On 6 April 2026 it’s 25 years since I started my freelance copywriting business. I was thinking about the changes I’ve seen since 2001, and summarised the top 25 in this article, drawing out lessons that might be useful to you.
Thank you for your support over the years. Please raise a glass to celebrate my silver anniversary with me and my family on Easter Monday. Happy Easter to you!
1. In my first writing job, we used typewriters. Mine didn’t type the letter O. In all seriousness, they told me to type the letter C and fill it in later with Biro. I had a creative tantrum and told them I was a professional who couldn’t be expected to work this way, and I wouldn’t be responsible if I threw the typewriter out of the window and it landed on someone’s company car. As a result, they gave me an electronic typewriter. It seemed a miracle that it ‘remembered’ lines of typing and that you could amend errors without using Tippex. The fact that I’ve been a copywriter for so long gives you confidence that I know what I’m doing.
2. The 1960s-80s are often called the ‘golden age of advertising’. It was a time of big budgets and big ideas. Think of the TV series Mad Men. Some argue that those ads have never been bettered. I started my blog in 2007 writing about good, bad and ugly ads. It’s ten years since I posted an update in that category. There are now 1,354 posts and most of them are copywriting tips. That said, the most popular section is my collection of wordy humour.
3. Digital marketing now predominates over print marketing. However, reading pixels on screen takes longer than reading ink on paper. That means you can’t use the same copy on your print materials such as brochures and leaflets as you do on your website, blog and emails. Online copy needs to include more white space and aids to navigation such as: wide margins, paragraph breaks, headings, sub-headings, dot points…
4. Following that topic, some people will read your copy on a small screen. Because of that, it’s best to write using (mostly) short paragraphs, short sentences, and short words. My tip is to email your draft copy to yourself and read it on your phone. If it’s hard to read, change it. That technique is also a cunning way of proofreading. Because all the line breaks are different, you can spot mistakes more easily.
5. Getting found on search engines soon became a priority. I am not an SEO copywriter, so I outsource that to a specialist in my network who can keep up with Google’s ever-changing rules. They do the keyword research that identifies the opportunities; they also do the on-page optimisation to help your content get found. Note that doing SEO properly is a much bigger job than ‘turning Yoast green’.
6. There’s been a switch from generalist to specialist copywriting. When I started, a copywriter tended to write things like advertising or product descriptions (that’s what I did at Freemans home shopping). It was all ‘hard sell’ copy. Now, the industry has split into various specialisms. There are copywriters who only write business-to-business copy for example, or they specialise in writing for just one sector, or they only produce emails or UX microcopy. My particular interest is the psychology of using words to prompt a reader to take action. If I had to define myself, I’d be called a “conversion copywriter who focuses on the professional services sector”. My team have expertise in other areas, so we can always help, no matter what you need.
7. Keeping up with changing laws. Under guidelines from the Advertising Standards Authority, ads have to be legal, decent, honest and truthful. To meet accessibility requirements, text should be perceivable, the interface should be operable, information must be understandable, and the content should be robust. If you’re a limited company, you must include your registered address and number on your website and emails. Those are just a few of the issues to consider. A good copywriter will help ensure you comply.
8. A subset of copywriting is content writing. As stated above, copywriting originally tended to be short form. With the advent of blogging and thought leadership articles, content writers generate long form copy which tends to be more of a ‘soft sell’. I call it “adding value rather than an advert”, and it’s one of the services commonly provided by me and my team. We often ‘ghost-write’ in the voice of clients who don’t have the time or skill to do it themselves.
9. Email marketing has evolved. Not many people were doing newsletters when I started my tipsheet in 2003, and it used to generate three enquiries every month. Last year, I don’t think it inspired any! Too many people find their inbox is too full, and spend more time unsubscribing than reading. That’s not to say it’s pointless. Depending on your business and its goals, email is still a good way to keep in touch with your market.
10. One-to-many has switched to one-to-one marketing. Adverts are one-to-many broadcasts. Emails are one-to-one interactions. They give you the best chance of individual personalisation, engagement and response.
11. Let’s look at social media. It’s not a broadcast medium; it’s an engagement medium. It’s given rise to a need for social proof. What other people say about you is more powerful than what you say yourself. It’s why my team and I often interview the customers of our clients to write case studies which can be used in all your marketing.
12. Linked to that point is user-generated content. Quoting (real) testimonials is one of the best ways to market your business. Copywriters often research reviews and testimonials to inspire the copy we write. It’s a great way to identify what customers really value about the brand. And, if more than one customer has used the same language to describe the brand, product or services, we’ll repeat it to attract more customers like those.
13. Tone of voice has become less formal, especially for business-to-consumer copy. This became mainstream when Innocent Drinks put cheeky comments on their packaging, such as ‘Stop looking at my bottom’ under their bottles. It’s now ubiquitous. A few B2B clients are also brave enough to allow their copywriter to add some personality into their copy. I love it when that happens! One week I had a hairdresser who wanted copy with a fashion forward tone, a household goods retailer who wanted a young and funky tone, and a coffee brand who wanted to target consumers rather than trade, with a friendly family tone. Usually, clients just want ‘Plain English’. That’s fine, but it’s lovely when they have a confident personality to add into the brief. Writing as you speak is the nicest kind of copy to create.
14. Direct mail changed to junk mail and then lumpy mail. Posting a letter direct to your audience used to be the standard way for a business to communicate. Unwanted, and it’s labelled ‘junk’. These days, people have switched to email because it’s cheaper than print and postage. But if you want to stand out, sending a letter is a great way to do it. ‘Lumpy’ mail is when you enclose something. For example, one client wanted to buy, lease or manage hotels. We included a tea bag with a letter headed ‘Have a cuppa on us while you consider the options’. That resulted in a deal worth £13 million!
15. People have become cynical about marketing. They see through all the old tricks. That’s why authenticity, openness and transparency have become all-important.
16. The temptation of automation. Although it is possible to auto-post to the various social media platforms, it’s not necessarily the best approach. If you merely broadcast, you won’t get the best results. It’s like running into a room waving a flag and shouting “Buy my stuff”. People will point and laugh. Social media is just that, social. You need to be there in person, at least once a day, to ask and answer questions. If you want reactions and comments on your own posts, you need to react to and comment on other people’s. It’s only fair.
17. Unlike the old days, we can now get speedy feedback on whether or not the copy is working. Sometimes, numbers can ‘sell’ harder than words. For example, Annabel Kaye of KoffeeKlatch was fielding lots of enquiries from VAs who were confused about which level of contract to order. I rewrote the copy and restructured the page to clarify which product/s and level they needed. The new wording reduced the ratio of pre-sales enquiries by two-thirds. If you assume three pre-sale enquiries convert to one sale (the normal KoffeeKlatch ratio in the short term), and it takes an average of £25 to handle each of them, they were giving away £75 of time to make a sale of £45. Afterwards, they saw an average ‘cost’ closer to £12.50 given the reduction in questions as a ratio of sales, while the average order value went up to £85. It’s evidence that clear copy really does work. For more examples, please read my case studies.
18. The rise of video. YouTube soon became the world’s largest search engine, and now looks as though it will soon be taking over from mainstream TV. People can’t help but notice moving images – I suspect it’s driven by the inbuilt ‘flight, fight or freeze’ response. That’s why it’s wise to include video on your website and in your social posts. Occasionally, I write video scripts that align with the written copy. The key difference is that you can have pictures without words but not words without pictures.
19. When asked where I live, I used to say Beckenham, the town where David Bowie became famous. If I was outside the UK at the time, I’d say London. These days, I say “I live on Zoom”. Over the years, I’ve had clients all over the English-speaking world. Thanks to email and video calls, it doesn’t matter where they are based. It’s one of the reasons I wrote the book Unboring. During lockdown, my speaker and trainer friends asked for ideas about how to engage an audience and embed the learning via Zoom. It’s the partner to Experiential Speaking, my book of icebreakers, energisers and games.
20. It might feel as though the world is spinning ever faster, and technology is evolving beyond belief. So I can’t write about copywriting changes without mentioning generative AI. Large Language Models such as ChatGPT spit out copy at no or low cost and at incredibly high speed. But that doesn’t mean you get top quality. AI is not really ‘intelligent’. It doesn’t understand. It can’t ask questions, create genuine humour, be truly creative nor tell authentic stories. For that, you still need a human copywriter.
21. Basic human psychology hasn’t changed and the core principles of persuasion remain the same. For example, the AIDA copywriting formula has worked for over 100 years, and still does. It’s evolved slightly to include C for conviction before the final A for action. That is, third-party endorsements such as star ratings, client logos, and customer reviews.
22. Diversification rules. My freelance copywriting business has survived at least two recessions. When client marketing budgets were cut, I added products and services as extra income streams. I now earn from training, speaking, books and mentoring as well as by doing hands-on copywriting. I have limited capacity for copywriter mentoring, whether it’s just one session or a whole series.
23. Still learning… During lockdown, I did a course in neuroscience. It builds on my original psychology degree and subsequent NLP qualification. My endless fascination with how people process words and symbols on paper and on screen is what has made copywriting such an interesting career choice for me, as well as me having insights that benefit my clients and their customers. (I can’t help playing with words. When my sister made tiramisu that was more sloppy and gloopy than most, I named it tiramisoup.)
24. Even after all these years, people still confuse copywriting with copyright. Any text that is printed or uploaded is copy. Anyone who writes it can call themselves a copywriter. Copyright is to do with trademarks and intellectual property law. They are not the same!
25. I started copywriting in 1983 and freelancing in 2001, and am now downsizing my client list. It’s not retirement. I prefer to call it a ‘retreat’, because I’m freeing up time to treat myself. I continue to serve selected regular clients, and my ‘inner circle’ of journalists-turned-copywriters handle any new enquiries. I have personally trained and mentored them all, so you can be sure of fact-filled fluff-free copy with a marketing edge.