Why pay someone to design something great only to ruin it with bad copy?

As a copywriter, it’s in my nature to be constantly curious about everything that goes on around me; those small, trivial everyday things that most people wouldn’t give a second thought to can end up occupying my mind for hours.

And not surprisingly, given my line of work, one of these sources of intrigue happens to be words. Not just single, individual words (though they do take up some head space), but rather the way in which non-writers view copywriting, copywriters, and the value of great words and content.

My intrigue comes from what I think is simply a lack of understanding about the copywriting profession; its role in the wider business function, as well as its importance in a branding, marketing, and sales context.

But why is the copywriting profession so misunderstood by many people? Why do many people see it as something that is a nice little optional luxury as opposed to an absolute necessity for their brand?

Well I believe the reason is simply this:

Most people can physically write coherent sentences on a page. As a result, many people take this to mean that they are excellent writers. Why would an excellent writer need to hire a copywriter when they can just do it themselves?!

To some extent I can totally understand and appreciate this way of thinking; unlike most other professional services where people simply don’t have the skills to even attempt doing it themselves, the reality is that anyone can have a go at writing copy.

And as we all know, when any of us decides to “have a go” at something, we can often be very misguided about the result of our endeavours simply because we have invested our own time and efforts into trying it.

Outstanding copy is a vital part of the design process

The result of just having a go at writing copy, whether for a print brochure or a website, can be disastrous: great copy is as much a part of the design process as the artwork itself so if one of the two elements is badly executed, the end product fails.

The wonderful Mr Yeats, in his poem Among School Children, posed the question,“how can we know the dancer from the dance?”.

It was rhetorical question of course, the point being that a dance is only possible when there is a dancer present to perform it.

In the same way, a website or brochure is only ever complete when there is great copy to bring it to life.

After all, the words contain the core messaging of any website or brochure. The design on its own might look pretty but only words can really give it meaning and bring it to life.

Value the power of words

Creative design agencies are increasingly recognising the importance of content for the overall success of the work they are developing.

As a result, they are now factoring copywriting services into the overall project design and development costs.

Where once they saw content creation as their role, they now recognise that specialist content writers can actually add value to the project they are creating which reflects much better on them in the eyes of the client.

Words and content sell

Words and content have the power to sell so don’t underestimate how important they are for your business. Creating bland, boring content that no one wants to read will do more bad than good for any brand, but using creative exciting content will drive engagement.

Which do you want for your business?

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For all your content and copywriting requirements, contact The Right Words today.

We offer a full range of writing services and write for brands across a wide range of different sectors.

We love writing, we love chatting and we’d genuinely love to help make your brand great so drop us a line and let’s get started!