Copywriting

Definition

Copywriting is the discipline of writing words for a commercial purpose — ads, landing pages, emails, product UI — engineered to move a specific reader toward a specific action through clarity, relevance, and persuasion.

Copywriting is editing. The first draft is a starting point; the work is in cutting, sharpening, and reframing until every line earns its place. Strong copy strips away abstraction, replaces hedge words with specific ones, and structures information so the reader's question gets answered before they have to ask it.

There are no general-purpose copywriters. The craft splits into specialisations: long-form sales copy (David Ogilvy school), conversion copy (Joanna Wiebe school), product UI copy (Bobulate / Microcopy school), and brand voice copy (in-house brand teams). Each rewards different patterns. Conversion copy tests the headline; UI copy obsesses over the button label; brand copy lives in the rhythm of the sentence.

Origin

Modern copywriting traces to John E. Powers in the 1880s and Claude Hopkins's Scientific Advertising (1923). The 1960s creative revolution (Bernbach, Ogilvy) shifted ad copy from manipulation to candour; the 2010s conversion movement reintroduced rigour through testing.

How it works

Define the reader — what do they know, want, and fear right now?
Define the action — what should they do after reading?
Write a draft long enough to cover everything; then cut 50%.
Lead with the reader's problem, not the product's features.
Use specifics — numbers, names, examples — not abstractions.
Test headline and CTA variants; let data, not taste, settle disagreements.

When to use it

Use when

Whenever the brand writes for an audience — landing page, ad, email, product UI, social.
Especially on revenue-driving surfaces where the wording sets the conversion ceiling.

Skip when

Without a brief. Copy without a defined audience and goal turns into prose.

Key metrics

Conversion rate on the surface the copy lives on.
Click-through rate (ads, emails).
Time-on-page or scroll depth (long-form copy).
Comprehension and recall in audience tests.

Examples

Strong copywriting on the homepage lifted conversions more than the redesign.
Copywriting is editing — the first draft is the easy part.
Three CTA variants tested; the simplest one won by 19%.

In practice at Makreate

Makreate copywriting is built into every retainer — landing pages, ads, social, email — so words and design ship together, not as separate handoffs. A recent SaaS client's homepage was visually clean but converting at 1.8%; we kept the design and rewrote the headline + first 3 sections. Same design, sharper copy: conversion climbed to 4.1% in two weeks.

Advertising →

Common mistakes

Treating copy as filler. Copy is the product on most websites.
Writing for the team, not the reader. Internal jargon kills relevance.
Hedging. "May," "can," "might" — the reader knows what those mean.
Too much. The right length is the shortest one that does the job.
Skipping the test. Untested copy is a guess in a confident voice.

Frequently asked

How long should copy be?

As long as it needs to be — and no longer. For a SaaS homepage, that's usually 200–400 words above the fold and 600–1500 total. For an ad, often under 100 characters.

Who writes the copy — copywriter or designer?

A specialist copywriter for high-stakes surfaces. Designers and PMs often write competent UI microcopy. Brand voice work needs writers who can hold a tone.

Is AI replacing copywriters?

AI is a draft accelerator, not a replacement. The work of cutting, sharpening, and matching brand voice still rewards human judgement — and AI drafts often need the most editing precisely where it matters most.