The business world has become a lot more competitive. Therefore, now, more than ever, businesses need to do all to stand out in their products and ad copy.
Cue in copywriters, who make all the magic happen to ensure their client’s ad is clicked amidst the millions of advertisements in the digital space.
However, is that all there is to being a copywriter? Unfortunately not. Being skilful with highly converting copy is sacrosanct; you cannot survive as a copywriter without that.
But that is not all; you also need certain soft skills to complement your hard skills. This is because, believe it or not, many skilled copywriters like you are out there.
So, why should a client hire you instead of them? That is when having soft copywriting skills comes in.
Therefore, if you are wondering what these soft skills are, you have come to the right place. I will discuss eight soft skills to have as a copywriter to make you stand out among your peers.
And without further ado, let’s get to it.
8 Soft Skills to Have as a Copywriter
1. Creativity
There’s no avoiding this if you want to be a successful copywriter; your copy will need original and inspiring ideas.
So, you need to up your imagination. You must be able to think outside the box to produce the best results.
There is really no one way to write a copy – even though there are rules – but feel free to play around with your copy.
2. Flexibility
Flexibility is necessary to adjust to new or different situations. In copywriting, various tasks require different rules, and you have to keep up.
Besides that, information can become obsolete in weeks or even days. Therefore, you must be ready to keep up with trends in your specific industry and copywriting.
Sometimes, your copy might not convert; every copywriter has experienced this. You must accept when your copy is not yielding results and redo it.
You must be flexible as a copywriter; this ability will help you please your clients and audience.
3. Emotional Intelligence
Humans are emotional beings, and more than we think, we make emotional decisions, even for the most logical of us.
Therefore, much of copywriting is knowing how to reach your audience’s emotions.
As a copywriter, you must understand your audience’s voice and pains. This will come in handy when you write your copy.
To get them to view, click, or download, you must write in a way that appeals to them.
You must find a way to convince them that you are the solution to their problems, even when they do not know the issue.
4. Persuasion
If your copy can’t win over your audience, then your copy is beat. As a copywriter, you must connect with what your audience wants.
The only way to achieve this is by providing what they believe will benefit them.
Every word you write must have a purpose and be credible to your audience. If your copy does not persuade them, they will likely not buy into what you are selling.
5. Empathy
There’s no better way to write a successful copy than to be your audience; get into their minds or walk in their shoes.
Your audience might know or not know exactly what they want; it happens to the best of us sometimes.
Still, you need to know their problem based on their demographic – even if you’re not in the same demographic – and sell them the solution.
6. Communication
Communication is incomplete if your audience does not understand the message. It takes more than fancy words to communicate.
In fact, in many cases, the simpler the vocabulary, the more effective the copy.
Except you are selling to professors who pride themselves in the number of words they have in their arsenal, you don’t need to impress your audience with big words.
At the very least, they may not be impressed, and worst, they may not understand you, defeating the purpose of your copy.
Plus, many people don’t enjoy ads these days. Therefore, you must learn the act of subtlety in copywriting, which is also something that would be communicated.
In essence, you can hardly excel as a copywriter if you are not a good communicator who cares about being understood by the audience.
7. Teamwork
A copywriter does not always work alone. You will often have to cooperate with others, such as graphic designers, digital marketers, and sometimes, even website or app developers.
At the very least, you will have to work with your client. Therefore, you must always think, team. You cannot afford to think only about yourself in a team; the ability to accommodate differing views will help you go a long way professionally.
Nobody likes to work with an uncooperative or selfish colleague. And you may not believe it, but you need people to put in a good word for you in the right ears to progress in your career.
So, treat people nicely, be firm when necessary, but be polite and be ready to make compromises that do not affect quality.
8. Organisational Skills
A good copywriter must learn to manage their time and resources well.
You’ll need organisational skills to work faster and smarter and to meet deadlines.
If this doesn’t come naturally to you, not to worry; there are apps to help you.
Also Read: 8 Soft Skills to Have as a Content Writer
Learn the Skills to Excel as a Copywriter
Some of these skills to have as a copywriter overlap, so having one will mean having the other.
Therefore, with these soft skills and your ability to write excellent copy, it is only a matter of time before you start excelling as a copywriter, writing copy that will echo in the minds of your audience.
Plus, they’ll make you approachable and a better person in general.
