How I became an in-house copywriter, plus 7 lessons I learned from working client-side
I always said I'd never go client-side, but guess I'm eating my own words now...
Welcome to Buhay Copywriter by Regina Peralta! It’s wonderful to meet you.
This newsletter is my way of paying it forward and being the person I needed when I was a young(er) writer.
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There are a lot of things we say we’ll do — or never do — when we’re nineteen and naive.
Back then, I thought: I’m going to become an advertising copywriter. And I’m always going to work on the agency side. Client side? One brand all day everyday? BoRING! And I don’t want to be a mean old client giving out orders and nitpicking!
So from the time I graduated up until I turned twenty-five, I took ad agency jobs only. Never mind if Mommy or my peers would talk about working brand-side in some of the top companies in the country. I felt I didn’t want to get “stuck” and “bored”. Plus, from what I saw agency-side, some of the client-side copywriters were also expected to be graphic designers, videographers, social media managers, etc. etc. Hell no, I said.
That is, until the world turned upside down in 2020.
I started 2020 with plans to take my Masters in Communication. I was going to quit my job at the time, then look for an employer who would be okay with me studying while working full-time.
In 2020, my family was still reeling from the loss of my maternal grandmother, my father was sick with cancer, and my mom was already showing signs of what would turn out to be ovarian cancer (that she’s still battling to this day). My younger sister was in med school. And there was a global pandemic.
Shift happens: new opportunities amidst the pandemic
After a semester of grad studies, I decided to go on leave from school and focus on our family’s survival. My career options thinned, and I had already resigned from my job.
Luckily, a former colleague messaged me about a freelance SEO writing opportunity. I knew next to nothing about SEO or the industry I was going to write for, but she said the job was newbie-friendly and had training opportunities. I grabbed the spot, went through the training, and was soon writing SEO-driven sales pages for an overseas company.
The pay was pretty good — better than a lot of opportunities available locally if I’m being honest. And the skills training was invaluable. It was the most formal SEO training I’ve ever had, and it’s come in handy many times.
Eventually, I found a more permanent gig. And it turned out to be client-side with another overseas company. Specifically, a performance marketing company that also dabbled in manufacturing products. That job had me tapping into my agency instincts to have decks and brainstorming sessions. And I quickly realized that outside the agency world, these things might not be so….valuable to other marketers.
I also realized that there are so many different kinds of copywriting I could try: instruction manuals, SMS campaigns, email marketing, and conversion copywriting! I can’t say I did great on all of these. Especially since I don’t have the sales numbers. But it’s nice to say I got to try them out! And I know a little more about them now, all thanks to working client-side.
After two years at the performance marketing company, I moved back to the ad agency world. That’s where I am now, though in a bigger agency than I’ve ever been in before. So it is, in a way, my comfort zone, but with a lot of levelling up and opportunity for growth.
I would be remiss, though, to not give credit where credit is due. My short stints working client-side helped me grow as a writer and as a person in many ways! But for this newsletter, I’m narrowing it down to these learnings:
Seven lessons I learned from being an in-house copywriter
The pace may be more relaxed in-house side vs. agency-side. This is mostly because you’re just working with internal stakeholders, unlike the agency life where you go through your bosses, clients, and their bosses. Not to mention, working in an agency means multiple clients with different projects happening at once. Of course, this may vary based on your industry. I can imagine that those in telecommunications and finance don’t have a very chill pace, even internally. :)
In-house creative requirements may tend to get monotonous and approvers may veer more towards “marketing speak”. You may find yourself struggling to find something new to say about a particular product or service, or even asking the right questions to come up with another angle. Of course, this would depend on the type of company you decide to join, and how open they are to out-of-the-box ideas.
There are sooo many more different kinds of writing! As someone who had only worked on social media marketing and videos in my early 20s, it was fun to try out new stuff! I learned how to write long-form sales pages, email marketing campaigns, SEM ads, instruction manuals, and SMS ads. It’s good to try all of these at least once. Who knows when you’ll be tapped to write for a different channel than what you’re used to?
Your industry knowledge from the advertising world can be valuable to the team - but their mileage may vary when it comes to applying these best practices. When I was in the performance marketing company, we handled quite a number of products. I remember proposing brand bibles for each one, but my suggestion wasn’t seen as a gap that needed filling. I also suggested trying to work in a concept team format (aka art director x copywriter brainstorming regularly). I was shocked when my boss told me and my partner art director not to spend time brainstorming and just get to the crafting part. Not the best for creativity, but it was efficient enough for our day-to-day deadlines.
There are a lot of opportunities for in-house writers with foreign companies, if you know where to look. But since these may be in different timezones, be prepared to be asked about willingness to work odd hours or graveyard shifts, or not get Philippine holidays off. For those without PH-based offices, you might have a freelancer status, which means you’ll need to process your own government benefits (SSS, Philhealth,PAGI-BIG) and pay taxes yourself.
It’s best to choose a company you truly believe in, whose values and products/services you can get behind. Sure, the same is true ad agency-side, but when you have to embody the values and voice of just one brand, 40 hours a week, it helps if you share the vision.
Don’t close your doors to opportunities to (l)earn. That is, as long as it’s legal, ethical, and aligned with your personal values. Even if I don’t see myself going client-side anytime soon, I now know that I shouldn’t close my doors to that possibility. Especially if it’s going to be economically favorable, hehe.
Do you have any “things I said I’d never do but I ended up doing them anyway” moments? I’d love to hear about them in the comments!