Copywriter’s Role, Salary & Skill Sets

Do you fancy writing compelling stories? Or do you have a witty personality and likes to share self-made punny memes with your closed ones? If your answers are mostly yes, you probably may have entertained the thought of wanting to write as your career choice. Ever heard of copywriter? The role is to produce enticing copy or slogans to drive advertorial campaigns for a particular organisation.

A copywriter can be as creative as they want their copies to be. Each of us must have encountered famous ad slogans like Kit Kat’s “Have A Break, Have A Kit Kat”, McDonald’s “I’m Lovin’ It”, or L’Oreal’s “Because You’re Worth It” probably just about anywhere. These catchy phrases just somehow stuck in our head until the end of time (trust me it does) and that is what a good copywriter does; they get inspired and come out with brilliant slogans to promote products or services.

Everyday Duties

Without fresh catchy slogans, an organisation would have a hard time selling their products. A copywriter’s role is as important as a data engineer’s. They make a huge impact on the image as well as the reputation of a brand or company. Their everyday duties include:

• Produce enticing contents aligned with a brand’s voice or niche accordingly.
• Collaborate with other creatives or individuals from PR or marketing to further elaborate a brand’s voice.
• Each copy need to be error-free, high-quality and follow the particular company’s guidelines.
• Produce multiple copy options and multitask between various projects within a short deadline.
• Brainstorming ideas or concepts and presenting them to members of the creative team including the creative director.
• Integrate SEO within the copy to boost traffic and search engine rankings.

How Much Is The Salary?

We all know that our salary mainly reflects upon our area of expertise, experience level and many other different factors. But as for a copywriter, their type of clients also reflects on the average pay they earn. According to PayScale, the average salary for a copywriter in Malaysia would be RM39,367.

• 10% Annual Salary: RM5,000
• Median Annual Salary: RM39,000
• 90% Annual Salary: RM62,000

Types of Certification Needed

A combination of both education and working experience is important to become a copywriter. But to say the least, you will need a Bachelor’s Degree in Advertising, Journalism, Communication or English as part of the requirement here in Malaysia.

Nevertheless, to become a copywriter you will also need to have a solid book or working portfolios to make you an eligible candidate. This may obtain from experiences while doing an internship, part-time jobs, or even writing for your college magazine.

The Required Skill Sets

Possessing professional certifications and writing portfolios aren’t going to be enough to be a copywriter. Do you have the necessary skills or competencies to adapt yourself to a fast-paced job? The required skill sets are:

Creativity – One needs to have a creative mind or have a way of playing with words to excel in the job in order to attract a brand’s target audiences.

Attention to detail – The produced copies need to be engaging and with error-free contents. Research skill is also crucial to help reach the brand’s voice.

Time management – Considered as a fast-paced job, one will need to possess a good time management skill as the projects usually come with tight deadlines while juggling with different projects at the same time.

Communication – A copywriter needs to have an exceptional communication skill as the job includes dealing with many people in the business.

Social media & SEO – A solid grasp of social media nuances as well as a good understanding of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is well needed.

Do you have what it takes to become a good copywriter? Do apply here and live up to your creative self. Leave us your thoughts on the comment section below. Head over to Jobstore.com for career insights, job opportunities and more! 

---