The Copywriter’s Perspective – The Evolution of Marketing

How Technology Advances Effect Copywriting

In 2006 I was hired as a Jr. Copywriter for a small B2B outfit in Farmington, Connecticut. Wide-eyed and not yet jaded by this industry we call advertising, the foundational principles learned here would serve me well lose these past 9 years. But the foundation of advertising itself? Well, that’s a far cry from when I wrote my first headline.

First and foremost, my 2006 workload would barely recognize my workload of 2015. A day in my life in 2006 may have looked something like this:

  • Print headlines and body copy
  • Direct mail copy
  • Website landing page copy
  • Brochure/booklet copy
  • Radio script

Fast-forward to 2015 and not only is my hairline barely recognizable, so too is my to-do list:

  • Banner ad campaign
  • Landing page copy
  • Email newsletter
  • Facebook status posts
  • Facebook ads
  • Twitter promoted post
  • Posts for LinkedIn
  • Mobile banner ad campaign copy
  • Interactive Infographic copy
  • YouTube pre-roll video script

If I receive a work order for a print campaign, my first step isn’t to begin writing headlines; it’s to check with the account managers to see if the work order is correct. As you can see, the shift in responsibilities isn’t just from print to digital, it’s from print to mobile, print to Facebook, print to 140 characters.

It’s weird to look back and realize that when I began, there was no such thing as Facebook advertising. Hell, I don’t even think Twitter existed yet. Banner ads were confined to one or two small spaces on a page. Today, social media sites have monetized everything. Banner ads can now expand to full screen experiences. We must concern ourselves with how a video will play on a phone.

I know this all sounds a little grandpa-ish, “Boy, these kids today!” But it truly is interesting to look back at where I began and where I am today, and realize that technology advances have changed almost every discipline in advertising. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go write a tweet to promote a Facebook contest that you can enter by sharing content from a special landing page.