Roles we recruit
Seven practices, 27 functions. Start at the practice when you cannot yet name the title; go straight to the function when you can.
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A copywriter writes the words that convert: web pages, landing pages, ads, emails and sales assets, judged on demos and sign-ups rather than read time. Clever headlines are easy to show, so we screen for copy that moved a number, how they find the buyer’s words, and how they hold a line when a committee wants to rewrite it.
Copy earns its place when a page or campaign converts better than before. Each stage below has a signal that predicts it, and we test for that signal before you meet anyone.
The ramp, and the test behind each milestone
Weeks 1 and 2
Sales call recordings, win and loss notes, reviews and support tickets, to collect the words buyers actually use. Writes the first campaign copy from an existing brief.
On track looks like a short list of buyer phrases and objections, and first campaign copy approved.
How we test for it before you meet them
A timed exercise in our screen: a headline and opening section for one of your pages. We score clarity and whether it speaks to the buyer's problem, not cleverness.
Weeks 3 to 6
The pages that carry the most traffic and intent, often the homepage, product and pricing pages, rewritten in the buyer's language with a clear next step.
On track looks like rewritten key pages live, with a baseline set to compare against.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask for a page they rewrote with the before and after numbers. A former manager or CRO lead confirms the result.
Weeks 7 to 10
Headline, offer and call-to-action tests on landing pages and ads, run with the CRO or demand generation lead, with results written up whatever they show.
On track looks like at least one test running and one result written up honestly.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask about a test their copy lost and what they learned. Copywriters who have never lost a test have rarely run one.
Weeks 11 to 13
A short guide with the value proposition, proof points, buyer phrases and words to avoid, so sales, product marketing and freelancers write consistently.
On track looks like a messaging guide the sales and marketing teams actually use.
How we test for it before you meet them
A reference call about how others used their messaging and whether it held after they left.
After day 90
Strong copywriters start owning a test roadmap for copy, coaching others on headlines and emails, and shaping product launches before the copy brief is written.
On track looks like a copy test roadmap the CRO or demand lead supports.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask which page they would rewrite first on your site and why. A specific answer tied to buyers predicts the writer who moves conversion.
Five responsibilities. If the seat is mainly articles and guides, it is a content writer; if it owns positioning and launches, it is product marketing.
Homepage, product, pricing and campaign pages written to move visitors to a demo or sign-up.
Search, social and display ad copy, written in variants and tested.
Campaign, nurture and lifecycle emails with subject lines and calls to action that get action.
One-pagers, sequences and decks that sales uses with buyers.
A short guide of value proposition, proof points and buyer language that others write from.
Three neighboring seats absorb work people assume belongs here. Drawing the line wrong is how a copywriting hire ends up writing long-form articles or owning positioning alone.
That seat ownsArticles, guides, case studies and ebooks written for depth and trust.
Hire it instead whenyou need a steady flow of educational content rather than conversion copy.
That seat ownsPositioning, messaging strategy, launches and the enablement sales uses.
Hire it instead whennobody has decided what the product stands for or who it is for.
That seat ownsThe testing program: research, hypotheses, A/B tests and readouts across the site.
Hire it instead whenyou need someone to run experiments, with copy as one of many levers.
The title stays the same; the channel does not. Pick the one that matches where conversion is stuck.
Owns site and landing page copy, working with designers and the CRO lead on tests.
Writes ads and emails in volume, tested by channel, with demand generation.
Sets the brand voice and writes big campaigns, launches and the lines people remember.
The questions we ask in our own screen. Use them in yours; the warning signs are as useful as the answers.
Every candidate we put forward is scored on these five, and the scores travel with the shortlist, gaps included. Four out of five with a named weakness beats a clean sweep you cannot verify.
| What we score | Weak evidence | Strong evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Copy that moved a number | Award work and praise, with no results. | Pages, ads or emails with before and after numbers. |
| The buyer's language | Copy built from product features. | Copy built from buyer research, with examples of phrases they found. |
| Range of angles | Variations on one idea. | Distinct angles on our headline exercise, with a test plan. |
| Testing habit | Never ran a test. | Tests run and written up, losses included. |
| Holding the line | Rewrites to please every stakeholder. | Uses evidence and tests to settle disagreements, confirmed by a reference. |
Public US benchmarks, read October 2026. Copywriter pay is mostly base salary: Built In’s self-reported additional cash averages $7,720 on a $73,671 average base. Copywriters who own conversion results or lead a brand voice move toward the content marketing manager band.
Each bar runs from the 25th to the 75th percentile, the middle half of reported pay.
Base salaryWages including commission (BLS)Average total pay, base plus variable
Copywriter
Salary.com base, Built In total
$67,440 to $79,885 base$81,391 average total
Content Writer
Salary.com base benchmark, neighboring seat
$67,129 to $82,227 base
Content Marketing Manager
Salary.com base benchmark, the next seat
$106,212 to $128,101 base
Writers and authors
BLS, all industries
$58,230 to $101,950
Bars: Salary.com base salary, 25th to 75th percentile, United States, as of October 1, 2026. Copywriter ring: Built In average total compensation (base plus additional cash, self-reported), reviewed October 8, 2026. Writers and authors: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, annual wage at the 25th and 75th percentiles (SOC 27-3043), all industries. Public aggregates, not ZaphyrRecruit placement data.
A copywriter writes the words that get people to act: web and landing pages, ads, emails and sales assets. In a B2B team the job is to find the language buyers use, turn it into clear pages and campaigns, and test what converts. Good copywriters also write a short messaging guide so sales, product marketing and freelancers say the same thing in the same words.
Salary.com puts a copywriter at $67,440 to $79,885 base, with a median of $73,511 (October 2026). Built In’s self-reported figures show a $68,000 median base and $81,391 average total pay. The BLS band for writers and authors runs from $58,230 to $101,950 across all industries. Copywriters who own conversion results or lead a brand voice usually earn more than the typical band.
A copywriter persuades: pages, ads and emails measured on clicks, sign-ups and demos. A content writer informs: articles, guides and case studies that build trust and search traffic over time. Some writers do both well, but most are stronger at one. If pages get traffic but not demos, hire a copywriter; if you need a steady flow of educational content, a content writer.
A freelancer suits a one-off launch or a site rewrite with a fixed scope. An in-house copywriter pays off when you run campaigns every month, test pages and emails continuously and need the same voice across sales and marketing. They learn the buyer and the product and get faster with every brief. We recruit the in-house seat, and will say on the first call if a freelancer fits better.
Give them one of your real pages and an hour. Ask for three headline angles and a rewritten opening section, with a note on which they would test first and why. It shows whether they understand the buyer, write clearly and think in tests. Portfolios rarely show this, because published copy has usually been edited by several people.
AI tools are useful for variants, first drafts and quick edits, and good copywriters use them. They do not talk to your buyers, pick the angle that fits your market, or defend the copy when five stakeholders want changes, and that is where conversion comes from. The copywriters worth hiring use AI for speed and spend the time saved on buyer research and testing.
Ten working days from a signed brief to a shortlist of three to five calibrated copywriters, each with our headline exercise scored and their results checked with a former manager. Interview speed decides the rest: good copywriters rarely run one process at a time, so a decision within a week of the first interview keeps them. Most can start two to four weeks after accepting.
Tell us where conversion is stuck, which pages, ads or emails, and who the copywriter will work with. We come back within one business day with how we would run the search and what the seat pays.
We build shortlists from people doing this work now, often before a seat is advertised. Set up a job alert for content roles, or send your CV and samples and we will come to you when a seat opens.
The copywriter is one of twelve seats in this function. If the gap sits elsewhere, start there.