Copywriting and Content Writing

Copywriting is one of the essential skills you’ll need to learn if you want to market your business successfully, both online and offline. This course is designed to teach you the essentials you need to know to start writing compelling sales and marketing copy that gets results.

It’s the perfect complement to other marketing and creative courses offered by Enterprising Ashfield, such as website design, social media and product photography.

In just one day, we’ll cover the basics of what copywriting is, how it’s used by businesses and organisations to promote their products and services (including the use of AI), and the benefits of great copywriting. We’ll also look at some of the different types of copywriting, structural models such as the inverted pyramid, and techniques you can employ to make your writing even more persuasive, like the ‘rule of three’.

In addition, we’ll look at identifying and developing the right tone of voice and house style for your business, to work effectively alongside your visual branding.

The session will be interactive, with discussions, quizzes and activities. You’ll have the opportunity to ask questions and benefit from your tutor’s 16 years’ experience as a freelance copywriter and business owner.

Please note: This course is delivered through the Enterprising Ashfield project, which is funded by the Government's Towns Fund. Nottingham Trent University (NTU) is pleased to offer free (fully funded) places on this course to support individuals and employees of businesses that are based in the towns of Kirkby-in-Ashfield and Sutton-in-Ashfield.

What you'll study

• Through a series of interactive lessons, practical exercises, and real-world examples, you'll learn how to craft attention-grabbing headlines, write persuasive sales copy, create engaging content for websites, social media and email campaigns, and develop a strong and consistent brand voice and house style.

The course will cover the following topics:

• What is copywriting?
• How is copywriting different from other types of writing and what are its benefits?
• Online versus online copywriting.
• Key types of copywriting: advertising and advertorials; website copy; social media; email marketing & direct mail; flyers, brochures & leaflets; press releases.
• How to structure your copy and create key messages.
• Techniques for writing persuasively.
• Writing for SEO: keyword research, on page and off page SEO, local SEO.
• Tone of voice and house style: why they’re important, where they fit within your wider branding, how to identify the right approach for your business.

During this course you will:

• Learn how to write effective content that communicates to and persuades your audience.
• Discover how to craft key sales and marketing messages that stand out from the competition.
• Explore different structural and writing techniques to maximise the impact of your words.
• Understand the different approaches for writing for various types of online and print media.
• Learn how to write effectively for SEO and boost your search engine rankings.
• Find out how to identify and create the right tone of voice and house style for your brand.

Practical activities will include: 

• Brainstorming headlines / straplines and creative concepts for an advert.
• Creating an outline for a website landing page, considering the headline, sub-heads, key messages and a call to action, along with ideas for accompanying images.
• Thinking about the right tone of voice and house style for your business and writing / rewriting samples of copy in your chosen tone and style.

They’ll be plenty of opportunities to practise your writing skills and receive feedback from your tutor and peers.

What will you gain?

• By the end of the course, you’ll have a strong understanding of the fundamentals of copywriting and the ability to write effective messaging for a variety of media, to promote your business successfully.
• You’ll know how to structure copy and write good headlines, understand the different types of online and offline copy, and appreciate the importance of applying the right tone of voice and house style to a brand. You’ll also understand how to write effectively for SEO.