Three months ago, we launched our first ever survey of copywriters in the UK.
Having grown to almost 2000 members, we were in a good position to reach a fair few copywriters. Even so, we really didn’t know what to expect in terms of numbers. We just wanted to get the views of as many copywriters as we could.
In the end, we were bowled over when no fewer than 610 people were willing to take the time to share the details of their copywriting lives with us.
Now we’ve finished crunching the numbers, and the report of our findings is available to download.
Our key findings include:
- An average gender pay gap of 28% between male and female copywriters, varying with type of employment
- An average freelance daily rate of £337, but with wide regional variations (London £426, Scotland £254)
- Wide variations in what copywriters earn on average, from agency founders on £57k to in-house writers on £31k
- Freelance copywriters much prefer per-project fees (55%) over per-word fees (2%)
- Over 95% of copywriters do other marketing tasks as well as copywriting
- 70% of copywriters value employer/client feedback most, while just 2% value industry awards
- Copywriters love copywriting! Just 2% want to change careers.
You’ll find respondents’ own definitions of copywriting sprinkled throughout the document, which show that there are as many perspectives on our craft as there are people practising it.
The report also gives full details of how we carried out the survey and thanks those who helped us prepare and promote it.
We hope you enjoy reading the survey report as much we enjoyed preparing it.
Comments
9th March 2016
Robert Lang
Dubious about the Key Findings Stats (I always am). Would love to know how to boost me earnings to anything like £31K. Definitely downloading the Full Report to get a better idea of things. Thank you.
9th March 2016
Louise Crooks
Really interesting read. It’s a shame that not all members allowed their voice to be heard. Thanks for collating and sharing.
9th March 2016
Lorraine Forrest-Turner
I found the report interesting and reassuring. Working in isolation, I’m never sure if I’m charging the right amount, focusing on the right work or doing it for the right reasons. Looks like I’m doing okay! Thank you.
10th March 2016
Charlotte Fleming
Very interesting, especially the disparity between what we can charge here in Scotland and what you London fat-cats can earn 😉 (and no, our prices aren’t THAT much lower). But, like Lorraine Forrest-Turner, it looks like I’m charging about the going rate,which is nice to know.