All brands need words. In the Information Age, a verbal identity is just as important as a visual one for companies to connect with their customers. Choosing the right words to communicate products or services can be tricky. Ensuring those words can be found through Google’s complex search algorithms is even tougher. Enter the specialist copywriting agency.
But, with millions of pages of online content produced every day and artificial intelligence programs snapping at the heels of human writers, what’s next for copywriting agencies? Here, Georgia Austin shares the three trends she sees shaping the future of copywriting – and there’s no AI in sight.
Georgia Austin is the CEO and Founder of start-up Wizard of Content, a copywriting agency that has grown astronomically over the last 12 months. For Georgia, its rise has brought into sharp relief the trends now defining successful copywriting businesses; the need to marry creative, on-brand writing with up-to-the-minute SEO knowledge, a non-traditional, forward-thinking business model, and a strong agency brand image.
She says, “We are lucky to be in an industry where anyone can be our client. Ultimately, every brand needs content.” It means that successful copywriting is not dependent on one industry or niche. Its success is wholly defined by the words it creates. For Georgia, those words have to come with creative flair as well as a sound understanding of SEO best practices. It’s something that she sees is missing from the copywriting market. “Right now, we feel like copywriting companies only specialize in one thing – verbal identity or SEO. We combine the two to create killer content that resonates and performs.”
Georgia Austin believes the quality of the content she can produce results from her non-corporate business model. Eschewing the traditional HQ or office, Georgia employs a team of 50 freelance writers based all over the world. For her, this widens her net of expertise and allows her to generate quality, creative content at speed. “We pair clients with specialist writers who don’t just have the most experience in their field, but share a genuine love for it too.” She continues, “I love the fact that my writers live in all corners of the world – after all, your creativity flourishes when you are in new settings, places that you love, and that energize you. It shines through in our work.”
According to Georgia, the key to future agency success is in communicating these strengths to the wider business world. She says, “Since the copywriting space is highly saturated, agencies need to develop a strong brand image to differentiate themselves.” For her, that brand image has to focus on the quality of content and an ability to specialize – not just boast about conversion statistics and positions on search engine results pages.
Excellent copywriting, in Georgia Austin’s words, “is when you read words and feel something – you understand the brand, and you can describe their character almost like they’re a friend.” In the future, copywriting agencies will need to tap into the emotional pull of quality words to remain successful. To do it, Georgia says they’ll need to think outside the box in terms of a business model that leverages worldwide expertise and create a strong brand image that attracts and retains prospective clients.
