Many successful entrepreneurs will tell you, if you want your company to grow, you have to plant the seeds early on. And copywriting is one of those seeds — which leads us to a common question: What is copywriting?

It’s hard to run a business with mere marketing basics. A company that wants to grow, expand, and leave a mark needs a copywriter. But truth be told, many people don’t even know what a copywriter is.

A copywriter will not just save you time and provide your company with tremendous expertise. A skilled copywriter can help your company grow. By using words more strategically and implementing storytelling techniques, you’ll be able to reach more people.

This in turn translates into more sales and more revenue, allowing you to take your business up to the next level.

This also means mere marketing basics won’t do. But the upside is that assigning your copywriting needs to a professional can help free your plate. You can focus your energy and time on what you need to get done.

First things first. Let’s find out what copywriting is and then let’s take a look at why exactly it’s so valuable to your company’s growth.

What is Copywriting?

Copywriting is a form of writing: conversational, straight to the point, and most importantly, purpose-driven. It differs from academic writing in a way that it’s not complex and maintains a casual tone — which does not mean that it can’t cover academic or highly technical topics.

Copywriting is like a conversation with a friend, taking you by the hand, telling you a story, or sharing a personal experience. This laid-back tone makes it easy to understand and absorb. But why’s that important?

Copywriting has one goal: gently guiding the reader to do something — it’s not just providing plain educational content.

Now what that “something” is can differ but it’s almost always a CTA, a call to action urging the reader to:

• Purchase a product or service
• Sign up for an email list
• Download an e-book
• Follow a company on social media

It’s totally up to you what type of action you’d like the reader to take, the point is, you definitely want him to take action. We’re not just presenting him or her with information.

So, what is copywriting?

In short, it’s a type of writing that provides valuable resources to your reader in hopes to make a sale.

Companies need copywriters to grow because it can impact their revenue and increase profit margins. But there’s a lot more to copywriting than that. Let’s take a look at why copywriting is vital for your business.

What Copywriting Can Do for Your Business

There are a million different reasons why copywriting is a cornerstone of your success. Below, we’ll list the most profound benefits of copywriting that can help your business move in the right direction.

(1) Provide Valuable Resources & Build Credibility

Your customers have questions about your product or services. Or perhaps, they have questions in your area of expertise without yet knowing about your company or said products or services.

This is your opportunity to shine.

Even if customers don’t know you yet, when they have questions, you can deliver anyway. Once customers type search queries into Google, it’s your job to have a solution readily available and present it to them on a silver platter.

By answering customer queries and showing up as a knowledgeable resource, you gain credibility and become known as an expert in your field. 

This authority attracts more customers and allows you to nurture relationships with existing clients. 

By providing valuable information and educational resources, you show your readers that you know what you’re talking about. You know the industry and you understand your customers’ needs. You have the solution to their problem.

In fact, you are the solution.

(2) Incorporate Keywords & Boost Your SEO

What else can a copywriter do for you to help you grow your company?

Answering customer questions seems great but how do we even know what their questions are in the first place?

Besides thoroughly researching your audience, their respective demographics, and background, doing keyword research is absolutely crucial for your business.

So, when you wonder, “What is copywriting?” — you also need to ask, “What are keywords?”

Keywords are the search queries your customers type into Google to fill their needs and search for a solution to their problem. There are apps and marketing tools that you can use to determine these keywords.

If you find a keyword high in demand (meaning lots of people are typing in said keyword and looking for an answer) and with low competition (meaning it’s not used on a bunch of large websites already that you can’t compete with), that’s when you’ve hit the keyword gold mine.

You want to use as many suitable keywords and naturally integrate them into your writing. It takes skill to make a piece of copy sound genuine and stay relevant with a number of predetermined keywords but a copywriter can most certainly help you with that.

Keywords matter because they’re your key to good SEO, which defines your Google rank. Read more on search engine optimization here.

(3) Add a Personal Touch through Storytelling

Why do I say marketing basics are not enough when it comes to building brand awareness and growing your company?

See, marketing alone won’t cut it.

Copywriting also involves creative writing and storytelling techniques. A good copywriter knows how to tap into your emotions and affect your insides deeply, so you feel like you just have to buy the product mentioned.

The best way to do this is through storytelling. We all love a good story after all, don’t we? 

We bond better and feel a closer connection through storytelling, whether that’s a personal experience or some other narrative. Descriptive language helps visualize events and speaks directly to our senses, which in turn gets us more involved.

You can think of it as being dragged through your computer screen and to the actual setting of the story, becoming a quiet observer on the sidelines.

To recap, what is copywriting again?

It’s what enables you to be present throughout the story, you’re committed, and your emotions are running high. Now that’s good copywriting.

It also adds a personal touch to your brand. You’re not just a company, you’re the people behind it. You’re the girl next door, the school teacher from down the road, or the handsome lad from the coffee shop around the corner.

My point is, you’ve become a person. You’ve successfully transitioned and now you can reach your readers on a much more intimate level.

(4) Nurture Relationships

By now, you should have a good grasp of what copywriting is and what it can do for your business. But to really grow your company, one-off copywriting projects don’t suffice. You want to nurture relationships consistently.

How do you do that?

Well, really there are many ways but the main thing is that you continue to show up. It’s not enough to work with a copywriter once and then neglect your copywriting needs after that.

Whether it’s adding to your blog or engaging with your email list, do so regularly and be consistent. Many of the readers that you cross (virtual) paths with might be interested in your brand and products but have not been primed long enough to commit to making a purchase.

Email marketing is particularly great at building onto existing relationships. You can nurture the relationship with your email subscribers by sending them newsletters, updates, and exclusive offers that make them feel special and valued.

Remember, most readers are just floating around in the top part of your marketing funnel. It’s up to you to cultivate your relationship: introduce your company and services in a way that enables you to move them down the funnel one step at a time.

It doesn’t matter what means you use to nurture your relationship with your readers but make sure you engage on every possible level. A diversified strategy is the best tactic you can implement. 

Whether you use your social media channels, your website, blog, or email marketing campaigns, attending to your readers consistently is a key factor in achieving success.

(5) Grow Your Company by Increasing Sales

Still wondering what copywriting is and what the heck it’s good for? Well, here comes the most important of all reasons that will make or break the growth of your company: SALES.

If you’re ever wondering again, “What is copywriting?” — Here’s your answer:

Copywriting aims at making a sale. Plain and simple.

• Yes, you want to provide valuable resources and establish yourself as an authority.
• And yes, incorporate storytelling into your copywriting and up your keyword game.
• And of course, building your relationship with your readers is beyond important.

But…

Ultimately, it all boils down to one thing — sales.

• Are you able to grab your reader’s attention so much that he’s willing to hear your sales pitch?
• Can you affect your customer emotionally and impact the way he feels about your product?
• Are you able to present your product as the solution to your reader?

Needless to say, sales convert into revenue, and revenue converts into profit. Profit allows your company to grow. Period.

But as easy as it sounds and as simple the theory, copywriting is a lot more complicated in practice. Where do you even start? And how can you find the right story that triggers both emotions and converts a reader into a buyer?

A copywriter, particularly one that knows your industry and writes for companies in your niche, has precise insight into what your customer wants to hear. He knows their desires and fears. Their dreams. Their backgrounds. Their preferences. 

And it’s much easier to reach someone you actually know. Because at the end of the day, you’re a business owner and you want to reach people.

Clear Your Plate & Make Better Use of Your Time

That’s right. Marketing is not something you should do on the go. And most businesses, despite the best of intentions, just don’t have enough time to dedicate to copywriting and achieve conversions the way they want.

In the big scheme of things, it’s hard to see the benefits of copywriting when you don’t fully understand what copywriting is.

Whether you’re a marketing director trying to keep your ship from sinking or a business owner getting by on marketing basics, the truth is that marketing is the foundation of your business and the reason your company can grow. 

Needless to say, it deserves dedicated attention and time.

If you don’t have the time or know-how, no worries. The first step is to understand what copywriting is and what it can do for you. You’ve discovered its value and successfully completed this first step.

Step two is about finding a qualified copywriter if you can’t tackle the copywriting monster on your own. If so, reach out and we’ll make sure you’ll reap the benefits of copywriting soon.