Copywriting

Copywriting online course- enhance your copywriting skills to create marketing copy that is concise and convincing for your audience.

Course Code: BWR310
Fee Code: S2
Duration (approx) Duration (approx) 100 hours
Qualification
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Develop your copywriting skills for your career in Marketing

Refine your copywriting skills for impact. This course will help you enhance your copywriting skills for writing concise, effective and compelling copy that convinces your audience.

Copywriting is the magical ingredient in any marketing activity. Writing to persuade your audience often requires writing for purpose with language that is appropriate for your target and goals.
Websites, social media, newsletters and print media all need advertising copy written that will convince your audience to purchase your product.

Copywriting is “writing text, or copy as it is often called for advertising or other marketing purposes.” Its goal is to persuade people to do something, which is often to encourage them to spend money.

 

Lesson Structure

There are 10 lessons in this course:

  1. Scope and Nature of Copywriting
    • What is copywriting?
    • Types of copy and copywriting
    • Difference between advertising and marketing
    • Elements of an advert
    • Buyer psychology
    • Buyer profiles
  2. Mastering Conciseness
    • Preparation
    • Lateral thinking
    • Creative problem solving (CPS)
    • In conclusion
    • Using a dictionary
    • Researching specific product information
    • Improving conciseness
    • Enhancing clarity
  3. Creating Engaging Copy
    • Creating targeted marketing materials
    • Who is the market?
    • What motivates a buyer?
    • Narrowing the target/niche promotions
    • Customer segmentation models
    • Creating compelling reasons to buy
    • Products as solutions
    • Know the competitive landscape
    • Nurturing inspiration
    • Power of communication
    • Making use of feedback
    • Connecting copy with the buyer’s emotions
    • Descriptive writing and engagement
  4. Clarity, Structure and Headings
    • Ogilvy – The father of advertising
    • The Hero/Heroine
    • Writing advertising materials
    • Structure of copy
    • How to make a statement more engaging
    • Headlines
    • Using subheadings
    • Enhancing credibility
    • Different approaches to copywriting structure
    • Direct approach
    • Indirect approach
    • Techniques to enhance structure
    • Bold, italics, callouts, and other emphasis
    • Altering or disregarding convention
    • Accessibility
    • Different focuses = Different copy outcomes
  5. Writing for Print Advertising
    • Points to consider
    • Size matters
    • The elements of print media advertising
    • Components explained
    • White space/ negative space
    • Advertorials
  6. Writing for Direct Mail and Email
    • Why is direct mail useful?
    • Challenges for writing direct mail content
    • Evaluating the impact of direct mail
  7. Writing Media Releases
    • Why media releases Are important
    • Structure of a media release
    • Writing a media release
    • Selecting the right publications and journalists
    • Press release structure
    • Introduction
    • Quotes and statistics
    • Challenges with writing press releases
  8. Writing for Broadcast Media
    • Designing an ad
    • Writing radio ads
    • Writing online ads
    • Writing verbal ads
    • Writing a script
    • What to be aware of in writing, publishing and photography
  9. Writing for the Internet
    • Unpaid advertising
    • Paid advertising
    • Influencers
    • Influencer content
    • Using smartphone reading habits to create engaging copy
    • Creating online content
    • Website copy
    • Social media content
  10. Reviewing, Editing and Improving Advertising Copy
    • Reviewing your work
    • Focus on Headlines
    • Editing your work
    • Evaluating the success of advertising copy
    • Plagiarism and self-plagiarism
    • Intellectual property and ethics
    • Market Success
    • Conduct your research and analysis
    • Evaluation and adjustment of a marketing campaign

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

Aims

  • Describe the nature, scope and purpose of copywriting for advertising and how it can elicit business.
  • Develop advertising messages more concisely without detracting from clarity.
  • Explain engaging phrases and sentences that are powerful, concise and extremely clear in their message
  • Analyse the structure of advertising material and develop advert elements which are relevant to the product, customer segment and advert content.
  • Design compelling and effective advertising copy for print media.
  • Design compelling and effective advertising copy brochures, leaflets, emails, or any other direct mail marketing.
  • Design compelling and effective advertising copy for media releases.
  • Design compelling and effective advertising copy for broadcast media.
  • Design compelling and effective advertising copy for the Internet.
  • Evaluate advertising copy before use and post use, to improve marketing success.

Being a Good Writer Does not Make you a Good Copywriter

Copywriting is distinct from other forms of writing in that the end goal is focussed on sales. It draws on the elements of others forms – narrative, creative technique, and research – and brings them together to create materials that elicit a response in the reader. This response is specifically designed by the writer and the rest of their team (i.e. other advertising professionals).

The type of response will vary according to the purpose of the copy. There are varying purposes for copy, including:

  • Incitement to purchase 
  • Introducing a brand or product
  • Improving brand awareness/product awareness
  • Sharing information (e.g. annual reports, updates, newsletters, customer retention work)
  • Damage control/controlling a narrative (e.g. when a scandal touches the brand/company, stock price falls, etc.).

The end goal, however, is always to make a sale, i.e. to sell the company’s product or service. Yet is important to note that this is an end goal – it is not always the primary goal of a given piece of copy.

Why Study this?

  • To become better at something that is in very high demand
  • Well written copy makes a huge difference to the profitability of a business - whether in advertising, brochures, on signs, web sites, media releases or anywhere else.
  • Capable copywriters will always find work because they can ultimately make a difference between success and failure for a business.
Member of Study Gold Coast Education Network.
Member of Study Gold Coast Education Network.
ACS Global Partner - Affiliated with colleges in seven countries around the world.
ACS Global Partner - Affiliated with colleges in seven countries around the world.
Since 1999 ACS has been a recognised member of IARC (International Approval and Registration Centre). A non-profit quality management organisation servicing education.
Since 1999 ACS has been a recognised member of IARC (International Approval and Registration Centre). A non-profit quality management organisation servicing education.
UK Register of Learning Providers, UK PRN10000112
UK Register of Learning Providers, UK PRN10000112

How can I start this course?

You can enrol at anytime and start the course when you are ready. Enrolments are accepted all year - students can commence study at any time. All study is self paced and ACS does not set assignment deadlines.

Please note that if a student is being assisted by someone else (e.g. an employer or government subsidy), the body offering the assistance may set deadlines. Students in such situations are advised to check with their sponsor prior to enrolling. The nominal duration of a course is approximately how long a course takes to complete. A course with a nominal duration of 100 hours is expected to take roughly 100 hours of study time to complete. However, this will vary from student to student. Short courses (eg. 100 hrs duration) should be completed within 12 months of enrolment. Certificates, Advanced Certificates and Awards (eg. over 500 hours duration) would normally be completed within 3 -5 years of enrolment. Additional fees may apply if a student requires an extended period to complete.
If a student cannot submit their assignments for 6 months to ACS, they should advise the school to avoid cancellation of their student
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Our courses are written in English and we only have English speaking academic staff. If you can read and complete your assignments in English, our courses are ideal for you.

Our courses are designed to build knowledge, hands on skills and industry connections to help prepare you to work in the area, running your own business, professional development or as a base for further study.

This course has been designed to cover the fundamentals of the topic. It will take around 100 hours to complete, which includes your course reading, assignment work, research, practical tasks, watching videos and anything else that is contained in the course. Our short courses are a great way to do some professional development or to learn a new skill.

It’s up to you. The study hours listed in the course are a rough guide, however if you were to study a short course (100 hours) at 10 hours per week, you could finish the course in 10 weeks (just an example). Our courses are self-paced, so you can work through the courses in your own time. We recommend that you wait for your tutor to mark and return your assignment before your start your next one, so you get the benefits of their feedback.

The course consists of course notes, videos, set tasks for your practical work, online quizzes, an assignment for each lesson (that you receive feedback from your tutor from) and ends in an exam (which is optional, if would like to receive the formal award at the end), using our custom built Learning Management System - Login.Training.

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Our custom online learning portal allows you to conduct your learning online. There may be practical tasks that you can do offline. You have the option of downloading your course notes or print them to read later.

There is also the option to pay an additional fee for printed course notes and or USB (availability limited to location and deliverability).

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We offer printed notes for an additional fee. Also, you can request your course notes on a USB stick for an additional fee.

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We are more learning focussed, rather than assessment focussed. You have online quizzes to test your learning, written assignments and can complete an exam at the end of the course (if you want to receive your certificate). You will not receive a pass/ fail on your course work. If you need to add more details on your assignment, we will ask you to resubmit and direct you where you need to focus. If you need help, you can ask your tutor for advice in the student room.

Each module (short course) is completed with one exam.

Exams are optional, however you must sit an exam if you would like to receive a formal award. You will need to find someone who can supervise that you are sitting the exams under exams conditions. There is an additional cost of $60 incl. GST for each exam.
More information is here

There are practical components built into the course that have been designed to be achieved by anyone, anywhere. If you are unable to complete a task for any reason, you can ask your tutor for an alternative.

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