Copywriting is much more than just stringing words together.
It’s strategy. It’s psychology. It’s persuasion. It’s presentation.
At Castle Media, we love language. We play with words, study them, fine-tune them, angst over finding just the right one. But here’s the truth: great copywriting isn’t about having a big vocabulary or sounding clever. It’s about getting someone to do something: Keep reading. Click. Call. Buy. Sign up.
Copywriting requires understanding your audience deeply enough to “speak” in a tone they’re comfortable with, head off their objections before they think of them, and guide them toward a decision that feels natural and right. That takes more than a talent for writing – it takes research, intuition, and experience.
Headlines that hook. Openings that catch attention. Flow that feels effortless. A story or example that resonates personally. Calls to action that don’t scream sales pitch but still get results. Every element is intentional, guiding the reader from curiosity to clarity to action.
Then there’s tone – arguably one of the most important (and most overlooked) parts of effective copy. Your tone is your brand’s personality on the page. Is the brand’s personality down-to-earth and casual? Authoritative? Witty and lighthearted? Your brand’s tone sets the mood for copywriting to follow. It builds trust, sets you apart, and makes your audience feel like, “ok, these folks get me!”
The most important thing about tone in copywriting is it creates consistency for your brand messaging. No matter where someone encounters your brand, including written information, it should always feel and sound like you.
Can AI Do All This for Me?
Short answer? Nope.
Here’s the rub if you are in the midst of training your AI app to do all this for you – the trick to this strategy is to NOT sound like a robot.
AI can string words together. It can summarize, generate ideas, even mimic tone kind of. But it can’t replace a human who understands your brand, your goals, your market, and your audience’s mindset.
A professional copywriter brings intuition, nuance, and experience to the table – the kind of stuff you just can’t automate. If you want copy that actually connects, converts, and sounds like you, you need a human behind the keyboard.
AI can help. But it can’t lead.
Copy content continues to play a huge role in search engine optimization as search engines still are looking for quality content in search results. Behind the scenes, good copywriters are always writing with Google in mind as well as hitting all the human reader markers. Keywords are important, yes, but the strategy has to actually work. This means keywords and phrases are woven seamlessly into copy that reads like a conversation – not a keyword salad.
Search engines know robot-generated copy, and are looking for content with a balance of keyword density, natural language patterns, understanding of user intent, and content relevance.
Writing copy that ranks and converts takes more than a lot of well-written words – it takes a human who understands how to meet both Google’s standards and real people’s expectations.
And finally, there’s adaptability. Copywriters wear a lot of hats, and boy, you can say that again! This week so far we’ve created branded social media images, written social post content, finished up website copy, written blogs, helped a client with a course syllabus and another with a sales deck. Our clients can vary considerably; we work with businesses ranging from a magician to a tax attorney to a slaughter house. One day we’re writing website content for a boutique real estate firm, the next it’s punchy social captions for a local deli or heartfelt newsletters for a nonprofit. Voice, message, and medium all shift – but the goal stays the same: connect and convert.
So no, it’s not just about words. It’s about what those words do.
And when you get it right? That’s when marketing starts to move people – and your business. And that, kind folks, is why I read the dictionary while I wait at appointments. 😉