Opportunities with the Art & Creative Direction industry

Online creative marketing is now a business essential, so more companies have a digital platform than ever before. They say “content is king,” so businesses around the world have an increasing need to hire skilled Copywriters to pen impactful content and creative advertising for them.

Copywriters ensure all content, online or otherwise, speaks to audiences and brings in more customers. There are multiple digital platforms for businesses and individuals alike to share and distribute copy across, including websites, mobile, digital out of home, mailing lists, and social media pages. This, in turn, has created more roles for Copywriters, increasing the demand in the job market.

Copywriters tend to have in-depth knowledge of the industry they’re writing for, in order to be as informative as possible. On a day-to-day basis, Copywriters may work with Digital Designers and Art Directors to make sure text fits in with design templates. Having a strong background in English, a journalistic eye, and the ability to carefully develop an angle for a story, as well as the ability to work in a team across departments are all key skills that Copywriters need to possess.

While Art Direction jobs have been in high demand over the last few years, as more businesses are recognising the power of effective branding. Art Direction jobs in particular have become more crucial as client’s look to ensure their message and image is conveyed consistently to consumers across a number of different channels.

Art Directors must be creative, and should ideally be able to create for a range of business needs and requirements, though they can specialise in one particular style. On a daily basis, Art Directors will need to work with teams across the business, including but not limited to Copywriters and Marketers, and ensure the design of all materials remains consistent.

Salary information and career progression

• Popular industries for Art & Creative Direction jobs

  Advertising is one of the typical industries for Copywriters & Art Direction roles. Besides the core industries, there are many other companies which offer Copywriting jobs as high quality content is needed by every business which wants to communicate its products or services to its customers.

  In recent years, design and PR agencies have also started to offer more employment opportunities for Copywriters. These job roles could involve writing up press releases, handling social media channels, and producing the content for businesses to use on their websites.

  While all industries can benefit from hiring Copywriters, more start-ups are realising that they need to work with Copywriters and Art Directors from the get-go, rather than later down the line. The financial industry is also seeing a growth in the number of Art and Creative roles, as businesses within the industry need to be able to convey their message to a wider audience, and simplify complex terminology.

• Recent changes for Copywriting & Art Direction jobs

  As more businesses grow their online presence, they need to increase and retain visibility in search engines and on social media. Copywriters therefore need to be able to draw on web traffic data and seamlessly implement keywords in order to keep copy optimised for search. In recent years, it has become highly advantageous to have technical skills covering basic HTML and SEO, as content is now widely produced for online platforms, and these skills will set you apart from the crowd.

  One consequence of the world’s digitalisation is that Art Direction jobs which involve digital skills are on the rise and extremely well paid. Salaries for traditional Art Directors have been increasing, and they are supposed to become even higher. This is because many companies grew faster after hiring top Designers as they differentiated more from their competitors and created a better customer experience.

• Future prospects

  Due to the fact that one of the most important ranking factors for SEO is unique quality content, companies have been investing an increasing amount of money in hiring skilled Copywriters in order to make their own copy stand out from competitors. Since quality content is said to be of enormous importance in the future as well, the job opportunities for both freelance and in-house Copywriters and Content Editors will continue to grow.

  In the coming years the biggest change for the Art and Creative job sector is that it will become more hybrid. This means that design will incorporate technical as much as creative aspects. Moreover, design will be a lot more human-centred by combining code, research, visuals, and interaction. These new approaches will create new Design roles, such as Augmented Reality Designers, Real-Time 3D Designers and Embodied Interaction Designers.

• Salt’s advice for getting a new Art/Creative Direction job

  Employers’ requirements

  To land a Copywriting role, it is extremely helpful to have worked in a marketing-focused company before. Hiring managers also like if you have previous working experience in journalism and brand planning. The best way to show your Copywriting skills to an employer is to have a personal blog or website with examples of potential client briefs. The copies should vary in length, be written in different styles for different platforms, and be regularly updated.

  CV requirements for Copywriters

  One of the key requirements for an online Copywriter’s CV is basic SEO knowledge. This does not mean that a Copywriter has to be an expert about technical SEO subjects such as canonicalisation or page speed optimisation, but they should know the golden rules for on-page and off-page optimisation, including keyword research and the avoidance of content duplication. Hiring managers will also expect to see some kind of writing experience on a CV, whether this is freelance contributing to websites and magazines, or having a full-time job as a writer, regardless of the industry.

  Portfolio requirements for art and creative roles

  One of the key requirements for landing a Design job is having an excellent portfolio of work. Some hiring managers may look for candidates with a few years experience, depending on the level you’re applying for. Creating a beautiful portfolio of case studies, clearly showing each step of the project from ideation through to research and UX, and finally the finished product is what hiring managers want to see. Designers must also have experience working with Sketch as well as Adobe Creative Suite, and be comfortable when using the software.

  Interview preparation

  In the majority of cases, jobseekers rate Copywriting interviews as quite relaxed and easy. The interviewer will instead ask you questions about your past experience and personality to see if you fit into the company culture. Though your portfolio will give an indication of your writing capability, it is possible that you will be faced with a short writing test to assess your skills on the spot.

  Educational requirements

  There are no specific qualifications needed to work in Copywriting, however having a strong background in English and writing is advantageous. This could be with a degree in English or a writing-specific course such as journalism, or even having English as an A-level.The best way to get started is by working on freelance writing projects, or contributing to websites and blogs. In addition, it might be useful to attend some Copywriting courses as they give a good overview of today’s best practices and industry standards (e.g. by the Institute of Copywriting) as well as helping you develop skills and knowledge on the latest SEO updates.