What's the future of copywriting?

Copywriting is dead. It’s something I’ve heard time and time again over the last two years, and it’s something that’s felt like a very real possibility.

But the truth is, Gen-AI has threatened the profession, the economy has made it harder but despite all of those challenges I still believe copywriting has a future.

In this ever-evolving landscape…

There’s no denying that AI has impacted copywriting. But I don’t necessarily think it’s for the reason you’d expect. The last few years have seen some difficult economic times, businesses have been struggling, the cost of living has increased, inflation is on the rise. Budgets were squeezed to within an inch of their lives and something had to go. 

That something was marketing, and more specifically, outsourced marketing costs like copywriting. CFOs were looking at the budgets and questioning why money was being spent on something which can be done for free via LLMs like ChatGPT.

The decision to replace copywriters with AI wasn’t based on quality, it was financially driven. 

People were also excited about the possibilities that came with AI. There was major hype, and people jumped on the bandwagon. When it comes to new technology there’s a model called the adoption curve. You’ve got your innovators who create it and adopt first, then your early adopters followed by your early majority and the late majority.

Gen-AI has been around far longer than most of us realise so when ChatGPT became mainstream we were already at the early majority. Then the late majority, or the FOMO-ers, hopped on board and the popularity of Gen-AI went through the roof. Again, not because of quality but because they didn’t want to be the only ones not using it. 

Fast forward a year and that hype is dying down. The limitations are starting to show, people are beginning to understand the downsides and they’re making more educated decisions.

For copywriters this means it’s been a whirlwind of a few years. Many, including myself, found themselves staring at blank diaries while our usual clients had budgets reduced or turned to Gen-AI. Consequently, some freelance copywriters left the industry to return to the “safety” of the workplace. For those of us who’ve survived this long, hard time there are glimmers of light. 

Businesses are realising they need to invest in marketing, and they have some budget to do it now. The projects might be smaller, or more drip-fed to protect their own cashflow but there are more opportunities now than in previous year.

The gig economy

Parking AI for a second. We need to take a look at the way the job market is evolving. It’s expensive to employ someone, and over the last 12-months those costs have increased further. So, it’s not surprising that for that reason there are more freelance or fractional positions available. 

Now, the caveat to these positions is often the business still wants an employee, but they aren’t willing to foot the bill so they advertise it as freelance then still try to dictate all the terms. 

But if we pretend that they mean proper freelance and fractional. Let’s get back to it. There are also a large number of people looking for jobs who dip their toe in the freelance market. I don’t see this ending anytime soon, in fact, I think we’ll see more acceptance of hybrid teams made up of fractional, freelance and employed personnel. 

For copywriters this could be a good thing. It means there’s more openness amongst businesses to working with freelancers, and more acceptance means more opportunities. 

Human to human

At the heart of copywriting is making a connection. It’s tapping into emotions, it’s creating urgency, it’s spurring someone to action. It’s turning your business from a faceless enterprise into a personality that engages with your audience. 

All of those things are based on being human. 

I started my business before Covid, which means I spent time writing for businesses who very much subscribed to the professional, distant style of writing that B2B favoured at the time. Post-Covid and its changed. Now it’s about being human. 

So when businesses turn to a machine to make them sound more human, it’s not going to end well. That’s making people turn back to human copywriters again. They want to sound natural and make connections and use emotion and humour, and while LLMs give it their best shot, they usually miss.

If you’re a copywriter who focused on being human and using that as your competitive advantage then you’re making good decisions.

What does it all mean?

It means we’re in the eye of the storm. 

• Gen-AI is here to stay, there’s no doubt about that and it will get better but it has limitations.

• Businesses realise they need to invest in their marketing and are more open to what that support looks like.

• There’s a real movement championing human over robot (that sounds like a bad film plot).

We’ve ridden the curve to the top and seen everyone get over excited and now we’re all trying to work out how to use AI in an ethical, environmentally friendly way that benefits our wallets but still engages our audience. 

The world is different. We won’t go back to how it was, so it means we all need to adapt and find a new way forward.

Does copywriting have a future?

Yes. But it’ll look different.

In my personal and professional opinion, the demand for copywriters will decline, projects will be more sporadic but there will still need to be copywriters. Even if Gen-AI develops further it’ll still require source material and it won’t understand the nuances of being human.

There’s a gap that great copywriters fill, and those copywriters will stand out from AI and continue to build their freelance careers. 

Will it be easy? Absolutely not. The golden age of copywriting being seen as a fast-track way of making money is over, and every copywriter will need to prove their value. 

But no robot will ever fully replace a talented human copywriter.