Exploring a Career as a Professional Copywriter

I'm considering becoming a professional copywriter after high school. What exactly do they do day-to-day? I'm curious about the skills needed and potential career paths. Anyone have experience in this field?

As a professional copywriter, you'd be developing and crafting text (copy) for advertising and other forms of marketing communication. This can include writing copy for websites, emails, brochures, billboards, product descriptions, and more. The goal is to influence the audience's perception of a product or service and to entice them to take specific actions, such as to purchase a product, sign up for a service, or even change a behavior.

Day-to-day tasks of a copywriter can vary greatly. One day, you might find yourself brainstorming concepts for a new product launch, writing and revising copy for several hours, and presenting those ideas to your team or client. On another day, you might be researching topics related to a specific industry, attending a product training session to better understand what you're advertising, or collaborating with designers to finalize an ad layout.

As for skills, strong writing and editing skills are obviously essential. You'll also need to be creative, be able to understand and target specific audiences, and have a good understanding of marketing principles. It's also important to be well-organized, have good research skills, and be able to work to deadlines.

There are different career paths you can take in copywriting. Starting as an intern or junior copywriter is common, and you can rise up to become a mid-level or senior copywriter. Eventually, if you're keen on managerial roles, you could become an editor or a creative director. If you prefer a freelance route, that's another viable option—it allows more control over the projects you work on, greater flexibility in your schedule, but might require more efforts in terms of building client relationships.

Although I'm not personally in the copywriting field, I've found these insights from speaking with many professionals in the field. The most important advice I've heard is to consistently work on and build your writing portfolio, as it's often the main criteria used by employers when hiring copywriters. Best of luck in exploring this career path!