out but it should be of value to the consumer. The products and services offered and the methods employed by organizations can help the tech copywriter to target their select audience. Moreover, high rankings on SERPs will reflect the quality of the tech copy to remain ahead of the competition.

B2B / B2C Copwriting

A seasoned freelance copywriter writes a persuasive killer copy that converts prospects to leads and finally leads into customers. The target audience is either consumers or businesses and hence their copy is directed either to B2C and B2B.

B2C – Business to Consumers

The essentials to B2C copywriting is to produce a copy that your audience wants to read. Evaluate responses and monitor traffic so that you can make adjustments. Consumers search and find your business online with the intent of obtaining solutions or answers to their queries. Tell a compelling story about your brand to generate interest and inform consumers of all the associated benefits. Have information about the demographics (age, gender, interests in Google Analytics) for your audience so that you can market to them by positioning your brand. Make long-form content digestible by providing headings and subheadings, short paragraphs, bullet points, and visuals. Convey your passion into your copy and arouse curiosity to create that outstanding impact.

B2B – Business to Business

B2B copywriter has to write result-oriented copies that connect to your brand and convert. With that said B2B refers to the business buying needs that are influenced by a team that gets more complex. The relevant copy is required to have a professional tone to convey the value of the product. The journey should pass through an educative process for highlighting the possible results. Pinpoint your audience and set your content goals before going ahead with sales. Drive business results through messaging solutions by addressing their business problems and make your clients take the right decision.

Writing a B2B copy has to be directed to a group that appeals to different people in the buying cycle. Decisions are made based on improving employee productivity, cost reduction, profitability, etc. B2B normally has a longer sales cycle, so drill down in depth to issues for mapping out your clients’ business. To boost conversion rates target the top of the sales funnel with educational content, the middle with explainer content and the bottom with technical detailing. Target the decision-maker in the final stage of the buying process with a B2C approach.

Social Media Copywriting

The Social Media Copywriter should possess sound knowledge of SEO, Paid Advertising, Keyword research, Google Analytics, Creative Web Content, Multiple social media platforms, etc coupled with excellent communication skills. Promoting products and services will require ongoing interaction with the audience on social media. Copywriting for the different social media networks such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc has to be optimized with a view to engaging with the audience. The Copy should include creative web content with captivating videos and images to supplement the text.

Advertising posts have to target ongoing activities such as events or product launches for leveraging brand awareness and sales promotions. Updating social media posts will require to take an account of your audiences’ behaviors. This can be assessed in Google Analytics through bounce rate, pages per session, and average session duration. Moreover, utilize web analytics to gather social media insights. Engagement can be measured by conversions based on your website goals, likes & shares, traffic, etc. Appropriate timely responses have to be meted out for comments posted by users. Based on the objectives, ensure your copy maintains a consistent voice that reflects your brand.

Content Writing v/s Copywriting

Brands connect with audiences through content writing for creating ideas and are meant for marketing. Content writing educates your audience to follow your brand and promotes sharing. Examples are ebooks, local SEO & SEO content for a blog & web pages, etc. articles, webinars, guides, podcasts, videos, industry trending topics, etc. Read more by clicking on Content marketing techniques.

Copywriting has short goals and sells the brand or ideas by persuasive content. Examples are ads & PPC landing pages. Online media can be popups, web content, banners, etc Print media includes magazines, brochures & pamphlets. Other examples are product descriptions on e-commerce websites, sales letters & emails, etc. Electronic media covers TV/ Radio, whereas outdoor advertising involves billboards and transport vehicles.

What has the freelance copywriter to do?

A copywriter has to create enthralling headlines & CTAs that entice customers to take action for achieving the ‘buy’ result. The action could imply the purchase of a product, submit information, subscribe to a service, and so on. A copywriter handles projects by writing texts for advertising that go into – brand messaging, business names, CTA text & button, email campaigns, Facebook ads, headlines & catchy taglines, Instagram ads, print media & outdoor ads, electronic media ads, product descriptions, scripts for videos, sales copy, trade show materials, whitepapers, and so on. A freelance copywriter maintains a swipe file to include a collection of ideas for inspiration to motivate his work at a later date. The best way of doing this is by creating multiple files and then segregating by copywriting types or classifying as per the niche or industry. Use Readability Analysis and find out how easy your copy is to read.

Copywriting Job Boards

Running a freelance writing business is not easy. Never the less there are many resources available online for finding writing jobs. Put your best foot forward and prove yourself as a freelance copywriter. The journey ahead is harder with having to deal from copy-editing to negotiating higher rates. With all said and done there is no doubt that copywriting is in high demand offering a lucrative and rewarding career. Browse through some of the freelancing sites for writers listed below, and find new clients for either full-time or part-time work.

• Blogging Pro < bloggingpro.com/jobs/ >
• Creative Pool < creativepool.com/copywriters-in-india >
• Creative Jobs Central < creativejobscentral.com/copywriter-jobs/ >
• Freelance Writing < freelancewriting.com/jobs/ >
• Get Copywriting Jobs < getcopywritingjobs.com >
• Pro Blogger < problogger.com/jobs/ >
• WorknHire < worknhire.com >