Knowing how to write great copy is a smart career move. It’s possible to make a lot of money, use your creative juices, and be on a flexible schedule all at the same time.

The best part is that you don’t need any formal education. After all, some of the highest-paid and most sought-after writers in the Philippines never studied copywriting yet earn hundreds of thousands per year.

Really, you don’t have to be the smartest or the fastest to be successful as a copywriter.

What you do need are the following skills:

Grammar

This might seem obvious but it’s crucial for your credibility. Grammatical errors reduce the trustworthiness and clarity of your content. They give the impression that you lack professionalism and your employer is sloppy. They also distract readers so they’re unable to focus on the message.

Good writing is both readable and welcoming. It isn’t full of misused terms or misplaced punctuation marks. Instead, it has a vocabulary and sentence structure to keep the audience engaged throughout the article. Tools like Grammarly are helpful for honing your writing skills.

Research

A good copywriter in the Philippines knows the customers’ needs and problems as well as their employer’s products and services. With this knowledge, they identify which topics people are most likely to read then they’ll will write about them.

While you may be able to craft a comprehensive article within a few hours, certain tools can reduce the amount of time you need. The Blog Ideas Generator from HubSpot, for instance, generates headlines based on the nouns or keywords you provide.

Brevity

When making the first draft, write down everything you want to include in the article. Go through each line and determine if it provides value to readers. If not, replace it with something more necessary and relevant or remove it altogether.

Nobody has the time to read long copy so stick to simple words and short sentences. Avoid fancy terms, slang, or technical jargon that diverts readers from the call to action. The secret is to get rid of the fluff and just KISS – Keep It Short and Sweet.

Simplification

Einstein said, “if you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” This is true not only when you’re in technical and scientific fields but also as a copywriter. To write concisely and maximise your research skills, you must learn to convey your points as directly as possible.

There’s no need to dumb stuff down or leave out valuable information to make your copy understandable though. You may use statistics or graphics to make your points easier to digest. Also, provide examples that your audience can relate to.

Optimisation

As a copywriter, you’re not required to understand the ins and outs of SEO. However, you must have working knowledge of it if you want to boost traffic, leads, and conversions. Guiding visitors to the call to action is the point of your copy, after all.

Regardless if you’re crafting a homepage or a blog post, you need to be familiar with metadata, title tags, external and internal linking, and keyword research. Knowing how to optimise content also means qualifying for a higher copywriter salary since you can tackle more tasks.

Marketing

It’s not just SEO you have to be familiar with but the whole marketing funnel too. This is the journey that a potential customer goes through on the way to purchasing. It typically involves 5 steps: awareness, interest, consideration, intent, and evaluation.

Effective writing means sparking a positive response in your audience so they’ll keep moving towards the purchase. To make that happen, you have to use different mediums for each stage e.g. landing pages for building awareness and blog posts for raising interest.

Persuasion

Again, a copywriter has to compel people to take action which translates into revenue for their employer. You want to get your message across without being too aggressive. How?

• Be specific – be specific with your headlines and statistics to increase the authority of your content
• Leverage social proof – reassure visitors your client is trustworthy through testimonials and reviews
• Create a ‘fear of missing out’ – develop a sense of urgency by limiting promotions or offers

Play on the emotions of readers so they’re convinced to take a desired action, be it to buy, download, share, sign up, or subscribe.

Formatting

We’ve mentioned before that you have to use different mediums for each stage of the marketing funnel. These include but aren’t limited to social media posts, pay-per-click ads, blog posts, landing pages, and even videos. Learn how to use each of these formats effectively.

Don’t write a Twitter update the same way that you do for a landing page. The platforms are different and they have their own standards e.g. they have a character limit while your website doesn’t. Work around their rules while directing people to the next stage.

Broad-mindedness

Realize that not every piece of copy you make will be exceptional. Expect to receive feedback from editors, clients, and peers who are proofreading and rewriting your work. Don’t get discouraged and think you aren’t cut out for copywriting.

Be capable of accepting feedback and learning from your mistakes. Some clients might still be figuring out how they want to come across to their target audiences. In that case, they need your help to determine their tone and approach so be open to growing first.

Become a Copywriter in the Philippines

By adding the above skills to your arsenal, you’re more appealing to employers who are looking for a copywriter to handle their content. The learning process is long and arduous but it’s worth giving yourself an edge over the competition.

Do you need assistance with finding a writing role? Remote Workmate is ready to connect you to prospective employers from around the world. We’ll brief you about copywriter salary and responsibilities and prepare you for the interview too.