They Said Copywriting Was Dead.

So RIP copywriting, right? Right??!

Not exactly, although there are still plenty of voices out there calling (or predicting) time of death. 

Let’s face it: marketing is changing. It has changed. It’s going to keep changing forever and ever, amen. 

I’ve been at this digital marketing game for nearly a decade now. I know that strategies, tactics, algorithms, and media change rapidly and often. In this ecosystem, we’re forced to adapt. Or maybe, as a reframe, we get to adapt. 

Over the past two years, I’ve found myself at a major career crossroads. With the improvement of AI copywriting tools and the shifts we’ve experienced in the market, it’s no secret that working as a marketer has gotten real weird. It was already a strange little world of its own, so that’s saying something.

Things got increasingly discouraging in 2023, as it appeared companies were going to embrace AI copywriting over human writers. I was told multiple times that copywriting was dead and I should outsource my own writing to AI. (From a practical standpoint, that idea has never been viable for me. And from an ethical standpoint, I wasn’t willing to pass off AI copy as original to clients who I’ve agreed to write for. You know, as a human.) 

And yeah, some companies did latch onto AI. I’m sure more will do the same as the tools improve. But I also started to notice something interesting: the companies who didn’t embrace AI writing tools actually started specifying that they wanted human writers on staff. Interesting. (In response, I started communicating in my pitch letters that my clients get human-written copy.) 

There are still many doom-and-gloom messages floating around. But isn’t that always the case online, when we’re trying with all our might to get seen and boost engagement on our posts? Clickbait works, but that doesn’t mean it’s true. 

I’ve seen AI copy suck the life out of content that used to keep me engaged. 

I’ve also seen tools that spit out drafts that are scary close to human quality (but from my experiments, I still have to heavily rewrite them, so we’re not there yet). 

I’ve seen terrible, computer-generated articles crowd out all the top spaces in the SERPs, offering little value and pushing trusted resources further down the Google search than I’ve ever seen them. 

I’ve also seen Google try to course-correct by latching onto forums in an attempt to pull human-created content back to the surface of its search results. (I think it’s very telling that the SERPs would rather highlight the flawed, back-and-forth conversations in online forums than beautifully formatted and designed blog posts. But then again, maybe they’re going for that relational exchange you can only authentically get from humans.) 

When we entrust our messaging to a machine, we lose its heart. We lose its humanity. And oftentimes, we lose the ability to intuit what our people actually want from us. 

Sure, an AI can spit out data and options and variations, and a lot of it gets pretty dang close. But when you remove the human soul from messaging and content creation, you forfeit the spark of life that makes it click with the humans on the other side. The actual people who need to connect with your expertise, your genius, your weirdness. 

Can AI copywriting be helpful in certain use cases? Sure. I’m not here to judge its use or censure those who prefer it. 

The way I see it, marketers and companies are going to go all in on the tools they love, and that’s not for me to decide. I’m not here to argue with people who prefer AI copy, because those people aren’t going to see the appeal in working with me anyway. 

But what I am here to say is that human copywriting is alive and well. There are still companies, entrepreneurs, and leaders out there who want to work with a human who gets them. Who understands the impact they’re trying to make in the world. Who can tune into their unique voice, message, gifts, and value and create writing that rings true to the people who need them most. 

As far as my business is concerned, I’ve begun to make changes in response to AI. But I haven’t given up copywriting, and at this point I don’t plan to. Why? Because it’s not dead.

And I’m still making genuine connections with clients I can help - who are searching for someone who understands their message and can articulate it with clarity and heart.