How much do copywriters charge?

IN THIS ARTICLE, YOU'LL LEARN:

• How copywriters decide their fee ranges
• The sales outcomes you can achieve by working with a copywriter
• What to weigh up in choosing the right copywriter for your project
• How to decide if a copywriter is worth the fees they charge
• What to do if you’re not clear on the scope of your copywriting project
• How much copywriters typically charge for copywriting work

Whether your business goal is higher search rankings, more brand awareness, fresh inbound links, greater social interaction, more email opens or demonstrable industry credibility, success hinges on this …

… a calibre of content that will win what is any business’s most precious commodity: prospects’ limited attention.

Results-oriented content that actually captures users’ interest is the fuel of today’s digital marketing engine.

It’s why copywriters with the valuable skills to hook, connect and convert are in such high demand.

So how do you – as a business owner, marketer or creative director – choose the right copywriter to help you compete for this all-important business resource?

Companies are all jockeying for attention, search-engine traffic, and sales. The need to publish a regular stream of content, how-to information, benefit-focused offers and other copy that across a mix of marketing channels has created a tidal wave of copy. How do you stand out?

Where do you find:

• The writer with the research skills and persuasive flair to write your lead-generating, credibility-boosting and market-defining industry white paper?

• The copywriter with the creative conversion skills to help you build your opt-in list and increase your email open targets?

• The SEO content-writer with the expertise to blend voice-driven keyword search into your content and drive you organic traffic or secure you a priceless featured snippet?

• The website copywriter who can capture your company’s expertise and get inside the heads and hearts of your prospects to earn their attention and their business?

How to find the right copywriter for your project

A good place to start is by googling by specialism. You can search for, for example, medical device copywriter, accounting website writer or B2B SaaS copywriter.

Like their clients, accomplished copywriters tend to be specialists. This is usually in either a ‘vertical’ or a ‘horizontal’ niche.

• A vertical ­niche implies a client-driven focus. It means that the copywriter serves a specific market or industry sector.

  • They’ll have the industry knowledge and understanding of business practices to craft copy that solves the kind of desired outcomes specific to the target customer in a particular sector.

  • An example might be a pharma and healthcare copywriter. She’ll able to identify the painpoints she can reach through copywriting about the value of a complex pharma product to help her client engage with KOLs (key opinion leaders) and HCPs (health care practitioners).

  • Other vertical copywriting niche examples include the fintech, architecture, SaaS or cybersecurity sectors. They're also industries that need a high degree of foundational expertise.

• The second type of niche is horizontal. This is when a copywriter concentrates on a style of copywriting.

  • For example, e-commerce product descriptions, sales page copywriting or SEO content-writing. Or video sales letter scripting, email campaign writing, case-study creation or direct response copy.

• These two niches can converge. This is when a copywriter supplies a type of copywriting (horizontal niche) for a specific market (vertical niche).

  • Examples might be: onboarding emails for SaaS or white papers for finance companies or launch copy for health and wellness course creators.

  As a general rule, junior copywriters are less likely to have settled on a niche at the start of their careers. They often present themselves as generalists (or jack-of-all-trades) when they are starting out. You can find less experienced writers on a content site such as Upwork or Fiverr. Their prices will be lower because they tend to be newer writers, writers outside the UK, or non-native English speakers.

  What should you expect to pay a copywriter?

  Most copywriters price their work in line with three factors. These are: their level of seniority, their specialist knowledge and their business experience.
  
  This is little different to any other professional services provider, such as the legal profession, with two differences.

  First, few copywriters bill hourly as lawyers do. Most will charge you a flat fee by project (per white paper, per sales page). They'll base their fee on their experience of marketing projects of a similar scope. Baked into this, will be these considerations:

1. Communication: how clear is the brief?

2. Complexity: how difficult is the work?

3. Time scale: how long will the project take?

4. Urgency: how soon must the work begin or be completed?

5. Value: what results will it deliver for your business?

   The second difference is that you’re more likely to know from the outset what your final bill will be. Once the fee is agreed, it won't change unless the scope does and it normally includes up to two rounds of revisions.

   This is regardless of how long the project takes the copywriter in copy crafting, review mining, voice-of-customer research, interviews with experts, brainstorming phone calls or word length etc.

   For most copywriting projects, the lion’s share of the work is what happens before the writing begins. This involves research and discovery of who the audience is and the industry context. (Just as preparation is key to success for the trial lawyer in the courtroom).

“For most copywriting projects, the lion’s share of the work is what happens before the writing begins. This involves research and discovery of who the audience is and the industry context. (Just as preparation is key to success for the trial lawyer in the courtroom). ”

Are copywriters’ rates commensurate with the sales outcome?

• Some of the ‘outcome value’ (more leads, more sales, more inbound links) a copywriter can show will have measurable KPIs, but not all.

• For example: A company selling a £50,000 SaaS product might commission a research-driven white paper. It uses it as marketing collateral to frame discussions with its prospects. The white paper leads to seven added sales (totaling £350,000) over the next year. Say the client paid, for example, £5,000 for the compellingly written white paper, then there’s a clear measurable value. In this case it’s £345,000 for their copywriting investment.

• For example: a skilled copywriter helps a business with the re-brand of its website. He crafts high-performing website messaging based on user research and voice of customer. The new copy results in an uplift of 22% in enquiries to the client’s website. This translates to a 37% increase in profits for the business.

• Other measurable copywriting outcomes might include higher search rankings or email opens.

• Less quantifiable but no less valuable is ‘reputational outcome’ through media exposure or industry credibility. This could come, for example, from a powerful thought leadership article series that provides a company with greater perceived authority within its sector. Often copywriters provide this material ghost-written (bylined to the CEO or other company figure).

  How do I know a copywriter is worth what they charge?

  The fact is you won’t know until you’ve worked with them (as you won’t know for sure with the lawyer you engage).

  But most experienced copywriters will have reputable testimonials that give a strong clue.

  They’ll likely also have a portfolio of work on their website to demonstrate their expertise. You may not see there exactly what you need. But it should be enough to determine if the skills and industry knowledge are transferrable to your project.

  Before you decide, take advantage if the copywriter offers a discovery call. These are not sales calls. They are the opportunity for you and the copywriter to determine if you’re both a fit.

  You’ll be able to tell by the questions the copywriter asks if they have the competence to fulfil your project. You’ll pick up too on whether you have a rapport with him or her. And that’s essential because it’s going to be a collaborative process.

  Also look at their backgrounds.

• A successful journalistic career often demonstrates that the copywriter will have solid storytelling, interviewing and research skills. They'll also have the ability to write for diverse audiences and the versatility to handle a complex brief.

• A previous advertising agency career will likely show that the copywriter is commercially sensitive. They'll be used to playing a team role in campaigns alongside other creatives such as designers and media planners.

• An in-house marketing background will be a sign that the copywriter understands the bigger picture. They'll know the interlinked role of a company’s departments such as sales, business development, strategy, finance and product management etc.

  Take note of any professional copywriting or marketing training the copywriter has completed. It shows that they take their craft seriously. The online selling environment is changing so fast that copywriters have to stay abreast of their skills.

  They need to understand all the moving parts that are involved in writing, for example, a launch funnel or the importance of SEO for content writing.

AN ASIDE ON COPYWRITING TRAINING:

Many copywriters (including me) rank Joanna Wiebe’s Copy School as the ultimate conversion copy training for digital marketers. The courses cover the underlying psychological principles, customer data research practices and conversion strategies for landing pages, emails, sales pages and websites. For website message hierarchy planning, I recommend the hero’s journey framework that Donald Miller teaches in his book Building A Story Brand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen. For solid SEO copywriting knowledge, I highly rate the digital marketing course, Recipe for SEO Success, taught by award-winning SEO consultant Kate Toon.

What extra value do copywriters offer?

Some clients will supply a detailed brief and have everything planned, from the brand messaging to the interview sources. They simply want the copywriter to deliver the goods.

Others may be less clear on the scope or what they need. In this case, experienced copywriters will be more than order-takers. They’ll roll up their sleeves to offer their clients a marketing consultancy value too.

They’ll understand that you don’t just want a project-writer. You really want a partner who can provide strategic direction.

So they’ll also not be phased if you come to them saying something like:

• “We need to improve our marketing”. When what you really mean is .... “We’re not sure how to approach it or if we need a white paper, a revised landing page, or six keyword-focused blog posts a month.”

  Or:

• “We need a website refresh”. When what you really mean is... “We don’t know how to improve our key messaging. Nor how to change the content architecture. Let alone where our copy is causing friction. Or what SEO objectives to meet or which CTAs to prioritise to meet our business goals.”

  In this case, an experienced copywriter may propose a stand-alone road-mapping engagement. This will help you clarify strategic objectives and define your outcomes before the execution of the actual work. So you’ll have a clear plan to work to.

  To do this, they’ll take a practical stance, just as a landscape gardener would. He wouldn’t arrive at your home with a van-load of plants and start digging holes. He'd take pictures and measurements and plot out the big picture first.

  Your copywriter will start at ground zero too. He'll discuss your business strategy, positioning and marketing goals. This 'spadework' serves both of you because the end result will be a blueprint to work to. Otherwise you’ll be band-aiding your marketing challenges piecemeal.

“So they’ll also not be phased if you come to them saying something like: ‘We need a website refresh.’ When what you really mean is... ‘We don’t really know how to improve our key messaging. Nor how to change the content architecture. Let alone where our copy is causing friction. Or what SEO objectives to meet or which CTAs to prioritise to meet our business goals.’”

He or she will make recommendations for an action plan that will cover:

• What you as the client need (big picture)

• Why you need it (business and marketing rationale)

• A recommended editorial approach or strategy

• The copywriting deliverables they’ll create

• The resources the copywriter will need. (Competitor information, customer interviews, analytics data, discussions with subject matter experts, etc)

• The proposed timeline or editorial calendar

• The quote for doing the work

How much do copywriters actually charge?

The answer to this is, it depends.

Unlike many other industries, copywriters aren’t selling tangible products that have widely accepted market price ranges. They’re not selling sofas, cars, bulldozers or condenser coils for an air conditioning system.

They’re selling custom services that depend on each client’s specific context and requirements.

An accomplished writer will provide you with the creative and analytical skills needed to frame the messaging for different states of awareness across your customer journey.

• The analytical component is the use of psychology (aka persuasion) and the understanding of data (KPIs and metrics) to know what is or isn’t motivating your prospect. This is coupled with the understanding of consumer decision-making and digital experiences to determine the best message hierarchy.

• The creative component, in my opinion, is the biggest part. The ability to meld language – using yes, literary devices, such as rhythm, metaphor, alliteration and assonance – is essential to the crafting of connection-weaving copy that, ultimately, gets the ‘yes’ to earn the all-important click, download or buy now.

(And there’s the reason F. Scott Fitzgerald, Salman Rushdie, Dorothy Sayers, Don DeLillo, Joseph Heller and Helen Gurley Brown were all copywriters before they became authors).

• Looking to understand copywriters’ rates? You’ll find some useful suggested rates here from my professional membership body, the Procopywriters Alliance. Their site also has a useful directory of copywriters searchable by industry specialism and copywriting medium.

• Another copywriting prices guide worth looking at is AWAI’s (American Writers’ and Artists’ Institute) State of the Industry: Copywriter Rates.