From copywriting to comms?

[Corporatepreggolady]

Hi everyone,

I'm currently a pretty senior copywriter (agency side) but I've sort of reached the top of the tree. Any tips on making a lateral move into an in-house comms role?

I'm thinking strategic or change comms because a lot of it seems similar to what I do now - like winning over senior stakeholders and drafting high-stakes, high-profile pieces (like value propositions or mission statements or whatever).

Would love any advice 🙂

I think I can help with this, but in order to check that I am not talking balderdash, which industry were you thinking? I’ve worked in public sector comms for the best part of two decades, but have also done some heritage and television. I’d might not be able to help if you were looking for something in financial or legal services, but otherwise I might be able to scrabble together some thoughts?

I work in comms, with background in broadcast and print journalism. My main advice would be to increase your skills/experience around writing for social media and web, email updates, blogs, podcasts etc. There's still a space for longer form copywriting and strong editing skills but digital/social content is a huge part of any current role in comms.

Thank you @GwinCoch, so kind! I was thinking legal, professional services or finance actually but any wisdom on the overall industry would be so useful.

And thanks too @Gherkingreen. That's heartening because I have lots of digital experience. I was actually worried that my lack of PR or journo experience might be an issue. (Like you, it seems like lots of people are ex newsroom.)

Do places care for portfolios? As a copywriter you're expected to have one, but it's often all nonsense because there could be thirty people working on 'your' work, IYSWIM. My theory is that in Comms positions, the journey is as important as the destination. So explaining how you won people over (sorry, 'aligned key stakeholders') as much a part of it as clear, compelling communication.

Really good advice from @Gherkingreen and would definitely echo the digital sentiments, in particular social and web content. I’m not really knowledgeable about financial services or legal - a lot of my stuff has been public sector and public affairs, so elected representatives and community stuff around the NHS and government - but there is a lot of crossover the more I think about it in terms of core technical skills. Blogs are basically the new press release, and in your preferred areas you’ll be looking at marketing copy which is just more glossy than the stuff the public sector is trying to ‘sell’. I don’t know how much accessibility has penetrated the private sector, but it’s huge for us in terms of ensuring that there are language and visual impairment standards that need to be adhered to.

Also there are two very specific strands of communications - internal and external. Internal is predominantly staff, external is predominantly the media and stakeholders. I’ve climbed the tree a bit and do both, but it’s definitely a thing to consider as I’ve worked in teams where people are definitely on one or other side of the fence. Neither is better, they’re just different. Internal might be running your intranet, or an application like Yammer, and organising for your senior executives to meet the ground crew - Town Halls or just individual department visits - some places still run an internal newsletter. External is often stuff like marketing documents, social media, website, annual reports, blogs, podcasts (as Gherkingreen said), but also definitely media. I quite like media stuff, but I know loads of comms people who don’t. But it’s really just about relationship building, like any other role and remembering that they have a job to do too. In fact, move into comms and you will know EVERYONE in the organisation and they will know you - it’s fun like that! And no, no portfolio required, although in the past I’ve had to write a comms plan for a specific initiative, write a press release, do those kind of things at interview.

Thank you @GwinCoch!! This is such a helpful breakdown. I'm going to thread more examples of both the external and internal channels you mention through my CV. And it's good to know that I might be given a little challenge if I get to interview.

...that's a big if though! Currently finding it a bit tricky to get interviews. I think because my experience is 'writer at X agency', whereas I imagine other people have more immediately relevant job titles, eg 'comms manager at X big corporate'

So I'm starting to message people on LinkedIn too. And fill my CV with more of the buzz phrases to show how it's all transferable.

Anyway, I so appreciate the help. Mumsnet is a brilliant place sometimes! Thanks again ✨

@Corporatepreggolady it's a really tricky job market at the moment so don't worry too much if movement is slow.
You have lots of desirable skills and loads of them are transferable, so try to tailor your application in terms of the skills you have and how they apply/could easily transfer to the role you're applying for. It's often about connections and relationships top as you say, so keep building those networks, follow orgs/ppl on LinkedIn and also Twitter.
Maybe think about doing some online courses/learning to demonstrate your commitment to developing skills (CIPR is a good place to start researching options).
The thing I find funny about working in comms is most people across orgs think they can do it; yet done well, it requires creativity, strategy, vision, intuition, technical knowledge and skill. Good luck with it all!

Thank you @Gherkingreen ☺️☺️ I'll let you know how I get on

I’ve had some experience transitioning from agency work to in-house, and one thing I found helpful was really diving deep into the company’s mission and values before applying. Understanding the internal culture can make a big difference when working on high-profile pieces like value propositions. I worked with a healthcare copywriting expert during a similar transition, and they emphasized how important it is to align your copy with the company’s vision while keeping a strategic approach to communication.